Meat Church BBQ Rub Combo: Holy Cow and Holy Gospel

Holy Cow is the rub Meat Church describes as screaming Texas, and it name-checks Franklin, Kreuz, Black’s and Smitty’s to make the point. It’s a beefy seasoning of salt, spice and dehydrated garlic, made for brisket, tri-tip and steaks, though plenty of people shake it on chicken and burgers too.

Holy Gospel is the second bottle, a blend of Holy Cow and Meat Church’s all-purpose Gospel rub. The company says it isn’t a simple half-and-half mix and took a lot of test cooks to get right, partly because some customers found Holy Cow too much of a black pepper punch. Gospel adds sugar and paprika to the mix and is meant for ribs, chicken and beef.

This combo is one bottle of each, including a 12-ounce Holy Cow. Both are gluten free with no MSG, and both work for grilling, smoking, baking or roasting.

Rubs get used up, which is exactly why they work for a dad who owns every grill tool there is. There’s always room on the shelf for another bottle, and two styles cover brisket on Saturday and ribs on Sunday.

The catch: it’s seasoning, so it runs out, and Holy Cow leans hard on pepper and salt. A dad who mostly cooks chicken will probably reach for the Gospel bottle more often.