Butt Rub Spice Blend
All Purpose Seasoning with No Sugar and No MSG
In time for spring and the pre-BBQ’ing season that engulfs all sun-starved Canadians, a new line of quality rubs has just been launched in Canada. The quintessential fan favourite in the US is cheekily called “Butt Rub” and is used by champ barbequers, pro chefs and self-styled kings (and queens) of the grills everywhere.
What helps make this product both tasty and unique is that it’s an all-purpose seasoning with NO sugar and NO MSG- and it’s a wonderful combination of onion, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika and chipotle chile pepper. You can use it on steaks, chops, chicken, ribs, fish and even veggies, potatoes, eggs and popcorn!
Ontario Gas BBQ (see below) has the distributing rights for this product in Canada, which you’ll be able to savour at places like Rusty’s Blue around Collingwood’s ski country. Recently, Food Trends had a chance to catch up with Butt Rub’s Robert Worsley, the company’s Sales Manager to get the skinny about the rub. Here’s part of his interview.
Food Trends (FT): Who came up with the recipe and how?
Robert Worsley (RW): Byron Chism, professional chef and graduate of the CIA of Hyde Park, NY came up with the rub recipe. Byron knew what he was shooting for: a spice blend for BBQ that was well balanced and at the same time versatile enough for many other applications. Most spices for BBQ are not that versatile, Butt Rub is unmatched in its versatility. Byron wanted to put only the best individual ingredients into his product, everything in Butt Rub is top shelf and all-natural. The other factor was to keep salt content as low as possible and not to use any sugar.
FT: Why the name “Butt Rub?”
RW: The name came from the Boston Butt - a name designated by the USDA for the top portion of the pork shoulder. The "butt" is the most common cut for traditional BBQ and Byron used the pork butt for much of his testing while developing the spice. In the world of BBQ, spice used for BBQ is referred to as a rub since most BBQ cooks applies the spice and "rubs" it into the meat. So literally that's what it started out to be was a rub for butts. Byron checked the name Butt Rub and it was available. The name is now protected under trademark for our seasoning. The slogan "A little Butt Rub makes everything better" is also protected and is truly appropriate because of the versatility of the product.
FT: The company principals participate in a ton of BBQ competitions- what's the story behind that?
RW: What better way to establish credibility than to compete against the best BBQ cooks in the world than by using our product? I started competing before I met Byron, so cooking and competing are a passion for us. It has provided us a stage to market our product and because of our many wins, the team and product has been featured on Food Network (USA) and other media many times. Competition cooking as a sport has exploded in the last 10 years, opening up a viable way to showcase and market products.
FT: How has word spread about the product?
RW: I have always been told that word of mouth is the best advertising and I can honestly agree with that. We have approached the market with confidence in our product and that confidence has not been misplaced. We are in our 12th year and our growth has been steady and strong. We have been told we would not be able to penetrate the market without large sums of capital, and we would never make it without bowing to the demands of retailers and distributors (many of which are designed to keep new products out) but we have grown despite those predictions. People do appreciate quality. The very fact we successfully sell a 24oz jar of Butt Rub is a testament to how our customers respond to and use Butt Rub, it becomes a staple in there pantry, they use it on everything.
FT: Give us some non-traditional uses for Butt Rub?
RW: It’s great on pop corn, eggs, French fries, pizza with extra pineapple, bloody Mary's, microwaveable foods of any kind, chicken salad, potato salad, cold slaw, sautéed onions and the list could go on and on. (NOTE: for other Butt Rub ideas and recipes, click here).
FT: Any particular favourite way to use the rub yourself?
RW: Butt Rub Toast is one of my favorites. It’s simple and easy to do. First take white bread apply butter or margarine then a little Butt Rub on top then broil in oven until golden brown while still hot apply a drizzle of honey over the top.
For any of you BBQ fans out there, in Canada, the product retails for:
- 4.5 OZ = 4.99
- 24 OZ = 14.99
- 7 LB. = 59.95
**Butt Rub is available exclusively at:
3310 Langstaff Road
Concord, Ontario, L4K 4Z8
Tel: 905-761-8511
Butt Rub
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