Fire of Coals is a Charlotte-based small batch and hand crafted barbecue rub and sauce company run by Lawrence Heath, who is active in the community barbecue scene, regularly helping out the Charlotte Rescue Mission, churches, and local boyscout troops using his NC-made BQ whole hog trailer. I’ve been following the Fire of Coals Instagram account for a few years now and as it turns out, Lawrence is actually a neighbor of mine.

I found this out when I bought a used burn barrel off a NC barbecue Facebook group and lo and behold, the seller was Lawrence and he lived not a quarter mile from me in south Charlotte. Once we got to talking barbecue it wasn’t too long that we figured out that we followed each other. Small world.

Along with the burn barrel, I also purchased a bag of his “Lowcountry BBQ Rub” which is an all natural ingredient rub made with assorted spices, brown sugar (there is a no sugar variant as well), and curiously enough, coffee grounds from Charlotte-based Enderly Coffee. The packaging states that it is gluten free and works with pork, poultry, beef, and seafood. Over the next couple of weeks I gave the rub a spin on a few different pork items – ribs, a small pork butt, and a pork tenderloin – as well as chicken wings from Joyce Farms and was generally more than pleased with the results.

The ribs were the most successful of the pork items. I’ve gotten into ribs a bit more recently and twice I used the Lowcountry BBQ rub as the base rub before finishing with a couple of different barbecue sauces (Rufus Teague Honey BBQ and Lillie’s Q Memphis). Whether it was due to a new technique, the rub, the sauces, or (more than likely) a combination of each, these were the best ribs I’ve smoked in my life. As in, not even close between these ribs and previous racks I’ve smoked that were overdone and dry.

As for a pork butt, I’ve become really accustomed to simply using salt on them a la Lexington Barbecue. This time around with the Lowcountry Rub on a 5.5 lb smaller pork butt cooking at a higher temp, the pork butt came out well but all things considered I might prefer just salt. Certainly no shots at the Fire of Coals rub, but I might just be getting stuck in my ways.

Finally, I tried the rub on a pork tenderloin cooked in a pan on the oven as well as some smoked wings on my Weber, both to great results. Based on the results of each of these meats, I can see myself continuing to reach for it on future cooks, perhaps giving it a try on some seafood or some beef.

The story behind Fire of Coals is detailed on the rub packaging, stating how Lawrence’s family is originally from “the Cape Fear River Basin area of eastern Carolina and cooked farm raised pork, chicken, beef, wild game, seafood and garden fresh produce for community gatherings on the Heath family farm.” It’s a pretty cool backstory to the company and a reminder that buying from Fire of Coals is supporting local (and in my case, hyper local).

Order the “Lowcountry BBQ Rub” online at Fire of Coals