Pick me a rub!

[Kirk Boorman]

I'll be doing a few racks of spares this weekend with guava wood (first use for guava) and I wanted to use pineapple habanero jelly as a glaze at the end.
My usual rub has the usual stuff:
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup paprika

I just wasn't sure how the cumin would work out with the other flavors. Any suggestions?

 

[K Kruger]

Cumin will work. If you are using a commercial chili powder cumin is likely in it as well. Cumin and chilies kind of hit the mouth at the same point. I'd consider decreasing the cumin and adding a few things to give the rub some depth.

One idea would be to reduce the cumin to 1.5 teaspoons(t). Add 1.5 t thyme (crushed well with your fingers), 1 t ground coriander, .5 t ground ginger, .25 t ground cinnamon and .25 (or a little less) ground allspice.

Consider cutting 1 tablespoon(T) of the paprika which means you'd have 3 T and adding 2 t granulted onion and 1 t granulated garlic (or just use the powdered versions of the pure, i.e. no salt, aromatics).

What you'll have here is pretty much the spicing/flavoring for ketchup. The spices here work well with each other, imo, work well with the aromatics (the garlic and onion), and very well with pineapple. They'll also work well with a tomato-based sauce and with a sauce with fruit components like apple vinegar, crushed or pureed pineapple, or citrus juice elements--so it's a versatile rub. Hope this helps.

 

[Kirk Boorman]

As I look back at my post, I just cut and pasted that - I actually only use about 1 tablespoon of cumin (wife's not crazy about it so I'm sure I can cut it down more) and I use kosher salt.
I was wondering about ginger, allspice and maybe even some lemon powder, but wasn't sure if it would fly. Never thought about thyme or coriander. You've definately given me something to experiment with - thanks Kevin.

 

[adam clyde]

gotta say, the sweetness of coriander really balances cumin. I'm not a fan of cumin on its own, so I always pair the two - usually 2 to 1 coriander to cumin. (and with mexican oregano, forms the basis of my homemade chile powders).

toasting those coriander seeds makes a huge diff too. Just the smell of coriander and cumin toasting on a griddle makes me salivate.

I should have been in Pavlov's experiment.