In my house, we grill meat and vegetables on the barbecue year round even in the winter, with snow on the ground. Although there is nothing wrong with cooking meat on the stove, I have a definite preference for grilled meat.
There are a number of ways to enhance meat and vegetables that you grill. The natural flavours are great but sauces, marinades, and rubs can also make a great difference to the flavours.
Some people combine more than one of these techniques on their meat. This means you can eat the same basic ingredients with a whole different range of taste.
A rub is a mixture of spices that is rubbed into the meat prior to cooking it. Done properly it will actually form a crust on the meat while cooking, sealing in the juices while giving the meat added heat and flavour. You can buy a variety of rubs for various types of meat in your local grocery store.
However, you can make your own rub fairly easily too and adjust it to the balance of heat and sweetness that you prefer.
1. Salt
Salt holds the juices in the meat. It is a very important part of the process. I know some people try to avoid adding salt to their food for health reasons. It is important to remember that in moderation, most things are not that bad for you.
When you put a rub on a rack of ribs, you use about one tablespoon per side and there is more than just salt in the rub so, comparatively it is a very small amount of salt. You can use any type of salt you want – kosher, table, sea, etc.
Make sure that your meat does not already have salt added. Self-basted, brined, enhanced, flavour enhanced, and basted meats generally have salt added to them to make the meat moister when cooked. If you grill the meat slowly, the salt will help the crust to form and the sugar carmelizes to finish the crust.
They are two essential ingredients in a rub. In terms of proportion, the salt should be about one twelfth of the total amount. So, if you make three cups of rub then you would use about ¼ cup of salt.
Remember to adjust accordingly, ¼ cup of table is a lot more salt by volume than ¼ cup of kosher salt because the grains are so much smaller. Play around a bit with the amount of salt as you experiment with your rub.
2. Sugar
Sugar is the other extremely important ingredient in a rub. You can mix and use a variety of sugars in the rub. Sugar is proportionately about half of the rub. You can use white sugar, brown sugar (which is just white sugar with molasses added to it), raw sugar, etc or a combination of two or more types of sugar.
You need to cook your meat slowly so the sugar caramelizes instead of burning. Using brown sugar can help add some colour and the molasses flavour tends to work well with many meats including pork.
If you are worried about calories, you need to remember that there is a lot of sugar in most sauces and you will use proportionately more sauce than you will rub on a rack of ribs. This is the low calorie option.
3. Pepper
Pepper gives heat and your personal taste really comes into play here. You can make it as hot and spicy or mild as you wish. Start by adding small amounts of pepper and increasing it gradually.
It is easier to make something hotter than it is to make it milder. You can choose from a variety of types of pepper. White ground pepper will give you a mild heat, perfect for those who don’t favour mouth burning intensity.
Freshly ground black pepper will give a stronger heat and has a definite taste to it. Cayenne will give instant heat and should be avoided if you like things mild. It doesn’t have as strong a flavour as black pepper but it packs more heat.
There is also an array of ground peppers you can use including chipotle, red pepper flakes, etc. Experiment with smoked peppers and other exotic flavours like lemon pepper.
4. Unifying Spices
These are spices that unite the salt, sugar and pepper. They include things like paprika, cumin and chilli powder. These are spices that don’t have really strong flavours but they hold other spices and flavours together. Choose which spices you enjoy most.
I’m not big on cumin but I love chilli powder so I tend to lean that way. Paprika has a lot of range. It can be mild or, if you buy smoked Hungarian paprika stronger and hotter. This should be about 1/6 of the recipe. So, going back to our three cup recipe, one half cup would be a unifying spice.
5. Your Personal Touches
These are the flavours that you really enjoy. I add garlic to everything. If it’s lamb, I love rosemary. For fish, I like dill. This is where your creativity really shines through. Mix and match the spices and herbs that you like and experiment with new ones.
Popular choices include onion powder, celery powder, garlic, rosemary, ginger, oregano, dry mustard, thyme, and coriander. Add these in small amounts and adjust accordingly by tasting your rub.
Rubs work best if you put them on the meat and then let it sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours or as long as overnight. Remember, slow cooking is the key to success. Many consider Memphis to be one of the major hubs for good barbecue, so I’ve included a recipe for a Memphis rub below, courtesy of Meathead.
Memphis Dust
Makes about 3 cups of rub. Use 1 tablespoon per side of ribs. This one is great on all kinds of meats, including pork, beef, and fish. Once you’ve tried it Meathead’s way, start playing around with it to adjust it to your taste buds.
- ¾ cup of firmly packed, dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup of white sugar
- ½ cup paprika
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- ¼ cup garlic powder
- 2 TB each of onion powder, ground ginger, and ground black pepper
- 2 tsp rosemary powder
- Mix all the ingredients together and you have your rub.
Although many people restrict their grilling to pork chops, ribs, steaks, hamburgers and hot dog, do not be afraid to play with other meats like chicken, fish, lamb, and game meats like venison and pheasant. Happy grilling!
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