Then there’s the “hot sauce” aspect.  I love food with a little heat.  A “little heat” is a subjective term but I like foods with more heat than the average person.  But I don’t like products with heat, for heat’s sake.  It’s got to have flavor, and I don’t want something so hot it ruins my taste buds for the whole meal.  So, what in the world was I doing to agreeing to review a product called “Devil’s Tongue?”  Chances were I wasn’t going to like it.

I know a lot of hot sauce fans like the burn.  I don’t.  I like to work up a nice forehead sweat and even once in awhile a meal that requires a towel to wipe my whole head is a good thing.  But that’s about it.  When the “Devil’s Tongue” arrived I did what I always do with a new sauce.  I got a spoon out and tasted it.  Normally, this is with BBQ sauce.  Fortunately I had enough common sense to to not eat a whole spoonful.  This stuff is hot.  So hot (at least in my book) that I decided to not even bother trying it on the nice ribeye I had ready for the grill.

After my steak was grilled, rested and about ready for consumption I heard a little voice saying “you’ve got to try me on the steak.  Go ahead…you know you want to.”  Was I being tempted by the “Devil’s Tongue?”  I quickly finished getting my baked potato ready and was anticipating the joy of a perfectly grilled medium rare steak when I realized the temptation was going to work.  I was, in fact, going to give in and eat this stuff on my ribeye.

When you see a steak sauce commercial on television they usually just pour a river of sauce down the middle of the steak and dig in.  That doesn’t happen at the Grail home…no way…no how.  And it certainly wasn’t going to happen with “Devil’s Tongue Steak Sauce.”  The first thing I did was enjoy several bites of steak without any sauce on them.  Regular readers of this blog know I am a huge advocate of just kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper on my steaks.  That’s it!  Nothing fancy, I want to taste the beef.  And just in case this steak sauce screwed up my steak I wanted a couple of good bites to remember it by.

After the first couple of bites I put a little dab of “Devil’s Tongue” steak sauce on my plate and with a fork full of beefy goodness I gently dipped the corner of the steak bite into the sauce.  Just a little, maybe a micro dot, of sauce found it’s way onto the steak.  I could have sworn I heard a voice coming from the bottle of sauce…”Wimp.”  But I’m sure it was just my imagination.  I tried it, I put the bite in my mouth.

It tasted good.  It had the right level of heat for my tastes and the flavor profile of the steak sauce complimented the beef flavor very well.  Now I know the heat level was because I had enough sense to start with just a little and the flavor could have easily overpowered the steak if I had used too much.  But what it comes down to is I actually liked this stuff.  Hot Sauce fans would probably use more, but for me a little dab will do ya.  Over the course of my meal I did slowly increase the amount of sauce on each bite of steak and I eventually reached a level of heat that was not good for me.  But the flavor was always good.

There is one way I do use steak sauce.  A couple times a summer, when I grill tri-tips I baste them with a 50/50 mixture of A-1 Bold and melted butter.  The flavor is awesome with a good Santa Maria seasoning.  I’m thinking a couple tablespoons (0r teaspoons) of “Devil’s Tongue Steak Sauce”  mixed with the butter would make a great basting sauce.  I’m going to have to give it a try.

For those that really like heat and flavor this steak sauce is going to be good for you.  If you’re a little on the wimpy side go slow…use caution.  “Devil’s Tongue Steak Sauce” can be purchased from it’s maker at Ed’s RoadHousE Jerky.

Disclosure:  Ed’s RoadHousE gave me the steak sauce for free.  The fact that I got the sauce for free, had no bearing on whether or not I liked it.  And it certainly didn’t influence my review.

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The “Hog Heaven”is labeled as competition rub.  Don’t let that designation scare you off.  If you get a chance to try them I think you’ll be happy…even if you’re just cooking in your backyard.  Just an added note to all rub makers:  Drop the “competition” label off your packaging if you want to sell to the wider backyarder market.  It’s just a guess, but I think you’re losing market share with the competition designation.  Lot’s of people win with “non competition” rubs.

The first thing you’ll notice, about “Hog Heaven”, is that for a rub it’s loaded with much more herbs than I normally expect to see in this type of rub.  I love the herbal flavors mixed with the more tradition rub ingredients.  One thing to remember when using this rub!  It comes packaged in a mylar bag type of package (which I prefer) but you’ve got to mix the rub up.  The herbs have a tendency to settle at the top of the package and if you don’t mix them up you’ll get a load of herbs without the other ingredients.  This shouldn’t be much a problem because you should always shake and/or mix your rubs before applying anyway.

I try to test most of the rubs I receive on pork ribs, this gives me a good basis for comparison between the various rubs.  So first up was “Hog Heaven” and since it’s called a rib rub I figured there wasn’t much sense in changing my normal pattern.  I gave a couple racks of pork ribs, trimmed to St. Louis cut a good dose of the rub.

You’ll notice in the picture the nice layer of herbs mixed with the other rub ingredients.  In the end this will give you a nice flavor to your ribs.  Although I did lightly sauce the ribs I think they would be perfectly good with no sauce at all.  I’d give them a try naked to see how you like them before saucing.  And I think a sauce less on the sweet side would match this rub very well.

I also tried “Hog Heaven” on some grilled chicken.  And I let me tell you!  This is an outstanding rub for chicken.  I didn’t smoke the chicken, which would be the more traditional way with a rub.  I grilled it instead.  No sauce…just rub and some heat.  It was fantastic.  I think I actually prefer this on chicken.  And I can already tell, even though I didn’t try it, that it would compliment fish too.

If you are using this rub on any meat and planning to use a direct heat cooking method make sure you monitor your heat.  Different ingredients in different rubs and seasonings burn at different temperatures.  The herbs in this rub will burn quicker than most rub ingredients (because they’re herbs) so just watch you food and keep the temperature in a moderate range and you’ll be just fine.

The “Raging Bull” beef rub is closer to a traditional rub than the “Hog Heaven,” but it has some different flavor profiles than most beef rubs out there.  One main ingredient, which I’m not going to share, is used in some great steak recipes in some of the best steak houses, so you aren’t going to go wrong.  But be warned it isn’t want you might expect.  If you look at the rub to the right you might be able to pick out some of the ingredients that are a little different.

I don’t know for sure what Steve had in mind for this rub, probably brisket, but I used a chuck roast for my test run.  And it worked fantastic.  Nice bark and more importantly a very nice flavor that just made the beef flavor in the roast jump.  I really like this rub.  It will go on my list of rubs I purchase.

Above you can see the rub when it was first applied to the chuck roast (Left) and then after a couple hours in the smoke(right).  The bark started to form almost immediately.  What was fantastic about this was the flavor of the bark really added to the overall flavor of the meat after I pulled it.

We used the pulled beef in some very nice tacos. (which I forgot to take pictures of).

You can purchase both these rubs from Great Lakes BBQ Supply and I suggest you do.

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There’s a voice in my head that I hear when I’m thinking about eating at a BBQ restaurant.  I call it the BBQ Force.  It steers me away from horrible dining experiences.  Yesterday was one of those times when the Force spoke to me.  I should have listened.

I pulled into Smokey’s Kitchen and performed my normal “check list” inspection.

• Smoker visible –Check
• Smoke visible from smoker –Nope
• Woodpile –Nope
• Smell of BBQ –Nope

It was at this point the voice began whispering to me. “Larry!  Don’t go in that restaurant.  You’ll be sorry.   Larry…use the Force.”  I didn’t listen to my inner BBQ voice and parked the car and walked in.  And that’s when Smokey’s Kitchen in Truckee, California failed the final part of the “check list.”

• Smells like smoke –Nope

My Inner BBQ voice tried once again.  “Larry!  It’s not to late to leave.  You’ve got to leave now.”  Did I listen?  No, I didn’t.  Should I have?  Yes, I should have.

I checked out the menu board and chose a two meat combination.  When I do try a BBQ restaurant I usually choose pulled pork and brisket.  By having the same meats I have some basis for comparison.  I asked the guy behind the counter if the brisket was chopped or sliced.  Since he told me it was sliced I decided to go ahead with the pulled pork and brisket.  For sides I picked cole slaw and beans.  Cornbread also came with the combo.

It was a beautiful day in Truckee so I decided to sit outside.  It was a few minutes later, when my plate appeared, that I realized I had neglected to ask a very important question.  “Is the meat already sauced?”  It was at that very second I realized my Inner BBQ Voice was correct and I should have listened.

The pulled pork and brisket came covered in sauce.  Take a look at the picture you can’t really tell where the pulled pork stops and the brisket ends.  What a mess.

The meats were cold and lacked any real BBQ flavor.  No rub…no smoke…just sauce.   And the sauce was just a sweet BBQ sauce that lacked any real spice flavor.  Not much better than the generic store bought stuff people find appealing.

The brisket was sliced.  Sliced about as thin as a brisket can be sliced.  Since the slices lacked any trace of a fat cap it appears they use a trimmed flat instead of the whole packer.  There was a little smoke ring on the brisket and some resemblance of bark on the pork but not much.

I love cole slaw!  You’ve got to really screw up to serve a cole slaw I don’t like.  The cole slaw at Smokey’s Kitchen is so full of cilantro that it’s almost inedible.  I’m not one of those cilantro haters.  I love cilantro.  But cilantro doesn’t even come close to matching the flavor profile in the meat/sauce.  It I’d ordered some nice fish tacos this slaw would have been perfect with a little chipotle sauce.  But with BBQ it failed.

The beans were good but the bar, by this point, was pretty low.  They had nice flavor and appeared to have been made fresh.  The corn bread was awesome, the best part of the meal and the only thing I completely finished.

Smokey’s Kitchen has quite an extensive menu.  And there’s a good chance some of the other dishes are good.  But whatever you do stay away from the pulled pork and brisket.

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Recently the folks at ManGrate contacted me on Twitter and asked if I’d like to give their ManGrates a try.  And since, as far as I’m concerned, one of the Holy Grails of grilling is perfect grill marks I just had to say yes.

Of course it’s about more than just grill marks, it’s about flavor.  And there’s nothing like cast iron when it comes to getting the great flavor a good sear gives to piece of meat.

The picture above shows the ManGrates right out of the box, just before turning on the heat to start the seasoning process.

According to their website ManGrate’s cast-iron design utilizes radiant heat – instead of convection heat or “hot air” – searing in the juices but allowing the meats to cook evenly. The smoke rails are the angled ledges on each bar of the ManGrate.

These ledges are designed to trap and retain oils and fats released during grilling, and it’s these juices aid
in the natural smoking process, giving meats a rich, barbequed flavor. They also serve to reduce flair ups.

Here you can see the ledges after they’ve been seasoned.  The first time through with osome lean cuts of steak I wasn’t able to tell if they really made much difference. 

I used the ManGrates on my Char-Broil RED unit.  My impression of the ManGrates was than with in infrared heating process on this particular grill that it took way to long to get them up to a temperature where they would sear the meat.  They may work better on a gas grill with flames directly underneath the grill grates.  I’m going to get the ManGrates another try using my Weber kettle.  Since I’ve been using cast iron grates on the Weber I’ll be able to see just how well they work.

The ManGrates worked as advertised.  You can see the the great grill marks.  It’s hard to get the cross hatch or diamond pattern on normal grill grates and ManGrates give you the presentation you want when grilling up steaks or chops for dinner.

There is nothing more All-American than the hamburger in my book.  There has got to be a good reason hamburgers are found at family reunions, picnics, tailgate parties and the like.  It’s because they just scream friends and good times.

In my book there isn’t much you can do to improve upon the hamburger.  So when I got the chance to give August Kitchen’s J-Burger seasoning I took it.  Most “hamburger” seasonings are dry spice type seasonings.  As you’ll see this is far from the case with this product.

I’m always interested in how a product comes to market.  The August Kitchen story from their website:

Why not fresh ingredients?

We were seasoning our burgers with dry, processed powders and decided to give the real stuff a try. We were amazed at the difference it made in our burgers. They tasted delicious and so moist. We then tried our mix with other ground meat dishes like meatballs and meatloaf and realized our seasoning made any ground meat dish taste better but it required so much chopping and prepping.

After constant requests for J-Burgers, having to make extra mix for friends and family to take home, and requests for the recipe, our friends and family encouraged us to take the recipe and bottle it.

We’ve taken our homemade recipe and shared it with everyone looking for that gourmet meal without all the work.

I was expecting more of a sauce when I opened the jar.  Something along the consistency of A1 Sauce with a little chopped onion in it.  I was pleasantly surprised to see, truly a seasoning, instead of sauce.  It actually looked like it had some “meat” to it.

J-Burger Seasoning is a concoction made from Fresh Onions, Worcestershire Sauce  Diced Tomatoes, Bread Crumbs , Olive Oil, Kosher Salt and Spices.  I’ve got to be honest and say that when I first opened the jar I was not impressed with the aroma of the product.  It actually didn’t smell all that great.  But I’m used to a variety of BBQ products not smelling as good as they taste.  So I put that aside and set out to make me some burgers.

The instructions call for 1 tablespoon of J-Burger Seasoning for each 5 oz patty.  I wanted to make sure I could taste the seasoning so I went with 1 tablespoon for each 4 oz patty.

You can see that the chopped onions and tomatoes really add a great deal of thickness to the seasoning.  This made it really easy to mix in into the hamburger.  Make sure you mix it up good, you don’t want any chunks of the stuff to bite into.

Form into your patties and get them on to your hot grill.

I almost always make quarter pound patties for the family and I’ve pretty much got the whole process down to a science for cooking them.  I know how many briquettes to use and how long to cook them on each side to get medium rare burgers.  I’m not sure what it was this time, maybe it was my timing or maybe it was the J-Burger Seasoning but what normally came out as medium rare came out medium to well done.  I’m going to go through the whole process again but use hamburger with a little more fat in it next time.

The burger tasted awesome.  I’m normally a fully loaded burger guy.  I love pickles, red onion, pickle relish, tomato, lettuce and sometimes avocado and jalapenos.  This time I went with 1,000 Island Dressing, tomato and lettuce.  Wanted to make sure I could taste the J-Burger.  It tasted good, it had a nice flavor that complimented the meat and the condiments.  It seemed the meat carmelized a little more than normal.  That also added a nice texture to each bite.

J-Burger Seasoning also comes in a “Onion & Chipotle” version that I’m going to try soon on some meatloaf smoked on the Traeger.

For those with dietary allergies to worry about J-Burger Seasoning contains: Contains yeast, wheat, egg, milk, sunflower, soy and sesame.

Where to find J-Burger Seasonings.

I jumped at the chance to review this product. I enjoy smoking with fruit woods and love many fruit flavor-based rubs, so a fruit-based BBQ sauce seemed like a good idea.

When the sauce arrived and I had a chance to read the ingredients, I was curious to say the least. “Pickled Strawberries” were listed as the main ingredient and upon learning this, I started to have a little trepidation.

The sauce was so thick I couldn’t get it out of the bottle. It was similar to trying to get the first bit of catsup or mustard out of those little bottles. I had to use a butter knife to scrape it out.

The smell was not like any other sauce I’ve ever tried. The initial taste test was shocking to say the least. It was terrible. Knowing that some sauces just don’t taste good out of the bottle, I grilled up a couple of pork chops and chicken thighs to try it with food.

Folks, don’t buy this stuff. It was, without a doubt, the worst bbq product I have ever used. I’ve eaten many things in my life and it is a rare occasion that I can’t swallow what I cook. I had to spit the piece of pork chop out. Thinking it was just my taste buds, I asked my wife to try it. She had the same end result.

If it wasn’t listed on their website at www.tassleberryfarms.com, I would have thought someone was playing a practical joke on me. It was that bad. If you’ve read my reviews in the past, you know I always try to find something positive to say. I can’t find anything positive about this product.

(Photo Courtesy of Tassleberry Farms)

The BBQ was as ordinary as ordinary commercial bbq can get. The pork ribs were your normal fall of the bone mush one comes to expect from a chain restaurant. The pulled pork had a little bark but lacked any real rub or smoke flavor. The chicken was just dry old banquet quality chicken. The sauces was served already coating everything and lacked any originality. Might as well have been off the shelf, grocery story bottled sauce.

The wait staff lacked any personality that might have made the evening at least somewhat interesting. When one of the waitresses spilled a drink on our table they made some token effort to clean it up. When we tried to mop up the mess with our cloth napkins a bus boy was nice enough to drop off a stack of terry cloth towels with the advice that “these should work better for you.”

Since Lee Roy Selmon’s bills itself as a sort of sports bar it should have been a clue that it wasn’t going to be all that good when the place was half empty on the night of the BCS Championship game.

All and all this was not an All-American effort.