Many purists in that barbecue mecca named Memphis don't like to smother their pigs with sauce. Instead they lay a dry "rub" on their ribs, a mixture of spices and herbs, and eat their slabs crunchy, sans sauce. There are restaurants that only serve "dry" ribs. No sauce in the joint.

Even if you like your pork "wet" a good rub can add flavor, texture, and color, and almost all barbecue chefs use one. Rubs are seasoning mixes and there are scores of recipes. Some cooks apply a rub just before cooking, some let it sit on the meat overnight as a sort of curing process. There is a reaction between the rub and the surface that helps form a nice crust, called bark, if the rub is on for at least two hours in the fridge.

There's no need to buy rubs in the store. They're easy to make. Here's my recipe for a great all purpose rub. It's great on all pork, chicken, turkey, salmon, and even popcorn. It is carefully formulated to flavor, color, and form the proper crust. People tell me I really ought to bottle and sell it. Nah. You can have it for free. It's all here, nothing held back.

Not just for pork! Eric Bonzell of Folsom, CA writes: "Don't know if anyone else has tried this, but your Memphis Magic Dust makes a phenomenal rub for grilled salmon. Tonight, I used it on Mackinaw caught this morning from Lake Tahoe. All I can say is, WOW! The strong flavors from the salmon (and oily-fleshed lake trout) stand up to and are complimented by the MMD. What a wonderful combination!!!"

Yield. Makes about 3 cups. I typically use about 1 tablespoon per side of a slab of St. Louis cut ribs, and a bit less for baby backs. Store the extra in a zipper bag or a glass jar with a tight lid.

Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
4 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons ground rosemary

Optional. Add up to 2 tablespoons crushed dried chipotle, cayenne, chili powder, or other hot pepper. Be careful with this ingredient. Not everybody likes it as hot as you do! You can leave it out if you are serving to a large crowd that is bound to contain a few wimps, and serve pepper flakes on the side.

Substitution. Try substituting some smoked paprika for regular paprika. Beware, it is usually a bit hot.

Briners beware of double salt jeopardy! Rubs are a great way to add flavor to meat. Brines are also a great way to add flavor as well as moisture. Rubs often contain a lot of salt. You can use both a rub and a brine, but beware of double salt jeopardy. If you use brines a lot, you should make your own rubs and leave the salt out of your rub mixes. It can make the meat unbearably salty. Remember, you can always add salt, but there's no taking it away.

About the sugar and salt. I encourage readers to experiment with recipes and "no rules in the kitchen or bedroom" is my motto, but I have gotten two emails from people that require a comment. One said he loved this recipe but left out the salt. Another left out the white sugar. I appreciate the need to reduce sugar and salt in our diets, but they are in the recipe for more than flavor enhancement, they help form the crust (a.k.a. "the bark"), an important part of the texture of the meat. The salt pulls some moisture to the surface to form a "pellicle" and the sugar mixes with the moisture, caramelizes, and also contributes to the bark formation. There's only about two tablespoons of rub to a large slab. Of that about 1 tablespoon is sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If you eat half a slab, you're not eating much sugar and salt. I recommend you leave them in. And for those of you who object to white sugar for non-dietary reasons, and use brown sugar instead, you need to know brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added. It is not unrefined sugar.

Do this
1) Mix the ingredients thoroughly. If the sugar is lumpy, crumble the lumps by hand or on the side of the bowl with a fork. If you store the rub in a tight jar, you can keep it for months. If it clumps just chop it up, or if you wish, spread it on a baking sheet and put it in a 250F oven for 15 minutes to drive off moisture.

2) For most meats, sprinkle just enough on to color it. Not too thick, about 2 tablespoons per side of a large slab. For Memphis style ribs without a sauce, apply the rub thick enough to make a crunchy crust. To prevent contaminating your rub with uncooked meat juices, spoon out the proper amount before you start and seal the bottle for future use.

3) Wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it overnight before cooking.

Keep your powder dry. To prevent cross-contamination, one hand sprinkles on the rub and the other hand does the rubbing. Don't put the hand that is rubbing into the powder.

This page revised 8/15/08