How soon is too soon to rub?


 
J

John-Peterson

TVWBB Fan
I'm doing some butts tomorrow morning. Is it too soon to rub then tonight? I read something a out salt in the rub can give a "hammy" taste. Opinions? Thanks!
 
i have always put my rub on and let it set overnight. i am going to cook a butt saturday and i put my rub on today, thursday, at 1 p.m.
i have never used salt in my rub until i cooked one about a month ago. i did not notice a ham taste on the day i cooked it but it was a little noticeable the next day. it was not an overwhelming taste of ham though...just a wee little bit. i mixed up and modified the harry soo rub and modified it with 1 extra tblspoon of granulated sugar and brown sugar and added 2 tbsp of onion powder. it tasted really good when i mixed it. the recipe calls for 2 tbsp of salt...so i will see if it has the ham taste saturday. i hope this helped...i am sure somebody else will chime in though.
 
Leaving salt aside since it's liable to leech fluids, I find rubbing early doesn't do any harm. I used to rub the night before, and now don't but only because it doesn't make a huge diff. But, by the same token, it doesn't hurt.
 
I never used to rub pork butts and ribs before the day I was cookin em, but the last few cooks have been delayed prepping meat and rubbin it so I'm going to start prepping the day before in the hope that I'll be less frazzled trying to get everything on.
 
The night before a long cook, I do any trimming required, apply rub, wrap in saran wrap, and place it in the fridge. I even prep the smoker as far as getting the ring filled and water pan cleaned. That way, at O dark early the next AM all I have to do is take it out and let it rest while I light the chimney, make a pot of coffee, dump it on the unlit, fill the pan with hot water, turn on the ATC, wait about 30 minutes for thick smoke to clear and pit to come to temp, and place the meat on the rack.

Like Stuart S., It's more about time management than adding flavor for me.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I read something a out salt in the rub can give a "hammy" taste. Opinions? Thanks! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think we've determined that it has more to do with sugar than salt. Ham flavor is a combo of salty, sweet, and smoke. Leaving a rub with a lot of sugar and salt on the ribs for an extended period of time may lead to a "hammy" flavor. Personally, I've never experienced a "hammy" rib and not really sure what the fuss is. I've been known to cure ribs with a bacon cure and smoke them, some could call them "hammy," but I prefer "bacony."

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Leaving salt aside since it's liable to leech fluids </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

any moisture that is initially drawn out of the rib, will be drawn back in as the rib reaches a new osmotic balance, especially during the extended time.

If you've cured bacon before, you find very little moisture is drawn out of the belly by the salt.

the salt that is drawn into the meat will help preserve the moisture in the rib during the cook, which should more than compensate for anything lost prior to cooking.
 
I always rub butts the day before I'm cooking. If I'm getting up early to put them on at 4 AM it sure makes the morning process a lot easier. I normally sprinkle on more rub just before I put them on the WSM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top