Barbeque Rub Basics
By Aaron Ralston
Barbecue Rub Basics
Barbeque rubs basically consist of combinations of your
favorite spice flavors, designed to enhance the flavor
of the meat you are cooking. These flavors are basically
the ones that you can taste, including salt, sweet,
sour, and bitter. When you are creating a rub, keep in
mind that most people do not like to eat food that is
overpowered by seasoning. The purpose of a rub is to
compliment the natural taste of the meat.
Making a good rub takes lots of practice and
experimenting. For example, slightly reducing the amount
of onion powder or increasing the amount of cayenne in a
rub will change the flavor of the rub dramatically.
Trial and error is the key to developing a rub that
tastes good.
To make a rub, begin by combining salt and sugar;
usually in equal amounts: lets say 1/4 cup of each.
Depending on the sweetness you are looking for, many
sugars work well. A few examples are Turbinado, white,
and brown sugar. They each have different properties
that you may want in a rub. Turbinado sugar will not
burn as fast as brown sugar, but it adds a very
distinct, unrefined flavor to a rub. Brown sugar is
great on ribs, but be careful, too much brown sugar will
create a burnt crust on smoked ribs if you do not know
what your are doing. Different salts also work well. A
few examples include plain table salt, sea salt, and
kosher salt. Next, a great ingredient to add is paprika.
It has a mild flavor, and it will also help you achieve
a dark-reddish color in the rub. Add about 1/4 cup of
paprika.
You have built the base for the rub. Most rubs that I
have created or read about always start out with sugar,
salt, and paprika. There are many different spices that
are available for you to add to your rub. I have listed
a few basic ones below, but the best thing to do is to
get your hands on as many as possible and experiment by
mixing different combinations and amounts of each. You
will eventually learn what combinations you like more.
Now you can start building the flavors of the rub.
First, determine what you are going to use the rub on. A
pork rub will be different than a chicken rub. You might
also want to make the rub spicy or sweet, it just
depends on what flavor you are looking to add to the
meat. Trial and error play a big part in developing rubs
that taste good and will not overpower the meat. Below
are a few herbs and spices that work well in rubs:
Garlic powder, Onion powder, Cumin, Oregano, Comino,
Cayenne, Black Pepper, Red Pepper (Cayenne), White
Pepper, Mustard Powder
Add the ingredients you choose a little at a time, and
then test the rub to see how the flavor changed. With a
little experimentation, you will develop a personal rub
that tastes very good.
You can find a few rub recipes at my website listed
below.
The Smoker King
Aaron Ralston, also known as The Smoker King, is the
owner of Outdoor Cooking: Barbeque, Sauces, Mops, Rubs
at http://www.thesmokerking.com Check out
http://www.thesmokerking.com today to learn many
great barbeque and cooking recipes and techniques
