MEAT CHURCH: Deez Nuts – Honey Pecan BBQ Rub (354g)

The rub that makes your smoker sound like a bakery

Deez Nuts is Meat Church's honey pecan rub — the one that turns a straightforward pork or chicken cook into something that smells like dessert is on the way. Matt Pittman built it for cooks who want big sweet-nutty flavour without reaching for a bottle of anything. Straight out of the shaker onto the meat, it does the heavy lifting on its own.

The flavour

Honey leads on the front, poured on rather than hinted at, thanks to real honey powder doing the work. The middle rounds out into toasted pecan — natural pecan flavour layered over paprika and dextrose for a nutty, praline-adjacent sweetness that's more bakery than barbecue. It finishes savoury and clean, with garlic and celery pulling the sugar back down to earth so it never tips into cloying. There's no chilli anywhere in it — this is a flavour rub, not a heat rub.

How to cook with it

• Pack it on heavy before a low-and-slow pork shoulder cook — the sugar and honey powder caramelise over hours into a properly sticky, mahogany bark.
• Dust chicken thighs skin-side up before a hot grill finish so the honey flashes into a praline-style crust in the last few minutes.
• Go light on fish fillets right before they hit a hot pan — the sugar catches fast, so it wants high heat and a short cook, not a slow one.
• Stir a spoonful through softened butter for a pecan-honey compound butter to melt over corn or a resting steak.
• Rogue move: rim a popcorn bowl with it for movie night — it's a proper smokehouse-caramel snack for zero extra effort.

In the shaker

A warm golden-brown, medium-fine rub that stays free-flowing rather than clumping, thanks to the small amount of silicon dioxide doing its job as an anti-caking agent. It's sugar-forward, so it catches and caramelises quickly on direct heat — build your bark with time and moderate temps rather than a hot flame.

Ingredients & Dietary

Ingredients: Sugar, salt, honey powder (refined syrup, honey), spices including paprika, dextrose, dehydrated garlic, celery, no greater than 2% silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), spice extractives, natural pecan flavour.

Dietary: Gluten free. No MSG listed on the ingredient panel. Always check the physical label for the most accurate ingredient, allergen and nutritional information.

The Rub Smuggler's Verdict

Smells like a bakery, works like a rub — that's the trick nobody talks about. Pack the bark on with this, mop it through the cook with Rum and Que's Meat Juice Glaze, then keep Uncle Mungo's Habanero Ketchup nearby for the finishing bite the sweetness needs.

Questions answered

Does Deez Nuts have any heat?

No — it's a sweet, honey pecan rub with no chilli in the ingredients, so there's no real heat. If you want warmth, add it after the cook with a hot sauce or spicy glaze.

What proteins does it work best on?

Pork, poultry and fish. It's built as a sweet, nutty finishing rub, so it shines brightest on proteins that can carry a bold honey-pecan crust.

Is Deez Nuts gluten free?

Yes, based on the listed ingredients, and there's no MSG on the panel either. Always check the physical label for the most accurate ingredient and allergen information.

How do I stop it burning on the grill?

Because it's sugar-forward, keep it on moderate, indirect heat for most of the cook and save direct high heat for a short finish — that's how you get bark instead of char.