The Theory of Rub


 
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Armen G.

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After browsing a ton of dry rub recipes, I'm perplexed at the endless combinations of spices that go into creating them. I'm sure some of these are traditional rubs rehashed by some people on web sites and in books, and there are times when the recipe seems like it's on the fringe of what would be termed a "rub". My question to anyone who can shed some light is what are the common principles by which rubs are created? Is there a balance of certain categories of spices to other categories that must be maintained in order for a rub to be acceptable and not ruin the taste of the meat that it is applied to? Ultimately, if I wanted to create my own rub, what are some of the guidlelines I can follow? Thanks in advance for any insight and guidance.
 
The most important principle is to use fresh, quality spices, such as those found at Penzey's. If you are using supermarket spices that have been in a cupboard for two years, then it doesn't matter how much you try to learn. Whatever you try, you won't be able to build a good rub.

There are so many directions you can go with rubs. I think it is useful not to paint yourself into a box by thinking too narrowly about rubs. To me a good rub is kind of like a great basketball team. You need a couple of great players, many complementary players, and a deep bench. Ideally, you don't want to depend too much on your best player.

It is very common for BBQ rubs to have the following components:
chilis
sugar
hot spices (black, white and green pepper, mustard powder)
aromatics (granulated onion and garlic)
dried herbs (thyme, marjoram, etc.)
sweet spices (clove, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc.)

(It certainly isn't necessary to have all of these components in every rub.)

Many people put salt in their rubs, but I think it is best to salt your meat separately so you have strict control over the amount of salt you apply. Then you can apply the rub heavily if you wish without getting the meat too salty. If you were going to follow BBQ convention and put salt in your rub, then you would have to include salt as another key component of the rub.

I think you have to think about how everything fits together. How does the meat work with the rub, sauces, marinades or brines, side dishes. If the rub is on the sweet side, then the sauce shouldn't be too sweet, and visa versa.

The hardest thing about rubs is learning how to answer the following two questions:

1. What combinations of rub ingredients work well together and with different types of meat?

2. What portion of a given ingredient will be appropriate relative to the other ingredients?

I don't think there is any simple rule or principle for the first question. It takes a lot of time to learn what works well together. I find a lot of BBQ rubs lacking because they overdo one ingredient, or build around the wrong ingredients. I don't really want to taste just black pepper or paprika or salt or sugar in a rub. Most BBQ rubs have way too much salt and sugar in them, and a lot of people lean too much on cheap paprika or low grade chili powder.

I think you will be way beyond 90% of the BBQ world if you get beyond the idea of building BBQ rubs around sugar, salt and cheap paprika. You will have a great deal more success if you build typical BBQ rubs around high quality chilis and aromatics. Then add smaller amounts of other components.

For the sugar I think it is helpful to think in terms of "what % of this rub will be sugar?" For pork you can go a little higher maybe 25 or 30%, but for chicken I typically leave it out so I can cook at higher temps without burning, and for beef, I go with 10% or less, or none at all.

Another thing that is helpful is getting a spice grinder and toast and grind whole chilis and spices. The difference is really tremendous, since spices in their whole form will keep much better than already ground spices. At the very least, don't buy ground spices in large quantities.
 
Armen-- See here, here and here on what I believe are the overarching principles regarding rubs.

There aren't really rules regarding category-to-category percentages, but overall balance is what I shoot for. However, it is not simply balance of the ingredients in the just-made rub: it's balance within the entire flavor profile of the item after cooking, in other words the balance of flavors of not only the cooked meat and cooked rub themselves, but all the other flavors added and/or created during the cooking process--those from smoke, browning reactions, caramelization, and basting or braising (if either is performed). One should also consider the sauce(s), if any, and sides.

It sounds more difficult than it is. It comes from gaining some experience by doing--by making and trying various ingredient combinations, by giving thought to the tastes you've created when the item is served, and by developing and recognizing your own preferences and style.

Some of my preferences/tastes/caveats: I do not makes rubs with salt. I salt the meat first, separately. This allows control of the salt level and rub level independent of each other' important, imo, because quantity (of each) is important and are best handled separately.

I use high quality ingredients.

I rarely use paprika or cayenne. Paprika's flavor does not stand up to long cooking. In quantity, furthermore, it tends toward bitterness. There are far better chile alternatives. Cayenne has little flavor but it does have heat. There are better chile alternatives that contain both, though cayenne can be useful if just a bit more heat is required.

I don't use much sugar: none in some rubs, maybe 10-12% by volume in many, an odd one here and there a bit more. It depends on the meat, sauce and sides. Lots of sugar has a deadening, flattening affect on flavors.

I often make paste rubs, an often neglected area of rub recipes. I sometimes apply dry rubs over paste rubs.

I am not of the one-rub-fits-all persuasion. Though I think some recipes can lend themselves to more than one meat variety, most often, imo, some tweaking/modification is in order.
 
WOW!!! Thank you for all of the great information!! I'm a bit of a purest myself when it comes to crafting anything (even things that are non-culinary), so the idea of toasting my own chilis and grinidng my own spices from high quality ingredients is right up my alley. As far as proportions go of different spices, is there a recommended limit (percentage-wise) of the different categories of spices (e.g. hot spices, aromatics, dried herbs, sweet spices) that should not be exceeded, at least initially when i'm learning? I don't want to oversaturate a rub with one of those pieces and waste an opporunity to learn from a cooking session.
 
A good question, an interesting one. I'd answer with a qualified 'no'. The reason: It depends on the quantity you apply and whether there will be any other treatment to the item rubbed, e.g., a finishing glaze, or if the item will be sauced. One could, for instance, make a cinnamon-based rub, say, that if applied heavily would be overwhelming. However, applied rather lightly, it could work fine, especially if there were components in the rub that offset the power of the cinnamon--a couple herbs like sage and thyme--and some chile to give it some bottom. Too, if, say, one were to glaze over it with an appropriate fruit-based glaze, that could further round out the profile at serving. It's not one I would lean toward developing but I could see it working out. This is the case though with most any rub and the question one should ask when developing the recipe. How will I like use this in terms of quantity and will it stand on its own or have some sort of accompaniment? I think a lot of figuring out proportions comes from the 'sense' of things one gets through trial and experience--coupled with a (forgive me) 'holistic' sense of the overall profile one wishes to achieve.

Here are a few examples of different rubs of mine. This butt rub is a fairly typical (for me) rub for pork for typical barbecue. Chile-based, it still has a fair component of aromatics, herbs (I use more, proportionately, of both aromatics and herbs than many others do), some sweet spices, and some sugar. This simple rib rub is pretty straightforward; this one, however, is deliberately skewed to favor the flavor of peppercorns, in this case because I was glazing over it, lightly, near the end of cooking, with a simple pineapple glaze that I felt would soften--but not lessen--the distinctive peppercorn notes. The other spices and the Aleppo, I thought, would give it needed breadth and depth.

Here, an example of a beef rub with coffee and cocoa as components, the mod below it decreases the cocoa and alters a few other amounts of other things to make it more appropriate for shorter-cooked beef like tri-tip or steaks. This one, also for beef, brisket in this case, is an example of a paste rub-dry rub combo. In it, I used coffee again, but no cocoa, and upped the sweet spices since there is no sugar in either the paste or the dry (except the amount found in the small Worcestershire addition) and because I wanted to balance the pickly bite and heat of the pickled peppers. And, here, another beef steak rub (simple, and with a variation below), this time based on ground dried mushrooms.

Perhaps, looking at these, you'll see what I mean in my first paragraph of this post.
 
Cooking is infinite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Try using Ceylon Cinnamon in your beef recipies - available from Penzey's.
 
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