Standard BBQ Rub — My “Spoocial” Rub

Here it is! My standard BBQ rub. This is lightly sweet, mildly hot, and just enough salt to be a rub. We also call this my “Spoocial” Rub because when Lil’ Bit was labeling the bottle once, he wrote the word Special that way and the name has now stuck.

This makes a nice background that you can freely riff off of, so feel free to add herbs or other spices to this. I like to mix it up by substituting the hot pepper powders with lemon peel, coriander and lavender for fish or chicken, or just removing the chipotle pepper powder and adding in orange peel and ginger root or ginger powder for an Asian spin. There really are no limits to this!

Here’s how to make the standard version, which is great for barbecuing, smoking, or grilling any pork or chicken dish.

You’ll need:

• 3 cups brown sugar (it doesn’t matter if it’s light brown or dark brown, but I do buy dark brown)
• 1 cup paprika (buy it from the bulk store or online from my favorite spice vendor www.Penzeys.com. You can use smoked paprika if you want an extra smoky flavor or if you are just using this rub on the grill)
• 2/3 cup kosher salt (I actually smoke my salt, so I use that)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper powder (here’s my own recipe)
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper powder (note, only 2 teaspoons. If that is too hot, cut it in half)
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

Mix the ingredients up well. They may stick, so you will need to remove clumps by shaking, or using a wire whisk. You can also pass it through a flour sifter or whizz it up in the blender.  I like to run it through the blender to get it really finely ground, but you don’t have to.

You can store the rub in old spice containers or freezer bags, but make sure you remove as much of the air from the bags as possible because air is the enemy.

This makes enough rub for about four weekends of casual smoking (three or four racks of ribs, a couple of chickens or pork shoulders). If you have the luxury, cut the ingredients in half and make your rub each time you need it. A half recipe is enough for about two racks of ribs or two chickens.

Standard BBQ Rub

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Here it is! My basic barbecue rub. Because it is anything but basic in flavor, I'll just call this my standard BBQ rub. This is lightly sweet, mildly hot, and just enough salt to be a rub. Because it is anything but basic, this makes a nice background that you can freely riff off of, so feel free to add herbs or other spices to this. I like to mix it up by substituting the hot pepper powders with lemon peel and lavender for fish or chicken, or just removing the chipotle pepper powder and adding in orange peel and ginger root or ginger powder for an asian spin. There really are no limits to this! Here's how to make the standard version, which is great for barbecuing, smoking, or grilling any pork or chicken dish. This makes enough rub for about four weekends of casual smoking (three or four racks of ribs, a couple of chickens or pork shoulders). If you have the luxury, cut the ingredients in half and make your rub each time you need it. A half recipe is enough for about two racks of ribs or two chickens.

Author: WooPigFoodie

Recipe type: BBQ

Cuisine: BBQ

Ingredients

• 3 cups brown sugar (it doesn't matter if it's light brown or dark brown, but i do buy dark brown)
• 1 cup paprika (buy it from the bulk store or online from www.Penzeys.com)
• ⅔ cup kosher salt (I actually smoke my salt, so I use that)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper powder
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper powder (note, only 2 teaspoons. If that is too hot, cut it in half)
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl.
2. If things get clumpy, just use a whisk to break them up.
3. An easy way to make the rub nice and fine is to pass it through a flour sifter, or whizz it up in the blender. I like to run it through the blender to get it really finely ground, but you don't have to.
4. You can store the rub in freezer bags, but remember that oxygen is your enemy here, so squeeze out all of the air that you can.

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