BBQ Rub - Why does your BBQ need a perfect Spice Rub

What is BBQ seasoning?

BBQ seasoning can be a simple mixture of spices, sugar, and salt used to season, and add flavour to, meat before grilling or smoking. You can also add barbecue seasoning after cooking too. Basically, the seasoning has two principal functions. Firstly it brings out the natural flavours of your meat or vegetable. Secondly, it creates a basic flavour foundation for your food.

What are barbecue rubs?

Although barbecue rubs and barbecue seasoning are nearly similar, they do have some divergent differences. A rub is a combination of spices, herbs, and seasoning that we apply to meat and vegetables before grilling or smoking. BBQ rubs aren't usually applied to food after cooking, unlike BBQ seasoning.

How do BBQ rubs work?

Barbecue rubs are an instant and effective way to pervade a deep flavour into your grilled food. Basically, while your food is being blazed on the grill, the rub cooks too, penetrating deeper into the meat to add flavour.

What’s more some of the surface rub crystallizes to form a crispy ‘bark’ on the outside of the meat. This bark is a delightful crispy coating of spices, adding another feel to the taste experience. Plus the bark acts like a barrier, trapping all the natural flavours of the meat within the flesh. While marinades require a little more effort and time, a BBQ rub is a quicker and easier solution that still brings a powerful flavour.

What are the ingredients of barbecue rub?

The great thing about barbecue rubs is that they are super easy to make yourself. If you’re not the hands-on type you can purchase all types of pre-made rubs too.

To create your own basic barbecue rub you’ll need salt, sugar, chilies powder, paprika, coriander, black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano.

You can try out the amounts to customize a flavour to your liking. Just a quick note: if you’re using a spice rub on your meat, salt and sugar are key. Salt helps the rub’s flavours enter deeper into the meat. Sugar helps the process of crystallization, creating your crunchy back of tastiness. Just focus on creating a balanced spice mix for flavour heaven.

There are two types of spice rubs for BBQ.

Dry Rubs

A dry rub is a mix of spices, herbs, and seasonings that when applied to the outside of the meat, chicken, veg, or fish produces a coating or glaze adding flavour and texture to the protein.

Dry rubs are most often used in BBQ, smoking, and grilling because of their capability to stick to the chicken and fish, etc.

Each rub recipe is exclusive and there is a number of them out there, they tend to be simple, most spice rubs are created on a standard set of flavours. In addition to the ingredients named above, it is typical to find onion and garlic powders, paprika, cumin, oregano, and many of the common herbs and spices in the classic home spice rack.

Wet Rubs/ Marinades

Wet spice rubs are also called pastes, they stick to food better than dry ones. Wet rubs are prepared by adding liquid to a rub which can be anything that will add flavour. Common components added to make a wet rub include, crushed, mustard, garlic, oil, lime or lemon juice, and yogurt.

Which rub is the best?

The best spice rub in the world is the rub you like the most. The decision of choosing the right rub for cooking also relates to what you’re going to cook. A wet spice rub is often more helpful in making BBQs. Dry rubs help in making chicken curry.

How to use and apply a BBQ seasoning?

You can scrub food in two ways depending on the type: wet or dry. Usually, the scrub is dry, so let's start with the dry rub.

To apply a dry rub, you must first wipe off your meat with a paper towel or kitchen towel. This is because you need to remove as much moisture as possible from the surface. Why? The scrub absorbs the water and begins to stick together, creating a thicker, almost runny texture. Results? They have an uneven distribution of flavours and are therefore weaker. So after removing as much moisture as possible, it's time to sprinkle a dry grill over your food.

Finally, rub the powder mixture evenly over your food and tap it gently too. The goal is to cover the outside of the food with a full, even layer.

If you want a wet scrub, just mix a little water or oil into a dry scrub. Mix until you get a thicker paste. Then simply apply the paste to your food. You won't get much of a beautiful surface from the crust, but you will still enjoy the great taste.

Why you should use Spice Rub for BBQ?

Different spices and herbs have different nutrients and flavours. A newbie to cooking commonly doesn't know what spice in what quantity he should add to BBQ for a perfect taste. The spice rub is the solution for it.

With the use of spice rub in BBQ, a new newbie can make perfect BBQs. Spices rub is a mixture of various spices with a specific quantity. You don't need to take spices one by one to add in BBQs.

Spice rub gives an excellent flavour to your BBQs. It makes BBQs crispy with decent taste from the outside and juicy from the inside.

What does SpiceMasters offer?

SpiceMasters offers you a range of spices and spices blends here in the UK. we offer free delivery and same-day dispatch. Our spice blends are of premium quality with no artificial flavour or additives. We currently have 24 hand-blended spices and many more coming soon. Over

1000's of independent reviews on Amazon and Etsy show the trust of our customers in our products. We do offer wholesale of our spice products.