Culinary Rubs You’ll Love All Summer Long

By Eric Williams –

A rub is a blend of coarsely ground spices that are mixed together and rubbed on meat using your hands. The rub is applied to the outside of the meat or poultry creating a light coating that flavors the meat while it cooks. Rubs are common in nearly all cuisines but especially those in which cooking over open fire is popular. Rubs are especially popular during grilling season. Many cooks develop their own signature rubs and guard them as family secrets. The basic three rubs below could be your starting point for your own secret family recipe.

Using a dry rub your your meat or poultry is an alternative to a marinade before grilling. You mix up the rub and then massage it into the meat. Then cover the meat with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Take the meat out 15 minutes before grilling so it can come to room temperature. Then, you’re ready to cook.

These three rubs will make all you grilling meats pop with flavor as the spice blend infuses the meat or poultry while grilling, smoking or even broiling. My three basics for the summer season include pork, chicken and steak, although I often mix a variation of two different rubs. Fish on the grill is different and needs only high quality olive oil, dried lemon or orange peel and perhaps oregano, pink Himalayan sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. If you make too much rub for the meat or poultry you have on the platter, no worries. Store the rub in an air tight container at room temperature. You’ve got a head start on your next meal.

Pork Rub

1/2 cup sugar in the raw

2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon allspice

Chicken Rub

4 tablespoons granulated dry orange peel

3 tablespoons dried sage

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

4 tablespoons paprika

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

3 tablespoons lemon pepper

2 garlic cloves minced

Steak Rub

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons mustard powder

2 teaspoons ground coffee

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cloves

F&M