Dry Rubs & Marinades

Base for BBQ rubs is typically 50/50 salt sugar then add flavors on top of that

There are a million rubs and thousands of "ratios."

Whether a rub is a good one or not, depends on what you're cooking and how you're cooking it.

Rubs for direct, high heat grilling usually don't have very much, if any, sugar. Rubs for indirect, low and slow smoking can have quite a bit.

Pork likes sugar quite a bit, but beef usually does not. Pork rubs often have quite a bit of sugar, while beef seldom does. Most fish can carry a good bit of sugar -- if not as much as pork. Poultry less than fish.

A rub composed of even amounts of salt and sugar is a good one for smoking pork, but a poor choice for grilling a lamb chop.

I have a sort of base that I use in most of my rubs that's roughly: 6 parts kosher salt; 2 parts paprika; 2 parts fresh ground pepper; 1 part granulated garlic; 1 part granulated onion; 1/10 part dry thyme; and 1/10 part dry, rubbed sage.

If I were looking for an Italian accented smoked pork pork, I might add to this: 8 parts sugar; 3 parts ground, toasted fennel seed; 2 parts ground, toasted coriander seed; 1 part ground ginger; and 1/2 part grated orange and/or lemon zest. If I were trying for a more straightforward rub -- typical of the American South -- I'd go 8: 3: 1. Where 8 is sugar, 3 is salt, and 1 is everything else. But for ribs, I'd bump the amount of sweet paprika considerably -- not just for flavor but to get that red color that's so appetizing on ribs.

The key is to match the rub to the effect you're trying to create. There is no magic set of ratios. It just depends.

One thing to remember is that a good rule of thumb for how much rub to use is to consider how much salt is in your rub and season the meat just until it's appropriately salted.

You're asking for more than anyone can give in a post. Books have been written about the subjects included in your questions. The more specific you are about what you want to do, the better the answer I can give you.

BDL

You might like this:


Ingredients:
Red wine
Worcestershire sauce



Ingredients:
(Makes about a cup, keeps for months)
1/2 cup kosher salt
3 tbs smoked paprika (if you have it) or medium or sweet paprika if you don't have smoked
2 tbs freshly, coarsely cracked black pepper
1-1/2 tbs granulated garlic
1-1/2 tbs granulated onion
1 tbs dry mustard
1/2 tsp dry, rubbed sage
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp freshly, finely chopped rosemary

Technique:
Put the steaks in a pan large enough to hold them. Splash them with wine, then the Worcestershire sauce so they are wet, but not drowning. Turn the steaks to make sure both sides are coated. Marinate for at least fifteen minutes, covered with cling wrap, outside the refrigerator; but for no more than one hour. After about fifteen minutes the wine, sauce and combine with the meat's juices, and start to thicken into a syrup. This is (a) normal, and (b) good.

While the steaks marinate, mix the dry rub ingredients together thoroughly. I don't, but if you like, you may mix them in a blender or processor to get a uniform size seasoning powder.

Season the steaks with the dry rub. You'll probably want about a tsp or so for each steak. Calibrate the amount of rub by the amount of salt.

BDL

PS. As always, this recipe is original with me. If you want to share or repost it, you have my permission as long as you attribute it to me, Boar D. Laze. I would consider it a kindness if you would also mention that I'm working on a cookbook, Cook Food Good: American Cooking and Technique for Beginners and Intermediates.

Good formula and good to see you back. EDB

That is very close to my beef rub recipe, swap out the sage and thyme for bay leaves(powdered). I tend t go heavier on the pepper too but that is my personal preference and may not be liked by all.

As BDL said, pork likes sugar and I use the same rub on chicken(Smokin' Gun's Mild).

On turkey and fish I tend to look at what I have on hand and go from there.

I have 10 pounds of top round going on the smoker tomorrow to be cooked to medium then ran through the slicer for french dips. That rub will get a very heavy dose of black pepper along with more salt than normal.