BBQ Dry Rub

Barbecue Dry Rub

The dry rub that is applied to a meat before it is cooked is possibly the most important component in the BBQ process. The difference between good cooked meat and great barbecue is the rub. Like barbecue sauces there are many variations on the theme, but if you Google barbecue dry rub you will find most if not all of the following ingredients in most recipes. Experiment! Barbecue is not a formal doctrine. It is not a concerto. BBQ is jazz. It should change a little very time you do it. Most of all it should be casual and fun!

Last month's Cook's Illustrated included a recipe for rub. In it the writer stated that they detected little or no difference in the finished product if you applied the rub hours before cooking, or immediately before. To this I say - Horse Feathers! Apply the rub the night before, or at least the morning of your get-together. I can most certainly tell the difference. The following recipe can be prepared in any quantity; the proportions are the same. You can use teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, or your favorite hat. Use five hats of salt for one hat of mustard. (If you do use a hat you might have more rub than you can use in six months and you shouldn't keep spices more than six months.) I buy my spices at Penzey's Spices. A link is provided on the sidebar.

Standard Dry Rub recipe:

5 parts Kosher salt,

3 Parts (each) freshly ground black pepper, light brown sugar, and sweet paprika

1 part (each) dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, dried oregano.

With a good rub as a base many BBQ cooks will forgo an additional sauce. Strictly from a flavor standpoint you really don't need one. Some will argue that the sauce adds moisture, and it certainly does, but I encourage you to at least once - Try Going Nekkid! There are numerous advantages to this "Memphis Style" (sauce on the side) BBQ, not the least of which is that your beer bottle will not slip out of your hands so much if they are not covered with sauce.