Build A Rub

[Duke]

I think this is a cool idea. We put our heads together and build a rub and even give it a name.

Until then maybe you guys can help me on the Low-So (dium) rub I have been slowly working on. It won't put Dizzy Pig out of business, but it's not bad. Maybe it needs something though? It's very basic. I was thinking of adding dry mustard, but I can't ever taste the difference. Coffee might even be a possibility, but it doesn't go with everything. It actually has a lot of sugar, but I tried less and it just didn't do it for me. Here the recipe.

1 tbsp. sea salt
4 tbsp turbinado sugar
1 tbsp mild california chili powder
1/2 tbsp cumin
1tbsp granulated garlic
1 tbsp onion powder

Each of these seems to add something. To me paprika never adds anything. I decided against pepper too since the chili powder seems to take care of that and the paprika.

I really want to hear what you think. Maybe you can help me get this dialed in.

[MacEggs]

The one thing that paprika adds is ... color. Doesn't add much else.

I personally have switched to garlic powder, instead of the granulated stuff. No grittiness.

What have you used this on? Ribs, butts, etc.  Or is it still in the works? It's gotta have a little bit of pepper, eh what?
I like to use whole peppercorns, and then grind it fine when making a rub. A teaspoon, maybe.

Loving the turbinado sugar. I use that in lots of stuff. 

[1911Ron]

One lesson i learned on rubs was to taste for saltyness prior to cooking and flavor after cooking.  The flavor will change when it's done cooking but saltyness wont change.

[Duke]

Thanks, I went with the granulated garlic because some of my other ingredients were so powdery. Between the garlic and the sugar which are kind of grainy it makes it more like a true rub in this case. I didn't want to add paprika because it might weaken the flavor I already had. I love pepper, but the california mild actually has a decent bit to it. I have made several rubs in my time and have never been happy with them. I like the store bought better. This will also never replace Dizzy Dust salt free around my house since they are real experts, but I hope I might be onto something for others who want low sodium.

Maybe someone can put these ingredients together and give their opinion on it.

[Jaronimo]

I use smoked garlic powder in most of my rubs.  I like the flavor better.  And its easy enough to make at home.

[1buckie]

I've constructed my own sometimes, compounded several different bottled ones a lot & have settled on usually using Big Ron's......

Was all the rage on Smoke Ring, he's a member, a comp cook that checks in from that angle also & an advertizer......

At 1st I was skeptical......thinking it might be friends making a to-do about it, but tried some & ZING......some of the best pre-made stuff you can imagine..............

Like 1911 Ron was saying, check salty 1st........this stuff SEEMS salty right up until it gets near cooked in & then somehow morphs into  a full-flavor, salt in the background deal.........
It will be salty if overloaded,I've made that mistake enough to know, but now have the amounts figured out pretty good.....


Duke's looks pretty good & you could adjust the sugar up & down depending on what particular application ( I'm not fond of sugar or sweet on beef, to each their own....)

For beef stuff, two fun additions that I've had good luck with are coffee & UN-sweetened cocoa powder.....thecocoa does not end up sweet, it a real interesting twist that tastes great......

[Duke]

I agree, i'm not a sugar fan with beef either. I use Cowboy on beef and it has some coffee and I think a little cocoa. I don't think you really need all the sugar for fast grilled food either. I used some carne asada rub on chicken the other day that was fantastic and really goes with about anything grilled. It's tangy with a little heat and wasn't heavy on the salt.

[Duke]

I decided to give this rub a shot on some chicken today. I decided to add a 1/2 TBSP of dry mustard to the mix and glad I did. I also noticed after the rub sat for a week or so it really blended together to look and taste like a real rub. There are a few other ingredients I would consider adding, but for now this is just a very basic low sodium rub. Here are some pictures.I will post the finished chicken later.





Give it a try.

Dukes Dust

1 tbsp. sea salt
4 tbsp turbinado sugar
1 tbsp mild california chili powder
1/2 tbsp cumin
1tbsp granulated garlic
1 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp dry mustard

[MacEggs]

I am liking the name! Looking forward to the finished pics and what you thought of your first trial with this rub. 

[Duke]

Thanks Mac! It's almost ready to pull off. It looks very dark, but I used red oak today, so it could have something to do with that and the sugar.

As for your tagline, that's classic!

[MacEggs]

Thanks Mac! It's almost ready to pull off. It looks very dark, but I used red oak today, so it could have something to do with that and the sugar.

As for your tagline, that's classic!

It is my understanding, and based on my experience (limited), that Turbinado has a higher burn temperature.
I know when I cook / smoke chicken, the temps are much higher than for other stuff. I try to limit sugar when doing chicken.

Show us some pics!

And somehow ... put into words the flavor profile. I know ... it's very hard to do that. 

Pulp Fiction ... It's gotta be in my top 5 movies. So many classic lines! 

Gotta go .... I gotta see the Blackhawks eliminate the Red Wings in game 7! 

[HankB]

I pretty much make all of my rubs. I have purchased some recently and I'm giving them a try just to see if I'm missing anything. So far I've concluded I'm missing the salt. 

Can I suggest a process? Make up a couple variations and or pick out a commercial product or two. Get some back ribs and cut them in halves or thirds or even quarters. Or if you are developing a rub for beef or fish, get some of that and divide into pieces. (There is no law that a brisket cannot be cut into pieces before cooking.  ) Then figure out some way to mark them that will survive the cook. I use toothpicks broken in half and put one, two, three ... n-1, n for n rubs to try. Be sure to leave one piece of meat/fish w/out any rub as your control. (You may be as surprised as me by how good it tastes.)

Cook and taste test. See what you like or what you don't like. If the rubs are of your own making, you can tweak proportions or add/subtract ingredients to manipulate the flavors. I recommend starting with simple rubs so you can identify what contributes flavors and build from those.

It's very important to take notes about the rubs you concoct and what you would do differently next time. Well... Important for me. 

Its a fun process! 

[Duke]

That's good advice Hank. I am going to try that on my next experiment. Here are my feelings on the rub along with results.

The skin was bite through which made it nice for testing. I think I could scale the salt back a little more to about half of what I added and still taste it. It was too sugary for me, but I usually don't add sweet rubs to fowl. I think the sugar content would be perfect for pork ribs. For chicken a little herb of some kind added would have been nice. I think for the basics I like the flavor and will just tweak it a little for chicken, beef, fish and pork. I look for somethin just a little different in each of these meats, so I guess I would have to make four different ones. I am just going to cut the salt in half across the board. For chicken I will remove the sugar and add an herb. For fish I will add a little sweet spice like cinnamon or clove and half or no sugar. For pork it's fine like it is. For beef I would remove the sugar and add some coffee.  By the way, my wife loved it like it was and she usually doesn't comment about my chicken. I never told her I was testing it either. She tends to like a lot more sugar than me though.

Here are the finished pictures.

[jkolantern]

I pretty much make all of my rubs. I have purchased some recently and I'm giving them a try just to see if I'm missing anything. So far I've concluded I'm missing the salt. 

Can I suggest a process? Make up a couple variations and or pick out a commercial product or two. Get some back ribs and cut them in halves or thirds or even quarters. Or if you are developing a rub for beef or fish, get some of that and divide into pieces. (There is no law that a brisket cannot be cut into pieces before cooking.  ) Then figure out some way to mark them that will survive the cook. I use toothpicks broken in half and put one, two, three ... n-1, n for n rubs to try. Be sure to leave one piece of meat/fish w/out any rub as your control. (You may be as surprised as me by how good it tastes.)

This is brilliant and simple Hank, thanks!  When I experiment, I try a few rubs and then always forget what was what.  Think I'll try some multi-toothpicks this weekend.

I second the taking notes too-my cooking improves noticeably in seasons when I take the time to note basic stuff like time, temp and prep.