re: Rib rub and sauce

I actually developed a smoked rib recipe for a processing company many years ago. They asked for a full flavored rub and a simple rub (they emphasized simple).

Both rib products were outstanding and the customer was shocked at how good the simple rub tasted (salt, black pepper, and white sugar...that's all it was). And I will admit, it was damn good but it had no color whatsoever. In the end, they went with the full flavored rub (most of the ingredients I listed in the previous post) and processed smoked ribs for years using that seasoning.

But, again, the salt-pepper-sugar tasted great.