No Sugar rubs and sauces

[SierraBBQGuy]

I know some of you here also follow a Keto or low carb diet. There are some no sugar added rubs on the market as well as sauces. I’ve found the sauces are terrible, in most cases. I’m now starting to make my own. I think pork, in particular needs sweet (not so much beef and chicken). Curious what sweeteners work best? There is a plethora of non sugar sweeteners on the market, with different reactions to heat, and aftertaste 🤮.

Anyone found store bought rubs and sauces that are good? I don’t do strict Keto, so a small ammount of sugar in a rub isn’t the end of the world, but a sweet BBQ sauce is entirely different.

For what its worth, I’ve lost 60 lbs over the past 2 years. I’ve done that by eating lots of meat! BBQ is the perfect way of eating on Keto. The #1 reason I’m here. Unfortunately my pizza oven isn’t getting much use lately.

[Huskee]

Great job on losing that weight! I went keto (not hardcore extreme like some Internet keto people, just sensible) and lost 35lbs in a summer. I just simply refused any BBQ sauce. The true keto stuff was trash, and I'd rather use a good tasty rub mix, even with a little sugar in it, and not ruin my meat with less than stellar sauce. My advice- just skip it.

Lol, I was just telling Meathead & the crew yesterday the reason I don't have a pizza oven is that I'd be 500lbs in a hurry. I don't exercise quite enough to offset the carb intake!

[Attjack]

Pizza once a week won't kill you. I actually worked it out and half this pizza is 546 calories, it has plenty of carbs at 61 grams, but it also packs 31 grams of protein. My diet tends to be naturally low in carbs, so the carbs in a meal here and there even out. What you want to stay away from is garbage takeout pizza and huge portions.

[jfmorris]

Something I like if trying to stay away from sweet KC style BBQ sauces are the vinegar based NC style BBQ sauces. You can make those with little to no sugar/sweetener, and they do amp up the pork a bit. They also double as a good slaw dressing to toss some shredded cabbage in.

[Dan Deter]

I think my answer might vary depending on how the pork is being cooked, although in general I'm a no sauce guy. For pulled pork, since I grew up eating Eastern NC style bbq, I say no sugar necessary in the sauce for pulled or chopped pork. For ribs I prefer no sauce, just the rub. Something like a chop or a tenderloin depends on how I'm cooking it, but generally minimal or no sugar in sauces.

[SierraBBQGuy]

I agree with all this. One thing sugar does though in a rub, is caramelize the meat. I have probably have a dozen different kinds of sweeteners in my pantry. I "think" Allulose may be the best for adding to a rub, or sauce, need to experiment a bit. I use the powdered version all this time for baking.

[Murdy]

I tend to do beef ribs when watching my carbs. I use a rub that's mostly salt & pepper with just a little white sugar to carmelize the bark (I think I got the recipe off the free side of the site). And, I prefer it sauce free, or with Meatheads Texas BBQ juice, which on a per serving basis isn't that high, and could be modified further to get the carbs down.

[SierraBBQGuy]

Great job on losing that weight! I went keto (not hardcore extreme like some Internet keto people, just sensible) and lost 35lbs in a summer. I just simply refused any BBQ sauce. The true keto stuff was trash, and I'd rather use a good tasty rub mix, even with a little sugar in it, and not ruin my meat with less than stellar sauce. My advice- just skip it.

Lol, I was just telling Meathead & the crew yesterday the reason I don't have a pizza oven is that I'd be 500lbs in a hurry. I don't exercise quite enough to offset the carb intake!

Trust me, there isn’t enough exercise in the world to off set the carbs in pizza. Since I started wearing a Continuous Glucose Meter, I’ve learned a lot about how foods affects me.

But I have to cheat once a month and eat pizza!

[rickgregory]

OK to answer your question... try things like erythritol as sweeteners. It's a sugar alcohol that your body doesn't react to metabolically. It is about 70% of the sweetness of sugar, so you might need to slightly increase the amount you'd use vs. if it were sugar.

NOTE - some people, especially if they eat a lot, see it, uh, run through them since it's not digested so try a little at first. BUT, I don't think this would be an issue with a sauce - you're just not going to use that much of it and especially you're not going to eat that much in a helping.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythritol

[Murdy]

There's a monk fruit based sweetener that's supposed to be good for baking that I've been wanting to try in a sauce or rub but haven't gotten around to yet.

[smokin fool]

Congrats on the weight loss, I've battled my weight for years.
I have swapped out white sugar and use only brown sugar in limited quantities in my rubs and sauces lately.
A small thing and maybe not really doing much but makes me feel better.
....makes better bark on meats too IMHO....

[Dan Deter]

Unless in Canada brown sugar means unrefined sugar, maybe?

[Dan Deter]

Nope, apparently not, according to this Canadian source: https://sugar.ca/sugar-basics/types-of-sugar

[smokin fool]

Hmmm, I thought it was refined differently....
....oh well, it makes me feel better about what I'm eating so must count for something....

[Murdy]

I was just doing the math in my head on the Texas BBQ Juice: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...arbecue-juice/

I come up with about 60 carbs for a 5 cup batch. If you consume a quarter-cup serving, that's only 3 carbs -- unless I'm missing some carbs in the recipe.

[SierraBBQGuy]

I was just doing the math in my head on the Texas BBQ Juice: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...arbecue-juice/

I come up with about 60 carbs for a 5 cup batch. If you consume a quarter-cup serving, that's only 3 carbs -- unless I'm missing some carbs in the recipe.

I can handle that!

[smokin fool]

rickgregory and Dan Deter your right white and brown sugars have the same properties for lack of a better word. I’ve been under the impression for years brown sugar was different and better for you.
....boy, what’s balloons going to be popped next

[rickgregory]

I actually just learned that this was the case a few years ago. Before then, I thought the same as you.

However, since I keep molasses on hand, I can now make my own brown sugar tailored to how I like it. It's easy if you have a mixer - dump in some white sugar, add a little molasses and mix with the paddle attachment on low for a few minutes. Want it darker? add a bit more molasses.

[Dr J]

Flavorgod rubs is great.

[Smoke In My Eyes]

OK to answer your question... try things like erythritol as sweeteners. It's a sugar alcohol that your body doesn't react to metabolically. It is about 70% of the sweetness of sugar, so you might need to slightly increase the amount you'd use vs. if it were sugar.

NOTE - some people, especially if they eat a lot, see it, uh, run through them since it's not digested so try a little at first. BUT, I don't think this would be an issue with a sauce - you're just not going to use that much of it and especially you're not going to eat that much in a helping.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythritol

I know this is an older thread, but I'm new here and happily digging my way through the forum posts. Like the OP, I'm a diabetic and wear a constant glucose monitor. Over the past few years, I've swapped erythritol (Commercial name is Swerve, but there are others) for sugar (white and brown) in lots of recipes, especially my rubs. Flavor-wise, I haven't noticed any difference. Glycemic load-wise is a different story. I can eat all the BBQ I like without any spike in blood glucose. I've always preferred the vinegar-based sauces so that wasn't really a problem. Over the last few years, I've been able to drop about 80 pounds and been enjoying the succulent rewards of my smoker the whole time.

The only difference I've noticed is an interesting characteristic of erythritol. For some people, it causes a cooling sensation on the tongue not unlike mint. I've really come to enjoy it, especially in my rubs where it delivers a tingle similar to Szechuan peppercorns.

Thanks for all the great tips you've all been sharing!

[RonB]

Welcome to The Pit.

[Clawbear57]

Hello Smoke in My Eye welcome to the pit.