a means of bringing out the other natural flavors<\/a>. They also play a crucial role in creating the pellicle when the salt pulls moisture out of the meat.<\/p>\nThe sugar dissolves in this moisture and helps contribute to the bark. (Plus, a little sweetness goes great with pork!)<\/p>\n
The red pepper brings the heat that we like in our barbecue, but is perhaps just as important in contributing the red color most people desire as well.<\/p>\n
That makes for a bare-bones dry rub, but you shouldn\u2019t stop there. A little extra somethin\u2019 somethin\u2019 in your dry rub will make it unique and memorable.<\/p>\n
The Dry Rub Blueprint<\/h2>\n
![\"Dry](\"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2013-09-14-21.57.41-e1393517374925.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Alton Brown (one of my personal heroes) breaks down dry rub into a formula as perfect as a haiku:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- 8 parts sugar<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n
- 3 parts salt<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n
- 1 part red pepper<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n
- 1 part anything else<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The parts should be measured by volume with measuring spoons and cups. (This ain\u2019t baking, so no need to be crazy exact here.)<\/p>\n
The formula is flexible enough to allow you to create your own unique rubs without straying too far from their original essence. Think of this as the Choose Your Own Adventure guide to creating your own signature dry rub!<\/p>\n
For the sugar, you can use:<\/p>\n
\n- White sugar<\/li>\n
- Brown sugar<\/li>\n
- Turbinado sugar<\/li>\n
- Molasses<\/li>\n
- Maple syrup<\/li>\n
- Honey<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note that the last three will technically turn your dry rub into a wet rub, but no worries. It\u2019ll work just the same.<\/p>\n
For the salt, our old friend Kosher salt is the only reasonable way to go.<\/p>\n
For the red pepper, you\u2019ve got a few options as well:<\/p>\n
\n- Cayenne pepper<\/li>\n
- Paprika<\/li>\n
- Chili powder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Lastly, for the \u201cwild card\u201d part, feel free to let your freak flag fly, but some of my favorite additions include:<\/p>\n
\n- Black pepper<\/li>\n
- Cumin<\/li>\n
- Coriander<\/li>\n
- Ginger powder<\/li>\n
- Garlic powder<\/li>\n
- Onion powder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Basic Dry Rub Recipe<\/h2>\n
![\"Dry](\"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2013-09-14-22.07.51-e1393517526936.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The following recipe will give you enough dry rub for a rack of ribs or a pork shoulder, both classic BBQ preparations that we\u2019ll be making in the next few articles.<\/p>\n
Combine the following ingredients:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- 1\/2 cup brown sugar<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 1 tablespoon paprika<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 1 teaspoon black pepper<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 1 teaspoon cumin<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 1 teaspoon coriander<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
That\u2019s it.<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re going to be hitting the grill a lot, scale everything up (remember that 4 tablespoons = 1\/4 cup) and keep it in a jar.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll go faster than you think it will!<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the most essential ingredient for barbecue? Did you say \u201cthe sauce?\u201d Think again pal. Barbecue in many places (most notably Memphis) is served sans sauce, to no ill effect. Dry rub is the thing that no self-respecting backyard pitmaster would leave out of his BBQ. Dry rub performs to essential functions in barbecue: It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[260],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whole-hog-project"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3282"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3332,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions\/3332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Dry](\"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2013-09-14-22.10.05-e1393517283739.jpg\")
<\/p>\n