Char Crust

Looking for a wet or dry rub recipe that emmulates a product called "Char Crust:" made in Chicago to char steaks a bit better on a gas grill. Paul Kirk's Basic We Rub found on page 78 of his book, Barbeque Sauces seems to be a good starting point. The stuff really works, but a a buck and quarter an ounce its on the expensive side!

There are a couple of sites for " Char Crust" :

www.charcrust.com/

www.ironq.com/ (page down to "spices and rubs")

Hope this helps you, or at least gives you some where to start at..

Pete

Hickory Pete -

Have you used this product before? If so what are the results?

dkirn,

I've never used this product before. I just went looking for the web site to try and help the originator of the post. Hopefully, if the information is helpful, the person who started the post will share it with all of us. It does sound interesting.

Pete

I have ordered some and I will post my results

Thanks, dkirn. Charcoal blackened crust really does sound good. I'll keep looking to see if I can find something similar to the recipe anywhere, and post it if I find it. In the meantime..looking forward to your results.

Pete

My brother said that he has a recipe for the Char Crust rub (he lives in Chicago). If I get it I will post

Maybe we can talk Steve into formulating a version of this for us. Steve?

That's a great idea. It looks as if Char Crust is proprietary, and very well protected. I have noticed that in some instances, Steven, will take a recipe and develop it by taste, tweaking it a little to improve it. I have read this in some of his books, just can't think of which specific one it was. Of course, that's how new ideas develop. Well, enough of my Monday morning rambling...

Pete

Yep, IMHO that's really what sets Steve apart is his ability to conduct such alchemy. Forget about his classic french trainging and what not. Chefs like that are a dime a dozen. His ability to blend spices and herbs is IMHO exceptional. Steve, help us out with something for this.

I hear that Julia Childs was a wiz at doing that too.

Who would have believed that while strolling through the local Shopright last night that I would come across the afore mentioned product. Needless to say, I picked up a bag of the original hickory and also a bag of the smoky spicy southwest. Now whilst I was merely out to gather some milk for the young one, this prompted a detour to the butcher. Picked up 3 nice new york strips and the adventure was about to get underway. I dredged the 3 cuts in the mixture, coating evenly on all sides and placed them in the broiler for 5 minutes the first side, and 4 minutes the other. They came out to a nice medium. I must say that I was thoroughly impressed with the outcome- sweet, spicy, sour, everything was present. Nice color and texture as well. Highly recommend this one. Thank you guest. As for the ingredients:

Original Hickory- Processed wheat, salt, sugar, spices, caramel color, hydrolyzed soy & corn protein, paprika, mustard, natural hickory smoke.

Spicy Southwest- Processed wheat, salt, sugar, chili peppers (red, ancho, chipoltle), spices, onion, garlic, cilantro, caramel color, natural mesquite smoke flavor, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, paprika.

Good luck with the "spices" portion. it shouldn't be too hard for the vets out there to figure it out. Cheers