Beware the grinder!

[Brad Olson]

Citizens, hear me out! This could happen...to you!*

Last night I was putting together a rub for today's spareribs and thought that it would be nice and convenient to whiz up everything in the grinder. Sure enough, I got a nice, finely ground, homogeneous mix and applied it thusly...and after an afternoon in the WSM the ribs turned out to be too salty because I used way more rub than I should've. When it's really fine it can be really easy to over-apply.

There's nothing wrong with using a grinder but be *very* careful if salt's part of the recipe!

*The Kingston Trio rocks...even though that was in no way what they meant to do.

 

[TimA]

Here I was expecting a finger in meat grinder story. Kinda let me down….


Glad it’s something as simple as too much salt. A butchered finger would be no bueno!

 

[Brett-EDH]

I tend to leave salt out of my rubs and salt the meat directly. This way I know how much I’ve applied.

Then add your rub atop the salted meat and you should be fine.

 

[JSaus]

My favorite Kingston Trio song. What ever happened to Charlie?

 

[AndyK]

I like salt but I am very salt sensitive and prefer to make unsalted rubs.
When using store bought pre made rubs it’s so very easy to have too much salt so I avoid that as much as possible unless I’m looking for a certain flavor like a dehydrated citrus, a honey powder or something exotic.

I normally dry brine with salt the day before and only use what I would normally sprinkle on my protein I then add my salt free home made rub a few hours or so before the cook.

I am a COB so there are not many of them little $10 jars of pre made rubs in my spice pantry.

 

[Anne M.]

I do the same as @Brett-EDH

(and I also expected a meat grinder story, maybe about one that was not cleaned properly after use....)

 

[ChuckO]

I tend to leave salt out of my rubs and salt the meat directly. This way I know how much I’ve applied. Then add your rub atop the salted meat and you should be fine.

Ditto

 

[Brad Olson]

I use the "separate salt" method fairly frequently when prepping meat for direct or indirect grilling, but not so much when putting together a rub for a long cook. I'll definitely give it a try next time.

 

[Jim Lampe]

@Brad Olson
This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message. I'll get back to you.

 

[Brad Olson]

Great montage! If you listen closely enough, the voices of some fairly (and to a lesser degree, somewhat) well-known people.

 

[Rich Dahl]

I've been on a salt restricted diet for over 30 years. Like said above I make most of my own rubs. I do buy salt free commercial rubs such as Weber's salt free steak seasoning etc. I do enjoy experimenting with different homemade rubs. But my rib rub I've been exclusively using for over 35 years. I guess I like it.
I found using a grinder to mix the rubs a problem as the coating gets excessive because it's so fine. So I no longer use a grinder.

 

[Brad Olson]

I found using a grinder to mix the rubs a problem as the coating gets excessive because it's so fine.

Definitely! I'm sure I over-rubbed the ribs in this case for this very reason.