FYI - If you missed part 1 of this article the CLICK HERE.
Forget buying BBQ spices, rubs, and sauces in a grocery store. It’s time to change the taste of your barbecued, griddled, and smoked meals. To help elevate the taste of your creations, switch up those sauces, spices, and rubs by taking inspiration from more great Canadian innovators.
Let’s face it, you are NOT going to find such a fantastic variety of Canadian-made sauces, rubs, and spices at any of the conglomerate retailers, like you will at your local Barbecues Galore retail store. How can we be so sure? Go ahead and read those labels. We have a dozen Canadian brands in stock every day.
This article highlights the talents of seven more of our top-selling Canadian brands, each with unique blends of flavour designed to elevate your barbecue meals. These are: Dark Side of the Grill, Ted Reader, Maritime Madness, Motley Que, Smokes, Westside, and Killer Bunny.
Let’s get to it:
Serving up legendary BBQ globally, Mel Chmilar Jr is excited to bring his unique blend of spice rubs and signature recipes to Barbecues Galore’s family of grillers. Mel is an award-winning pitmaster, pit builder, TV personality, and proud Canadian, celebrated for bringing the heat and flavour of live-fire cooking from the Great White North to audiences worldwide.
Dark side of the Grill products stand out for their quality ingredients and bold, global flavours. His collaboration with Heartbeat Hot Sauce, featured on the popular TV show Hot Ones, showcases his dedication to unique, high-quality ingredients.
A global BBQ ambassador, Mel has been spotlighted in numerous magazines, TV shows, and online platforms. His energetic performances at international live-fire events—from Memphis in May to the Key West Invitational (where he took home Grand Champion honors)—have earned him recognition on stages from New Zealand to Brazil. Mel’s signature catchphrase, “Fire in the Hole!,” never fails to ignite excitement in crowds.
When he’s not competing or appearing at BBQ festivals, Mel is part of the pro cooking team for Big Green Egg. Based in Alberta, he’s a full-time caterer, event host, and instructor, leading hands-on classes and caterings that inspire a new generation of grill enthusiasts.
If you haven’t tried it yet, one of our staff recommendations is the gluten-free, Mel Toro Rub, which was originally crafted as the perfect prime rib crust. This versatile rub has evolved to enhance any cut of beef. Whether you're cooking tri-tip, Picanha, beef ribs, or roast, it's loaded with the bold flavour your beef craves! Dark Side of the Grill rubs pair perfectly with plenty of meats. Check out his Recipes HERE.
Canadian innovation from PEI, Maritime Madness has always been proud to keep product development, production, and fulfillment in-house intentionally. When you reach out to Maritime Madness, you're speaking directly to the people who make and ship your product. No co-packers, fulfillment centers, or salespeople, just real folks at a family-run business.
Whatever you're eating, Maritime Madness has got a sauce for that! They strive to have something great for you, no matter what heat level, flavour profile, or lifestyle diet/protocol you follow, at a great value and always with health, flavour, and local sourcing in mind.
Like many foodies, they are always looking for perfect pairings - one sauce does not fit all. That's why they take pride in producing a large variety of the finest sauces you can find, and continue to innovate year after year, @ 40+ sauces and counting. A family business for over 20 years. From the recipes to the packaging design, the Maritime Madness brand and product offerings are continually evolving.
Candied Jalapeño Hot Sauce is a Barbecues Galore Staff Pick from 2025. Beautiful on eggs, fajitas, and burgers.
Check out their RECIPES HERE.
Award-winning, gluten-free sauces and rubs from Edmonton, Alberta. Big Joe & Jess are BBQ Champions, Educators, and Founders of Motley Que U. With thousands of students trained, award-winning sauces and rubs, and wins like Best Sauce on the Planet (American Royal) and 2024 Alberta Cup Chicken Champion, they bring unbeatable knowledge, passion, and energy to every single class.
Find your FIXX, from Sticky Fixx to Brisket Fixx, Chicken Fixx to Maple Fixx, Motley Que rubs and sauces will feed your obsession for great flavour.
Ted Reader’s passion for all things smoked and grilled is extremely contagious. You’ll often find him spreading his gospel of BBQ at live cooking demonstrations and TV and radio appearances that keep fans salivating for more!
Known as the ‘Godfather of the Grill’, his charm and fearless culinary spirit has led Ted to become an award-winning chef, author, food and product innovation entertainer and a professor of Modern Culinary Applications Innovations at the Canadian Food and Wine Institute at Niagara College.
Steak Bonedust is legendary, and a Barbecues Galore Staff Pick.
Ted has written over twenty-one cookbooks and has won such awards as Cookbook of the Year for the 2014 Single-Subject Cookbook at The Taste of Canada Food Writing Awards for Gastro Grilling. Other books he has written include:, Beerlicious: The Art of Grillin’ and Chillin’, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Smoking, and Napoleon’s Everyday Plank Grilling just to name a few.
Ted owns over 75 grills and smokers. Today, you can find Ted in the backyard of his Toronto home tinkering with toys and developing creative and delicious recipes.
RECIPES LINK: Find a fresh, juicy cut of meat to match one of Ted’s recipes and get it sizzling on the grill in your backyard!
Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Westside creates some of the finest craft sauces on the planet. These sauces are made from all-natural ingredients. No chemicals. No filler. They pour their heart and soul into making our sauces and use only the finest local ingredients available.
Great as a marinade, dipping sauce, wing sauce, really, it’s any kind of sauce!
Killer Bunny rubs from Alberta bring you Papi’s Big Beef Rub, a Barbecues Galore favourite.
Elevate your BBQ game with Killer Bunny BBQ Killer Coffee Rub. Infused with coffee and fresh spices, this rub adds delicious flavour and creates a beautiful colour on your meat. Perfect for competitions or family gatherings, it's versatile and enhances the taste of brisket, prime rib, steak, and roast. Simply, apply liberally and elevate your grilling experience!
Brisket Black Beef BBQ Rub … What else needs to be said? These rubs and seasonings are Proudly Crafted in Alberta, Canada. Not your average BBQ rub, our Beef Barbecue blend will take your taste buds for a wild ride. Made specifically for beef, it brings out the best in both flavor and texture, giving your BBQ that perfect bark. Don't let the name fool you - this coffee-infused rub is versatile enough for all types of red meat, from burgers to game. Even veggies will thank you for the added zest.
We hope this article helped inspire you to try something new for your next barbecued meal.
Barbecues Galore is a proudly Canadian retailer, serving Canadian homeowners since 1979. Our ‘must-see’ showrooms feature great Canadian products online and on shelves in our six stores.
*In case you missed Part 1 of this article, please check our fabulous five originals: House of Q, Prairie Smoke & Spice, Fury Hot Sauce, Cluck & Squeal, and Neil’s Real Deal.
Our innovative purchasing team continues to track down the best of the best in Canadian sauces, spices, and rubs, so stay tuned for Part 3 of this article.
NOW WE HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU:
CLICK HERE TO VOTE ONLINE – If Barbecues Galore set up a loyalty program for Canadian-made sauces, spices & rubs, would that compel you to try a greater variety of these new products, or do you prefer to just stick with your favourites?
