Draper’s BBQ Launches New Beef Rub – Moo’d Enhancer

Big News in the World of Barbecue

This is BIG news in the world of Barbecue. Draper’s BBQ has just launched his newest rub for beef – Moo’d Enhancer. Building on the success of his DBQ Smokin’ Sauce and A.P. Rub, Shane Draper has done it once again, and created what may be the de facto beef rub for brisket, burgers, beef ribs and all things that used to “Moo”. Yes, Moo’d Enhancer (Bovine Enhancement Powder) has been created solely for enhancing your beef cookouts.

While Moo’d Enhancer got its start as a brisket rub, it morphed numerous times in development towards an overall spicy and almost “umami” flavor profile that lends itself to a much broader use. It will be just as useful and welcome in the home cook’s pantry as well as a strong contender for space in the competition cook’s arsenal.

And to emphasize that last fact, I’ve enlisted the help of an award-winning KCBS Competition team owner, our friend Kit Rudd of Degüello BBQ, to offer his opinions, as a professional BBQ competitor on this remarkable new rub. What follows is my review as a backyard griller, and Kit’s review as a KCBS competitor.

The Rub:

Ingredients: sea salt, spices including paprika, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, turbinado sugar, soy sauce powder (soy sauce (wheat, soybeans, salt), maltodextrin, salt), MSG (monosodium glutamate), and not more than 1% tricalcium phosphate added to prevent caking. contains soy, wheat

The Moo’d Enhancer rub is very low in sodium, despite the inclusion of sea salt and soy sauce powder. Also, the addition of the turbinado sugar is there only to balance out the overall taste. It does have monosodium glutamate (MSG) in it, but for me, MSG is the “secret ingredient” in a few of the rubs and seasonings I put together for our own use here at HotSauceDaily.

Regarding the MSG, Shane says:

I know some folks will surely balk at this [the MSG] as the world is full of whining health food nuts. The fact of the matter is that the product already had some naturally occurring [MSG] via soy powder and we kicked in just a bit more… because it greatly impacted and bettered the product overall. It is oddly enough also included in every other rub that I keep on hand.

A Backyard Griller’s point of view:

Here’s my take on the Moo’d Enhancer (Bovine Enhancement Powder) from my own backyard griller’s experiences.

Appearance: As you can see in the photo above, this is indeed a fine powder of a rub – a welcome change from all the chunky, gritty “Montreal Seasoning” wannabe’s. As such, this rub benefits from a “heavy hand” in applying it on your meat.

Taste: Overall, there is a Southwest flavor that is predominant – with garlic, chipotle, coriander and chili powder components – definitely a spicy blend. And a Texas flavor is well represented with the black pepper and onion. Overall, a great balance between spicy, dark and umami, and ever so slightly sweet.

We first tried Moo’d Enhancer on some mini burger sliders to get a feel for the flavor.

The rub did indeed bring these burgers up a few notches from mundane to delicious. Add a thick slab of sharp cheddar and sliced onion, and your friends will wonder what the heck you put in these!

You’re going to mix in a good handfull of rub into a pound of ground beef for the patties, then dust them liberally before you grill them.

Next came the ultimate test – beef brisket. Since this rub was essentially developed for brisket, that seemed to be the most logical next step. (Brisket is easy – we’ll get into that in another post).

For now, and for you smoker geeks, suffice it to say, I used the High Temp method from The Virtual Weber Bullet on our WSM – 5 hours at 325º – and cooked the best brisket I’ve done out of a half dozen or so!

Overall impressions: Forget that other Montreal steak seasoning stuff, and give Moo’d Enhancer a run on your next rib-eye steak, burgers, brisket, or even beef ribs. You will love it. And do not be surprised to find out that Moo’d Enhancer shows up more and more on the Competition Circuit!

Speaking of Competition BBQ… next up is Kit’s review from his professional KCBS (Kansas City Barbeque Society) competitive viewpoint.

A KCBS Competitor’s point of view:

Kit Rudd:

I was fortunate enough to get an advance sample of Shane Draper’s new Moo’d Enhancer Beef Rub, and I have to say that as I wrote my review I was conflicted. Why, you might ask? I’ll be honest, this rub was so good I felt like I wanted to keep the secret to myself and not share with anyone else. Shane has a winner here.

For this review, I wanted the rub to be the star, so I selected a typical USDA Choice brisket and injected with my standard competition recipe. I layered on the Moo’d Enhancer quite heavily, and as it went on the brisket I was struck by the aroma. This rub just smells “fresh” – I can’t think of a more descriptive term. It’s got savory, almost citrusy notes and is completely unlike my usual brisket rubs. After applying I let the brisket rest in a cooler for about five hours before putting it in my Backwoods Extended Party smoker.

As the cook progressed, the rub took on a nice mahogany brown color. I don’t like an overly dark finish, so I was pleased with the bark this rub produced. I foiled, cooked to finishing temperature and let the brisket rest in our oven warming drawer for about four hours.

After resting, I sliced the brisket and the aroma hit me again. This is by far the most fragrant beef rub I’ve ever used. And the taste did not disappoint. This rub has multiple layers of flavors that hit the palate at different places and order. The first taste is almost citrusy (that fresh taste again) but with a bit of salt and heat. The finish is slightly peppery, but just when I thought it was going to overpower it was gone. And I was left wanting more. Like right away. My mom has always said that certain foods have a “morish” flavor (as in the taste makes you want more) and Moo’d Enhancer is certainly “morish.”

Bottom line, this is a complete, complex rub that stands alone and needs no adjuncts. After using it, I’d use Moo’d Enhancer in competition. And maybe I will. Now where is Shane’s number … ?

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You can buy Moo’d Enhancer and all of Draper’s BBQ products at Drapers BBQ Store. Be sure and tell them HotSauceDaily sent you!