BBQ Rub

This is not yet a fully measured recipe... but I thought I should write down a guess at what I usually do to make a dry rub for slow smoking/BBQ of meats. The general rule is:

2 parts brown sugar
1 part salt
2 parts spices

The problem is that I usually just make up the spices as I go along.

Here's a guess at a spice mix. Scale up to match the quantity of brown sugar:

2 Tbsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground mustard seed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground fennel

The spices which give most of the unique flavor are Red Chili and celery seed. Mustard and garlic are pretty standard, and in almost every BBQ rub. I like cumin and fennel, but they are not essential.

Rub this liberally on meat, then smoke or BBQ over indirect heat for several hours. This rub cannot be used for grilling, since the sugar will burn instead of carmelize at higher heat.

Aaron Birenboim

Last modified: Wed Nov 23 08:26:52 MST 2005