Rub question.. How fine?

[Dave Meatty]

There's some great sounding rubs here. One thing I'm curious about is how fine the ingredients of a rub should be ground. My basic rub starts out with turbinado sugar (marketed as sugar in the raw) and kosher salt then i add in the pepper and dry spices. The salt and sugar are pretty big crystals. Like coarse sand. Do you all have a preference as to how fine you like your rubs? Would all the ingredients be about the same or is it OK to have it all mixed up?

 

[timothy]

I usually run Sugar in the Raw and other ingredients through the Food Processor with a few pulses.
Not super fine but enough to break down any lumps in the onion or garlic powder.

Tim

 

[Bill Farmer]

It is perfectly fine to have different coarseness in the different spices. I actually prefer my spices to be more coarse than a fine powder.

 

[Len Dennis]

Coarse here as well. I find that if it's too fine, it's very easy to use too much. Less is better IMO. I don't think I've ever put any spice through a grinder/pestle before application.

 

[Bob Sample]

If you go finer it gives you a more uniform flavour on the meat. I like course grinds on steaks and chops because I like that little. Extra flavour of garlic or onion in different bites. With brisket butts and ribs I usually go finer so every taste is about the same.

 

[Gary S]

I have a coffee grinder I dedicated several years ago to grinding pepper corns and various herbs. I use it for the turbinado sugar as I think smaller is better when it comes to ribs. I also like to grind rosemary as I think it I am able to impart more flavor into the meat. Like Bob I'm not so concerned with beef in fact I like a course grind of pepper corns on my steaks and brisket.

 

[DarylB]

Coarse here. Just through experimentation I have found that I like it that way. I use kosher salt and big, coarse butcher block pepper. It is thick enough that it clogs up my injector.

Everything I make, bbq or not, seems to lean toward rustic.