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Week of Mild Day 4 Oakridge Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken Rub Review

A mild rub is our featured review for Day 4 of Week of Mild – Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken Rub.

About Oakridge BBQ:

Michael Trump is the owner of Oakridge BBQ out of Kearney, Missouri. Not only do they have an array of spice rubs that are second to none, they are a Barbecue Competition team that have won over 20+ plus awards. Michael Trump and Oakridge know what they are doing.

Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon bag and sample
Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon bag and sample

We won first place with a perfect score on pork spare ribs in our very first contest. Since then, I have competed in many barbecue contests and placed in the top-ten in at least one category in every contest I’ve competed in. In addition to these individual category awards, I have also won Grand Champion twice. ~ Michael Trump

Their selection of rubs run the gamut from game (game bird, venison or chicken), to steaks (Santa Maria) to beef and pork. Brines for chicken and pork and Habanero Death Dust rub for hot, spicy wings are all available at http://www.oakridgebbq.com/p/products.html

Before we get into the review of Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken Rub, I want to tell you that each and every one of their products or rubs are packaged in foil packets with a zip-lock style closure. Their quality of packaging is very classy.

Ingredients: raw cane sugar, natural sea salt, onion, garlic, chiles, ginger, coriander, turmeric, mustard, celery, shallots and other exotic herbs and spices

Oakridge Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken rub sample
Oakridge Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken rub sample

Texture & Appearance: A very coarse texture but with a consistent grind of all the other ingredients, gives this rub a big, bold look. It covers meat well, and does not shrink down or disappear. The instructions state to “allow rub to fully dissolve before cooking” but on two cooks on wings, I found that it just barely dissolves. I also made the mistake of adding even more rub to our wings after grilling… more on that later.

Taste Straight Up: Sweetness, onion and garlic dominate the flavor. This is a complex and savory rub! The spices and an almost umami flavor round out the overall taste. The sea salt comes in strong only as a first taste out of the bag. I’m happy to see the salt, and a “sea salt” at that, coming in as a 2nd place ingredient. So many rubs are salt, salt, salt at first. This rub benefits from the “raw cane sugar” as that is well known to have a higher burn point, and is more forgiving over your coals.

Heat Level: The chilies in the mix bring on a level 1 heat. Just enough for overall flavor. This is why this rub is in our “mild” category, and deserved a place in our “Week of Mild” series.

Label/Graphics/Packaging: I mentioned the classy zip-top foil envelopes already. As you can see from the pics, the label itself is simply the Oakridge BBQ logo along with big fonts for the titles of rubs, and a clear list of ingredients. It don’t get any classier than this, folks. šŸ™‚

Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken Rub on wings
Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken Rub on wings

Overall Rating (Taste on Food, Final Thoughts): I’ve used Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken Rub twice now, both times on some smoke-roasted wings. The end result was a superb, dry rubbed smokey wing. The flavor was complex, savory, sweet and delicious.

While we’re not competition BBQ cooks (as a matter of fact, we’re just BBQ comp groupies), I can imagine a chicken turn-in with the Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon rub would give anyone a leg up on the competition.

I dusted the wings a final time before serving, and this just made for a bit too much “rub” – I’m so guilty of overdoing things when it comes to rubs, smoke (wood) etc… they would be stellar without the extra dusting.

Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon on wings with beans
Dinner was Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon on wings with beans

Visit OakridgeBBQ.com and click on “products” for all they have to offer.

There is currently a big sale on their sample pack of 5 rubs:
1 Penny Ultimate Combo Sample PackIncludes All 5 Rub Varieties! That’s over 7 Ounces of Rub for under $5, shipping included!* – $4.95
See the sidebar on their site for details.

Like OakridgeBBQ on Facebook and follow @oakridgebbq on Twitter.

Oakridge BBQ plans to offer all of their rubs in bulk quantities soon, from 1/2 pound up to 4 pounds!

Disclaimer: We received this product courtesy of the manufacturer for review.

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3 Comments

  1. I have heard so many great things about Oakridge rubs so none of this surprised me. I have to try the sampler pack.

    1. The sampler pack they are offering is a great (and cheap) way to try all their rubs. Go for it.

      Unfortunately, it doesn’t include their Habanero Death Dust. šŸ™‚

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