One rub to rule them all...? (Average Rub)

[JJackson]

I have taken 20 (mostly pork) rub recipes, found what percentage of the total recipe each ingredient is, and averaged all 20. I've come up with the literal "Average Rub".

It started about a year ago with a few slow times at work and a spreadsheet, plus a few recipes I found in books from Aaron Franklin, Myron Mixon, Bill Gillespie, Stephen Raichlen, etc. Then I tried out a few other recipes I found here and elsewhere and liked them (K Kruger's, HeyGrillHey's sweet rub, Southern Succor, Memphis Dust, Mike Mill's Magic Dust). Every time I dug a rub, I added the recipe to my spreadsheet.

A few days ago, I saw how insane I was and decided to waste a little more time averaging everything together into one "perfect" 2-cup (about what my empty Parmesan cheese shaker holds) pork/chicken/sometimes beef recipe.

I left all salts out of the averages, since I prefer to add salt by itself before any rub, and different meats benefit from different amounts of salt. Plus, laying down salts first makes the meat "sweat" and the rub sticks without a binder. I also left out any amount that averaged to be smaller than 1/2 of a teaspoon, since I had to draw the line somewhere.

I'll hopefully be trying this in the next week, or so, and let you all know how amazing, bland, or amazingly bland it is. Maybe it'll be the perfect all-purpose rub. Who knows. I just thought it would be interesting.

Brown Sugar - 8 Tbsp, 1 tsp
Paprika - 5 Tbsp, 1 tsp
Turbinado/White Sugar - 4 Tbsp
Coarse Black Pepper - 3 Tbsp, 2 tsp
Granulated Garlic - 3 Tbsp
(Ancho) Chili Powder - 2 Tbsp, 2 tsp
Onion Powder - 2 Tbsp
Cayenne/Chipotle Powder - 1 Tbsp
Ground Mustard - 2 tsp
Ground Cumin - 1/2 Tbsp
Celery Seed - 1 tsp
Thyme - 1 tsp
Ground Ginger - 1/2 tsp

 

[Len Dennis]

All great inventions begin as trial & error. Be sure to let us know the outcome

One word of advice though: remember, the star of the show is the MEAT. The spices have to play second fiddle.

 

[JJackson]

100% agreed. The quality of the meats, cooking temps, and finish temps have made a much bigger difference to me.

I'm 8 times out of 10 just a SPOG man for beef and a SPOG+sugar+heat for pork. I just got bored at work and wondered what a combo would be like.

 

[Chris Allingham]

This is sort of like the IBM Watson of barbecue rubs...can Excel come up with a good rub? I'm curious to find out how it turns out.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I like the individual ingredients. I tried making a rub on my own and threw the kitchen sink at it and it wound up pretty mediocre. Let us know how this turns out!

 

[Geo S]

Sort of like a chili contest I read about, Guy buys sample of all the contestants chili, mixes them all together , enters the averaged mix, and won first place.

That mix looks about as good as most I've seen.

 

[Bill Elwell]

I just got bored at work and wondered what a combo would be like.

LOL! If you're getting "bored at work" maybe we should give your boss a call. He might change that up for you.

Sounds like a grand plan and a great pastime and effort (I like fooling with spreadsheets too).

 

[JJackson]

LOL! If you're getting "bored at work" maybe we should give your boss a call. He might change that up for you.

Sounds like a grand plan and a great pastime and effort (I like fooling with spreadsheets too).

Ha! Unfortunately, it was a time when there was legitimately a stop in work flow and they were asking volunteers to go home. I had a brand new baby at home and didn't want to lose the money, so I took advantage of their shortsighted workflow management for a few days.

 

[Jody Abbott]

I mixed the Average Rub together (or a version of average ). I ended up using white pepper instead of black pepper because I was tired of looking at it in spice rack. I used chipotle powder for the chili powder and cayenne powder for cayenne/chipotle. I don't know? Maybe using the white pepper was a bad idea? The celery seed is definitely distinguishable. I never left salt out of a rub before. I sprinkled some kosher salt on a pork shoulder roast and will add the rub in the morning and smoke it.

 

[Len Dennis]

I mixed the Average Rub together (or a version of average ). I ended up using white pepper instead of black pepper because I was tired of looking at it in spice rack. I used chipotle powder for the chili powder and cayenne powder for cayenne/chipotle. I don't know? Maybe using the white pepper was a bad idea? The celery seed is definitely distinguishable. I never left salt out of a rub before. I sprinkled some kosher salt on a pork shoulder roast and will add the rub in the morning and smoke it.

White pepper instead of black is good as it doesn't leave those black specks on the food (when appearance is important, like when making a cream sauce). No salt in the rub is a great way to go when you want more of the spice flavour but not more of the salt.

Good way to do it (as you found out).

 

[Jody Abbott]

Well it works for me! Used it on a pork shoulder. I think it's great. Thanks Jackson! I think I'll modify from Jackson's Average Rub (JAR) from now on.

I'll WILL ditch searching for true ancho chili powder, and use chipotle powder instead because it has become so easy to find. Reduce cayenne for more mild tastes and make fun additions whenever it tickles me or is suggested. So the JAR was my starting point and my average is now;

Brown Sugar (raw cane with molasses)- 8 Tbsp, 1 tsp
Paprika - 5 Tbsp, 1 tsp
Raw Cane Sugar - 4 Tbsp
Coarse Black or White Pepper - 3 Tbsp, 2 tsp
Granulated Garlic (powder works) - 3 Tbsp
Chipotle Chili Powder - 2 Tbsp, 2 tsp
Onion Powder - 2 Tbsp
Cayenne Powder - 1 Tbsp
Ground Mustard - 2 tsp
Ground Cumin - 1/2 Tbsp
Celery Seed - 1 tsp
Thyme - 1 tsp
Ground Ginger - 1/2 tsp

Now I gotta find a 2 cup shaker

And thanks Dennis for reassurance

 

[JJackson]

I'll WILL ditch searching for true ancho chili powder, and use chipotle powder instead because it has become so easy to find.

Now I gotta find a 2 cup shaker

I've only been able to find both ancho chili and chipotle powders in tiny 2 oz or 4 oz containers, if I find them at all. When I can't, I just use regular chili powder. I'm not sure I have a refined enough palate to notice a difference.

As for the shaker, I just use a washed-out grated Parmesan shaker. They're cheaper than an empty shaker off Amazon, the holes are wider, the labels aren't super-glued down, and they hold 2 to 2.25 cups of rub.

 

[Geo S]

I buy a lot of my spices from Atlantic Spice Co. Very good quality and very reasonable, they have small amounts up to pounds. All kinds of chili powders ans free shipping over 50.00
Beats upermarket prices by a mile.

 

[Len Dennis]

I've only been able to find both ancho chili and chipotle powders in tiny 2 oz or 4 oz containers, if I find them at all.

Make your own chipotle powder. After all, it's only ground up/dried/smoked jalapeno peppers.
Ancho powder is ground up/smoked/dried poblanos.

Next time you do a smoke, put a bunch in there. A lot because when ground up, they don't make a lot of powder.

Both are plentiful up here so you must have them too.

 

[timothy]

Both are available at most SM or Mexi Marts.
Put em in a FP or Spice grinder. Slightly toasting in a CI skillet before grinding adds a whole nother layer of flavor.
And if you don't do too hot, remove the seeds and veins.

Tim

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

Tim, that's a good source, there are also several mail order sources. I'm partial to Penzeys but, some folks are not.
The Parmesan shaker is an excellent source for a larger shaker, the original contents are rubbish, in my opinion.
OK! A few hours after reading this one, I thought I had everything on hand......wrong! Well, as with most recipes I went "seat of my pants" nothing too far out of whack but, by the time it was done, I did have to make a paprika (how in blazes does one run out of paprika?) so, between fueling the Jeep and returning empties, paprika was obtained and the rub was completed. I will do a few things very shortly:
1-Rub a pork butt with the "amended" recipe
2-Place a spice order!
3-Smoke the aforementioned butt with Apple or Cherry, I do live in Michigan after all!
4-Enjoy an afternoon with family who won't judge the rub but, maybe compare to the last one, maybe they won't even notice just smack lips with unfettered gusto!

 

[John Sp]

I do a version of this myself. When I am smoking ribs or butts, I grab a bunch of peppers from the garden (a mixture of jalapenos, chilies, poblanos, bananas, bells, etc.) and smoke them too. I then stem them and seed them (leaving some of the seeds. Then into the dehydrator for about 2 days. Once thoroughly dried, I spin them up in the food processor to make dust. We keep this in a shaker on the table and the family puts it on everything. I can't make it fast enough...

Regards,

John