 | John Yoder and his wife Joyce are owners of Yoder Meats, located in Yoder, KS. They are known for their custom butchering of hormone-free beef, pork and many other meats. They have been active in the meat processing business since 1965. You can contact them at (620) 465-3807, or toll free at (800) 952-MEAT(6328), or by e-mail at: yodermeatsinc@hotmail.com |
Food & Drink
2005-02-01 11:14:00
Rub seasonings and grilling?
: How should one use a 'rub' to season meat when grilling?
ANSWER: A Rub is a spice and/or herb mixture that is added to foods before cooking. Rubs can be completely dry (dry rub) or contain liquids (wet rub). Rubs are most often used in outdoor cooking due to their ability to stick to meats when grilled or smoked. Rubs generally start with paprika and/or chili powder to add color and mild flavor. Dry rubs start out with a few basic ingredients. Remember that a rub is not only a mixture of spices and herbs; it is a mixture of flavors. A good rub will have a balanced flavor that adds to meats, but doesn't over power them. Dry rubs can be stored for months, but after time they begin to lose their flavor. In creating your own personalized rub, start with the basic flavors: salt, sweet, sour, and bitter. As for salt you can go with regular table salt, sea salt, kosher salt, or you can use a flavored salt like garlic, onion or seasoning salts. Sugar can be white, brown, or any other kind of sugar you like. If you want to make a wet rub then you can use molasses. This adds a different flavor to your rub that can really enhance the taste. Simply combining something like brown sugar and garlic salt will give you a pretty decent rub. These two ingredients make the base of the rub. From here you build on the flavor and the color that will make the rub something that adds to the meat you use it on. For instance, you are using one cup each of sugar and salt: add ½ cup of paprika. Paprika is great for color but tends to have a mild flavor. The color is strong so you don't need as much paprika as you do with the other two. From here you can start building on the flavor of the rub you want to make. You can simply add some herbs for a basic rub (¼ cup of oregano or Italian seasoning will round out the flavors to give you a decent rub). However it you want a rub with some heat you need to think about adding pepper. Depending on the heat of the pepper you add you can go with anything from about ½ cup to a teaspoon or two. If you are adding cayenne add about 1 tablespoon for a fairly hot rub to 1 teaspoon for something milder. You can also choose a variety of chili powders, crushed red pepper flakes or any other dried and ground pepper. To finish off your rub add some herbs to taste. The best tool for rub building is a good collection of spices. The advantage of a wet rub is that it sticks to the meat better. This is particularly important if you are cooking poultry with the skin on or some other smooth surfaced meats or meats that tend to be naturally dry. The other advantage to a wet rub is it can help to keep meat from drying out. This is especially true when using an oil based rub. The oil acts as a moisture barrier, keeping the natural juices inside the meat. Oils in rubs can also keep meats from sticking to the grill. A wet rub should have the consistence of a paste and thick enough to coat the surface of the meat. Work a rub evenly into the meat to get the flavor inside as much as possible. If you are applying a rub to poultry try and get it in under the skin. Skin blocks flavors so putting a rub on the surface of skin won't do much for the meat. It is good to apply your rub well before you plan to grill or smoke. A good hour will be enough in most cases, but large roasts, whole poultry, or briskets should be rubbed down the night before or at least several hours before cooking. This allows the seasonings to mingle with the natural juices of the meat.
