A Dry Rub will spark up your grilling and add amazing flavor to to any cut of meat! This UItimate Dry Rub Recipe is just the blend of sweet and spicy you’ll want to keep handy for great barbeque flavor any time of the year.
When the weather starts to cool in Ohio, you don’t need to give up all those delicious cuts of meat you’ve enjoyed all summer. Just get in the kitchen, and use this dry rub recipe to prep and fix these same delicious meats in the oven, slow cooker or indoor grill! . My favorite is oven baked ribs, with a smoked dry rub coating.
Spareribs are a dish we love at our house, and creating an awesome dry rub that was mild with a little heat was pretty challenging. After slow cooking baby back ribs with this recipe, I think I found a keeper. The dry rub soaked into the meat and left a nice coating or bark, on the slow cooked ribs. They were amazing even both without the barbecue sauce!
Why Use A Dry Rub?
The best dry rubs are a combination of sweet, savory, spice and spicy! Sweet is the sugar, either brown or white. Savory comes from amino acids like green herbs and garlic. Common dry rub Spices and seasonings are paprika, rosemary, cumin and Montreal steak seasoning. Some are for real flavor and others primarily for color, like paprika. Spicy is the pepper in the rub. Black pepper, cayenne, chipotle are a few of those found in dry rubs.
It’s possible to take your chicken, pork and some beef from just good to “hero” status once flavored with a rub. Rubs only penetrate the surface of the meat, creating the outside crust or bark that is so tantalizing! If your rub contains salt, the salt penetrates further into the meat, like a brine.
Dry rubs need a little moisture to stick to the meat. A few drops of water on the surface of the meat is usually good. For skin-on chicken, apply the rub under the skin so it contacts the meat. Go ahead and rub a little on the skin too for more amazing flavor. The salt in the rub will help get that golden skin nice and crispy! Use your fingers to get the rub all over pork and beef, especially around any bones. If the cut is thick, be sure to get the sides too!
Not all meats need a rub, but you can still use one for more flavor if you like. Smoked meats like ham, bacon and some beef are already salt cured and flavored, so they will not really benefit from a dry rub.
How To Make This Recipe
- Assemble the ingredients you’ll be using for the recipe
- Brown Sugar, Paprika, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Cumin, Chili Powder, Thyme, Dry Mustard and Cayenne
- Measure each into a small bowl using the recommended amounts in the recipe below. Use a fork or small whisk to completely combine and remove any lumps that form.
- Your rub is now ready to use: spoon a generous amount on any cut of meat you like and rub in with your fingers.
- Store leftover dry rub in a tightly covered container, out of the sunlight, for up to 3 months.
Ultimate Dry Rub Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub all over meat and cook as desired.
