Coffee or Expresso Rubs?

[Chris_Ryan]

Hey all - I'm looking to mix things up a bit. Just on the rub-sauce. I'm thinking of doing Last Meal Ribs, but instead of using the Memphis, use a coffee or expresso based rub.

Typically I use the recipe, pretty much to the letter, using the KC Classic sauce.

I'm thinking of pairing up the coffee rub with a coffee bbq sauce (because I apparently don't drink enough of the stuff between 9 and 5).

Any suggestions on either a great rub or sauce? Or would you recommend not pairing it up that way and maybe mixing matching (chocolate rub/coffee sauce etc)

[Huskee]

Chris, I've never dabbled in coffee or chocolate in my recipes, but I have an alternate rib rub and sauce. They're here in the recipes section in the rub and sauce categories. I suppose coffee could be added. I considered adding a couple tablespoons of instant coffee to my rub as a trial but I haven't done it. I worry it would just add bitterness and be counterproductive to my flavor profile....but never proven it either way.

[Chris_Ryan]

I have an alternate rib rub and sauce. They're here in the recipes section in the rub and sauce categories.

-You teasing me? Which ones? LOL

[Huskee]

Huskee's Rib Rub and Huskee's Original Shawsh

[Chris_Ryan]

Thankin' you, sir!
…AND OH. That makes a lot more sense now! LOL. It must be getting late.

[Huskee]

You're welcome. Let me know what you think.

[3DJ]

I use course freshly ground coffee on my flank steaks, along with a little pepper and salt. Turns out great. Not sure I want to add it to pork though. Jim

[Huskee]

I use course freshly ground coffee on my flank steaks, along with a little pepper and salt. Turns out great. Not sure I want to add it to pork though. Jim

Jim have you tasted side by sides of the coffee and the no-coffee? I'd be interested to try this. Regular ground coffee isn't gritty?

[3DJ]

Hi Aaron , I haven't don't side by side but I won't do it any other way now. I learned this at a charity cooking class at a local BBQ joint called City BBQ here in Columbus (they're really good too) and it just gives that steak a little extra crunch and a nice taste that goes well with beef. You don't really get a coffee taste at all.

Jim

[Huskee]

Thanks Jim, appreciate the hands-on. I'll have to give it a try!

[bbantel]

Chris, I've had ribs with a coffee rub on them and they were really good. They were no Last Meal Ribs, but the flavor was great. Could have benefited from an AR touch, imo. If the better half liked coffee, I'd do it in a heart beat.

I'm currently doing a coffee cure on some bacon. MH's maple bacon recipe, but with equal volume ground coffee replacing the pepper. They go in the smoker on Sat, and I fry it up for a Sunday brunch.

[Chris_Ryan]

The better half loves her coffee. Figured by doing this, might bring a grin to her face.

What's an AR touch (as soon as I send this it will hit me).

Love to know how the bacon comes out!

[bbantel]

AR - Amazing Ribs. The person who cooked the coffee rubbed ribs was not familiar with cooking Meathead's way. Doing the Last Meal Ribs recipe with the coffee rub he had would have been stellar.

I'll be talking about the coffee cured bacon in Makin' Bacon

[David Parrish]

I use course freshly ground coffee on my flank steaks, along with a little pepper and salt. Turns out great. Not sure I want to add it to pork though. Jim

How do you keep the coffee from burning when you sear the meat?

[patcrail]

David Parrish I know this is an old topic, and I’m guessing you have tried this by now, but I’ve had zero problem with the coffee "burning"... it tastes nothing like coffee, but adds a nice umami layer

[David Parrish]

I ended up trying a coffee rub or two, but yeah that was 5+ years ago. I really don't remember what I thought of them, other than I preferred just plain salt and pepper. Lately I've been expanding beyond that so maybe I'll try again!

[patcrail]

David Parrish I hear you... weird thing was, it didn’t make a huge difference EITHER way: not like you’d think. I really enjoyed the couple times I tried it, but not much different than all the other tweaks to a rub... not bad, cycled back to it a couple times, just didn’t make a strong enough impression to be a "must have" fan, but definitely on the "again" list

[_John_]

Just remember that sometimes flavors just don't work together
These are just nasty. I assumed they had to be ok, why else would someone allow them to be made? You suck Chad Scott.

[bbantel]

Being a coffee fan and a self-described foodie, I HAD to try these. HUGE disappointment.

[smarkley]

Yeah... saw those in the store, last weekend... I thought about it and said 'naaaaawwww, I'll pass' -- glad I did

[Spinaker]

sounds horrible

[mgaretz]

I have used coffee rubs (essentially Bobby Flay's recipe) on beef, pork and chicken. It works well on beef (but not nearly as well as MH's Big Bad Beef Rub or McCormick's Montreal Steak Rub), but is a fail on pork or chicken. Though I love chocolate, it was fail for me all around, except in a mole like sauce.

[_John_]

I happened to stumble on this, sounds pretty good.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/espresso-barbecue-sauce

[bbantel]

That looks really interesting. I might have to try it. I wonder when they say "8oz of espresso" do they mean 8oz of coffee using an espresso roast, or 8 1oz shots of espresso? I can only imagine the former, because I doubt people would sleep after the BBQ w/ 8oz of espresso in the sauce (that's roughly 8 cups of coffee!)

[Henrik]

I have tried this in two different ways, the first one failed, but then I succeeded. I use finely ground coffee. The type you use for regular coffee brewing at home. I haven't tried espresso or any other variations. What I did was to mix coffee with some other spices as a rub, put the meat in a plastic bag in the fridge for 3-4 hours (no less than 3), then bring it out and put it on the grate for some proper bbq. Lessons learned: 1. Leave it in the bag for at least 3 hours. You don't want gritty, so let the ground beans dissolve. 2. Use finely ground coffee. I think the end result came out really well, and I will do it again. Let me look up my recipe, will post it here.

[Henrik]

Ok, found it. I was cooking a top round (inside rear leg from the cow), and concocted this rub:

Rub (for 2 lbs of meat)
2 tsp finely ground coffee
2 tsp muscovado sugar
2 tsp smoked paprika (ground)

Put ingredients in a bowl an mix well.

I applied a thin layer of veg oil on the meat before applying the rub. Then put the meat in a plastic bag, and put it in the fridge for 4 hours. The idea is that you want the coffee to dissolve a bit from the meat juices and sugar moisture.

I then put the meat on the grate for some low n' slow.

Sauce on elder juice and grilled paprika
I wanted to match the rub flavor with a sweet and savory sauce, and made one using conc. elder juice and grilled paprika. I mixed those in a blender, threw in some fried shallots and cooking cream. It all came out really good.

[Bill P]

I have enjoyed Dizzy Pig's Red Eye Express for several years. Never used it on anything low-and-slow, but was good on pork chops. I mostly use it on chicken thighs hot-smoked with cherry. You might want to do some quick trials on chicken to see what you like first.

[David Parrish]

I have enjoyed Dizzy Pig's Red Eye Express for several years. Never used it on anything low-and-slow, but was good on pork chops. I mostly use it on chicken thighs hot-smoked with cherry. You might want to do some quick trials on chicken to see what you like first.

I tried Dizzy Pig in several flavors and didn't really care for any of them (though not red eye express). I guess I'm set in my "make my own dang rub" ways.