Recipe Weekend - Product Review and Giveaway: Char-Crust Dry Rub Seasonings

We love to grill and smoke meat, so when we were offered the chance to try some dry rubs that are new to the market, we eagerly said YES!

Char Crust dry rub seasonings were first created in 1957 at Al Farber's legendary Chicago family Chicago steakhouse. Their two original dry rubs were Original Hickory Grilled (originally called just Char Crust) and Roto Roast. Al closed the restaurant in 1977, but the family kept making the rubs for the addicted customers, and fellow restaurants! The public line was begun in ernest in 1998, but is just now picking up national attention. New flavors have been added, but the concept remains the same: a sizzling seared crust, with meat bursting with juicy flavor.



The benefits of Char Crust dry rubs are many:

• You can use Char Crust dry rubs on any meat or fish, even vegetables.
• They still make our dry rubs themselves, in small batches with only the best herbs and spices
  • Char Crust dry rub is one of very few certified kosher rubs on the market.
  • Most of the dry rubs do have moderate amounts of sodium, but they are lower than most rubs, and one is actually low sodium.

We were sent four flavors to try (there are 9 total):

• Roasted Garlic Peppercorn- features the robust flavor of roasted garlic and onions with the zing of peppercorns and a hint of Worcestershire and lavender. Its versatility has made it a best seller. It complements steaks, lamb, seafood, pork, poultry, and potatoes.

• Ginger Teriyaki - a balance of sweet teriyaki, fragrant ginger, plus a tingly touch of wasabi that lends a new dimension and creates a modern teriyaki interpretation. It complements chicken, fish, and steak.

• Amazin’ Cajun - a spicy-sweet blend of piquant cayenne pepper, onion, garlic, oregano and a mélange of other Mardi Gras flavors. It brings the sublime heat of New Orleans to catfish, chicken, shrimp, and even “dirty” rice.

• All American Barbecue -takes the best flavors of American barbecue and blends them into a tangy-sweet, slightly spicy rub. It has rich molasses from Memphis, tangy tomato from Kansas City, mustard, pepper and vinegar from the Carolinas, plus a wisp of smoke from Texas

We had 3 packs of large chicken breasts, so after tasting all the rubs, we decided that the BBQ and Ginger Teriyaki would probably be to our liking the best, so we tried them. It was uber-simple to use them. Just dredge the chicken in the rub, place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes (these were HUGE breasts, otherwise an hour would have be sufficient). The result:

That's bbq on the left (reddish) and Ginger Teriyaki on the right.  The bbq was tasy with a bit of zing to it- more Kansas CIty style to me. The Ginger had a flavorable taste that was hard to describe-sweet and tangy at same time. The meat? YUMMY- under that crusty exterior was the juiciest chicken that tasted like it had been pressure cooked. The meat was perfectly done and everybody was very happy with their choice of meat! We had about 2/3 of each packet left, as I didn't coat the breasts on the underside, just top and large sides. So we have plenty left to try on some ribs (bbq) and salmon (ginger teriyali).


We had so much chicken left that we decided to cut up the bbq breasts the next day and add them to some homemade pizza. We diced up the meat and sauteed it in some of our regular bbq sauce (hint: 2 words, starts with second letter of the alphabet). We used some canned pizza dough, put some alfredo sauce on top, baked for 5 minutes, then pulled out and added more sauce, then the chicken, pepperoni (for Kiddo), avocado and sliced grape tomatoes, and 3 types of cheese. then baked according to can instructions. The result:

Oh yeah, some of the YUMMIEST pizza I've had in a LONG time! Everybody loved it! I actually think the chicken tasted better on day two! I love pizza made with alfredo sauce! We also decided to try the pizza again with leftover ginger teriyaki chicken, spinach, red onion feta and the grape tomatoes. Making me hungry just thinking about it!


We also decided to wait and use the Garlic Peppercorn on steaks, as it is definitely more of a beef or pork roast blend. the Cajun Seasoning is VERY spicy and would be better suited for ribs or a shrimp 'bbq' (as in the 'why is it called bbq?' NOLA style oven baked shrimp). We'll update you down the road on how they turn out!


We are definitely sold on Char Crust, and can't wait to try the original two rubs, and the other 3 flavors! You can buy the rubs from their website, or through stores in Canada and the U.S.-check out their store locator for your local store! At under $5 they are a steal, as you can use them for multiple meals like we did! be sure to check out their recipe section as well, for unique ways to use the rubs!


Would you like to try the 4 seasonings we were sent?


Char Crust has generously offered the same set to one lucky BTHM reader!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these rubs for review purposes, free of charge, from Wilks Communications for Savor! No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them.