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Thanks to www.carolinesrub.com
BBQ RUBS - HOW TO'S
What is a Dry Rub and How Do You Store and Use It?
Your dry rub is a versatile combination of spices used to season any dish where you want to add a kick of flavor and spice. While commonly associated with barbecue and grilling, a premium quality dry rub is for so much more than just meat, and can be used to add new and unique flavors to vegetables, eggs, dressings, tofu, salads, casseroles, and more! You can even use them to spice up condiments such as mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup to really bring out the flavor of your favorite sandwich and fries, or add them to sour cream or yogurt for a quick and easy dip!
How to Store Your Dry Rub
To ensure that your dry rubs and seasonings are always at their peak in flavor and freshness, it is important to store them properly. Be sure to read our article on storing your spices to learn how you can get the maximum flavor and longest shelf life from your dry rubs, Texas chili seasoning, and smoked salts!
Things To Think About Before Getting Started
Oftentimes, manufacturers create their rubs using a variety of chili peppers, such as cayenne, poblano, jalapeno, and habanero peppers, which means they can be quite hot when used in larger amounts. Until you are familiar with any rub that is spicy, you should begin by using smaller amounts than you may use with your usual spices to avoid burning your mouth or over-heating your dishes.
When using rubs in recipes that require an extended cooking time in liquids, such as in a crock pot or batch of chili, it is best to add the dry rub or Texas chili seasoning required in small batches throughout, or towards the end of the cooking process. This keeps the spice flavors at their peak giving you a far more flavorful end product.
How To Use Your Dry Rub
Dry rubs can be just that, completely dry, or they can be incorporated into a liquid and used as a wet rub or paste. Usually seen combined with an oil of some sort, wet rubs are frequently created with other "secret" purees and liquids, providing an additional and often unique dose of flavor. We prefer to use a wet rub with an oil base as a coating for vegetables or shellfish prior to grilling or roasting, as the oil helps the spices adhere better to these foods and aids in the roasting process. We also mix our rubs with mustard and horseradish and use this paste to thoroughly coat our briskets prior to their long slow smoking.
When used as a dry rub, the process is quite simple and adds a tremendous amount of flavor to your dishes.
Step 1:
Wash the meat, and trim it of any silver-skin, excess fat, etc. Don't trim away all the fat though - this is what will assist in keeping any meat you are cooking moist! When cooking ribs, remove the membrane covering the bones, if desired. Dry the meat thoroughly with a paper towel, discarding paper towel when finished.
Step 2:
Sprinkle the dry rub, or paint the meat if using a wet rub or paste, to cover your meat of choice with a thorough, but not excessive, layer of the spices. If you are using a rub you haven't tried before, start by applying less than you would normally use to avoid over-spicing the food, or in the case of spicy rubs, burning your mouth! Because we use nothing but premium quality ingredients which means more natural oils and flavor, a little goes a long way. Depending on the amount used, each 2.5 ounce bag of Caroline's Rub dry rubs should easily cover 8 - 10 pounds of meat.
With chicken and other birds, simply placing the rub on the skin will create a nice crust, but will not flavor the meat. To get the flavor of your rub to the meat, gently lift the skin without tearing it, making sure to get the rub in direct contact with the meat as well as on top of the skin and thoroughly within the cavity - this will help to add even more flavor to your finished bird.
When done your meat should be coated with a nice even layer of rub or paste.
Step 3 - Optional Items:
This step can be a bit messy, so have plenty of paper towels on hand! Except in the case of delicate meats and food such as fish and vegetables, use your fingers to gently work the rub or paste in a circular motion, being careful not to crush the meat. On heartier cuts such as brisket or pork shoulder, really work the rub into the meat, giving it a good exercise; this helps break down the connective tissues of these tougher cuts.
Speaking of larger cuts of meat such as pork shoulders, briskets, and leaner items such as birds, you may want to also consider injecting them to really add flavor and moisture throughout the meat. To create an injection, melt 1/2 stick unsalted butter and add 1 - 2 teaspoons of your rub. Mix thoroughly, and with a meat injector, evenly distribute the injection throughout the meat. Be careful not to over-inject rubs containing salt, as they may make your final product salty.
Step 4:
If you performed step 3, sprinkle additional rub to evenly coat the meat and lightly fill in any empty areas.
Thoroughly and tightly wrap the meat in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator if cooking at a later time, or leave wrapped at room temperature if cooking time is less than 1 hour away. Do not leave your meat un-refrigerated for an extended period of time as this may result in it becoming unsafe to eat, no matter how much you cook it!
For even greater results, let the seasoned meat sit in the refrigerator overnight, wrapped in plastic wrap.
Step 5:
About a half-hour before cooking the meat, remove it from the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap and allow to return to room temperature. If a dry rub was used, it will have become pasty from the juices of the meat. Be careful when handling the meat to avoid rubbing away any of the paste – it makes for a tasty crust, or what is referred to as “bark”. TIP: To really develop a nice solid bark, avoid adding any sauces to the meat until the rub or paste has had time to set. This takes about one hour of cooking time, longer if using foil.
If desired, you can add more rub to coat for even more flavor.
Cook meat in desired manner, and bon appetite!
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