Barbecue rubs for pork

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TB_London

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After a Black Friday discount I couldn’t turn down I now have a proper smoker after wanting one for years.
Planning on doing a Boston butt this weekend to try it out holding temp for a longer cook.

Price of rubs imported from US to UK is absurd, so looking to make my own - plus I like tinkering and tweaking.

Do people have a tried and tested go to recipe they’d share? Go on share your best rub recipes
 
Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Onion powder, Garlic powder, cayenne, MSG.
Sorry, I don’t measure. Liberal with first two,Paprika for color,little less with the next 2, little less with the last two. I don’t put sugar in any of my rubs, but add some brown sugar if you’re feeling sweet.
 
Not a rub but one of my favorites for doing pork on the smoker is to mix equal parts apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and Fireball whiskey and rubbing the meat liberally with it. When it's time to wrap I pour a couple tablespoons in the foil.
 
I start with the basics, 1 part Paprika, 1 part Granulated Onion, 1 part Granulated Garlic, 1 part Kosher Salt, add what you want from there, Pepper, Ground Rosemary, Celery seed, Instant coffee, Coriander, Red Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Mustard powder whatever. The book mentioned above, Smoke and Spice, is a great one.
 
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I have several I like, but my favorite by far for pork is Meathead Goldwyn’s Memphis Dust rub from Amazingribs.com. It’s outstanding.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/spice-rubs-and-pastes/meatheads-memphis-dust-rub-recipe/
Quite a bit of the processed meat in the United States already has been injected with some kind of salt solution, so his rub does not contain any salt. If I have some meat that has not been salted previously I will usually dry brine it overnight, and then put the rub on the next day before I smoke the meat.
 
Two key things:
1. make your own rub. Sites previously mentioned are great. Find a store that sells bulk spices and stock up. Don’t ever buy chili powder either, make your own.
2. If you can see the meat you don’t have enough rub! Dump it on until no more sticks.
 
My understanding is that nothing normally used in a rub actually penetrates the meat except salt. And it moves inward at a rate of about 1/4" per hour for all sides. I dry brine most protein for several hours to several days depending on thickness. I then apply a salt free rub - usually Meathead's Memphis Dust mentioned above, (for butts).
 
Cheers for the suggestions, made magic dust and meathead rub already - magic dust was quite cumin heavy that didn’t match the flavour I was after - will be using for ribs but something didn’t chime for pulled pork, the meathead was interesting and again I think more ribs than butt.

Will give the others a go and see if I get a winner, appreciate the suggestions- reassuring that 2 of them were already in the mix of potentials.

Have bought all the ingredients and now just trying to find the right mix - friend uses prebought and his stuff is seriously great - I’m hoping I can equal that with homemix
 
TB_London said:
Cheers for the suggestions, made magic dust and meathead rub already - magic dust was quite cumin heavy that didn’t match the flavour I was after - will be using for ribs but something didn’t chime for pulled pork, the meathead was interesting and again I think more ribs than butt.

Will give the others a go and see if I get a winner, appreciate the suggestions- reassuring that 2 of them were already in the mix of potentials.

Have bought all the ingredients and now just trying to find the right mix - friend uses prebought and his stuff is seriously great - I’m hoping I can equal that with homemix
Click to expand...
Ask your friend if you can see the label. They may list the ingredients, although I suspect it will list some ingredients and then say something like "and spices".
 
AT5760 said:
Make your own. I can vouch for the rub that @Dan- linked from Smoke and Spice. I've used that one many times and really like it.
Click to expand...
After two endorsements I’ve just ordered the book

Didn’t get home from work in time to do any more trials tonight, but hopefully tomorrow can give a few more a whirl before committing


Really appreciate the collective knowledge and experience- thanks all for thoughts!
 
Sugarless Texas sprinkle is probably the best rub in the other book. It makes excellent spareribs, that people tell me, while begging for more, are the best ribs they’ve ever had. And I live in a place where people only do that if they want something.
 
TB_London said:
After a Black Friday discount I couldn’t turn down I now have a proper smoker after wanting one for years.
Planning on doing a Boston butt this weekend to try it out holding temp for a longer cook.

Price of rubs imported from US to UK is absurd, so looking to make my own - plus I like tinkering and tweaking.

Do people have a tried and tested go to recipe they’d share? Go on share your best rub recipes
Click to expand...
Here's one I use and it's really good:

Salt.
Sugar.
Cumin.
Paprika.
Black Pepper.
Chili powder.
Garlic powder.
Onion powder.
Lemon pepper seasoning.

The lemon pepper seasoning gives it a nice tang, it's kind of the secret to the rub. As for amounts, use your own judgement. I can tell you that chili powder is the base of the rub, add the rest in fairly equal amounts. Salt and sugar should be used to taste of course. You can rub your meat with a little olive oil or whatever oil you like, or you can just use the moisture of the meat to help the rub stick, it's up to you. If you're looking for heat, cayenne pepper can be used. This is just a starting point, so if you want to add some different flavors, go for it. This goes really well with chicken & pork, but I've never tried it on beef, though I'm sure it would be good.
 
Here’s what I’ve used for many years …

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Scale as you please.
 
It can be as simple as just salt and pepper. If I use sugar, then I need to be careful with the heat as it will blacken.
 
Rubs aren't very important on shoulders. I come from the land of pork shoulder-based barbecue (Western North Carolina) and most of the rubs that get used around here are just salt and pepper. On something like brisket or ribs where there's a greater surface area to volume ratio, you have more crust exposed per bite and focusing on the rub makes more sense.
 
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