BBQ Rubs

The BBQ that crept into the "I'll shoot the hostages" thread made me hungry.

I know a number of you cook and it seems that it's possible that some of you might like different kinds of BBQ.

How many of you use a rub when you cook the meat?

I have usually cooked the meat naked and then used a spicy sauce towards the end, but watching the Cooking Channel it seems that all the top cooks do a rub. OK, I can live with that and I can understand how it would make a weak sauce seem better than it is.

It would also seem that if you used a rub it wouldn't matter what kind of sauce you used, the rub would cut across the taste borders.

So I have been playing with rubs. It seems that chili powder along with onion & garlic are the basis for almost all rubs. What do you guys use?

I tend to smother my meat in beer and then precook it in the oven before I hit the grill with it.

It has been said that there are 2 different kinds of cooks, the Artist & the Scientist.

The Artist is flamboyant with improvisations and cooks towards a “taste” they have in their head whereas the Scientist is fussy and follows every recipe to the letter.

With the Scientist every teaspoon is absolutely level and a recipe takes exactly the time it said to prepare it. If an ingredient isn’t on the shelves, the no matter how inconsequential it was, you simply couldn’t make the recipe. If you didn’t have sea salt then, BY GOD, you couldn’t make the recipe.

The Artist tends to enjoy cooking greatly and the Scientist cooks because they have to and/or because the want to make a favorable impression upon friends or spouse.

My wife and I are of the Artist persuasion which makes it tough to nail down a consistent blend,.

From a thread back in january. Do yourself a favor and eschew commercial chili powders and go for real ground chilis. So much better, so much cheaper.

ditchdigger wrote: My BBQ rub. This isn't particularly spicy just a whollop of flavor. First off the rule. Don't go and buy chili powder. It won't work. Chili powder is a spice mix that contains cumin and other stuff that will mess this up. Go to the mexican/ethnic foods aisle of the grocery store and get real gound chilis. As a bonus they are super cheap! 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons Kosher salt 3 teaspoons ground California chili 3 teaspoons ground Pasilla chili 3 teaspoons ground New Mexico chili (hot or mild is your preference) 3 teaspoons dry mustard 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons onion powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander Mix that up. put it in an old parmesean shaker or whatever you can find and apply liberally to whatever you want. Pork chops? Oh yeah. Chicken? Oh hells yeah! Beef? Damn right! Sprinkle it on burgers. Heck, I would probably enjoy it on breakfast cereal. Some variety for it? For pork ribs mix the rub with brown sugar and smoke them. Cooking in the oven and want some smokiness? replace some of the chilis with ground chipotle.

KISS

1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne

I grew up in the Memphis area so all my BBQ tastes comes from that area. I play around with different rubs and rarely write stuff down so I should have some better recipes but don't

EDIT: Now I do!

In reply to moparman76_69:

Double space & enter after each line you want to separate.

1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne

When I rub my meat, I like to use my left hand so it feels like someone el... wait... BBQ. Never mind.

jg

But for reals, mine varies by what happens to be in my cabinet at the time, but the first ingredient is pretty much always...

Hot Smoked Paprika. Really, if you stopped there, it would still be awesome.

I don't like using salt unless it's beef and only then if it's going to start cooking right away. Save the salt for seasoning unless you want to REALLY pay attention as it's marinating.

I prefer fine ground black pepper to coarse. More flavor, less crap in your teeth.

Onion powder, garlic powder and dry mustard are all powerful weapons, but can do weird things together. I try not to use more than two of the three.

Red pepper flakes are an awesome addition, especially when used with brown sugar. On ribs? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Ground chipotle pepper (target has a nice one) brings some heat and that nice, charred flavor if you're into that sort of thing.

Pureed mango is a nice substitute for brown sugar if you like it sweet. Throw some pineapple in there, too, if you're adventurous.

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: When I rub my meat, I like to use my left hand so it feels like someone el... wait... BBQ. Never mind. jg

But you have to sit on your hand till it goes numb first... oh wait, is this thing on?

i only use rub before smoking. not grilling.

usually it goes something like:

chili powder

paprika

garlic powder

onion powder

salt black pepper

cayenne pepper

brown sugar

smoked chipotle pepper

works awesome on ribs. no sauce needed.

If you guys had checked ECMs tasty recipes thread you would have found links to the prior threads with recipes for both rubs and sauces