The results are in; Urban Smoke BBQ Rub v1.0 is ridiculously good

After purchasing my 13-spice chemistry set from the wonderful folks at Penzeys Spices, I spent a snowy Friday evening crafting my first BBQ rub. Once morning arrived with record breaking snow accumulations, it became very clear that this was going to be a day of sacrifice that would satisfy even the most omnipotent of BBQ gods.

So after getting the WSM started with Wicked Good 100% Natural Charcoal Briquettes and Cherry Wood, my partner in crime and I began preparing 6 slabs of St Louis cut spare ribs. We applied the new rub liberally to each rack, and using a rib rack placed them in the pit.

After about an hour we realized the temp wasn’t getting above 200 degrees even with the bottom 3 vents open 100%. We then started about 50 more briquettes in the chimney starter to generate some more heat. After another 10 minutes it became obvious that this wasn’t going to cut it either. We then grabbed an old beach towel and wrapped it around the WSM, and amazingly this small amount of insulation quickly brought the temp above 225. I then closed the 3 vents to ¼ open for the rest of the cook to keep at 225.

To finish the ribs I pulled each rack off and foiled them with a layer of butter and brown sugar. I then placed them back in the smoker for about 10 minutes while the butter and brown sugar melted into a sweet beautiful glaze.

The final product was a sweet, smokey, and spicy delight. The impact of the 13-spice rub was obvious in the smooth controlled burn on the tongue that lingered well after the tasting. It was the perfect balance of heat, sweet, and smoke.