This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)

A pork shoulder rubbed with a spice rub before cooking

Spice rub is any mixture of ground spices that is made for the purpose of being rubbed on raw food before the food is cooked. The spice rub forms a coat on the food. The food can be marinated in the spice rub for some time for the flavors to incorporate into the food or it can be cooked immediately after it is coated in the rub. The spices are usually coarsely ground. In addition to spices, salt and sugar may be added to the rub, the salt for flavor and the sugar for caramelization. The simplest rub is just coarsely ground black pepper as in Steak au poivre.

Spice rubs can also have ingredients such as herbs, crushed garlic or oil added to make a paste. The spice rub can be left on or partially removed before cooking.

Common foods that are rubbed [edit]

Spice rubs are mainly used for preparing meats and fish. There are a large number of different recipes for rubs and most of them are targeted towards a specific kind of food. The exact combination of spices that makes a good rub for a particular kind of food varies from region to region and culture to culture.

Cooking methods [edit]

Cooking with rubs is almost always done using the dry heat method of cooking where almost no water based liquid is used in cooking. The most popular cooking method for food prepared using a spice rub is grilling. Baking and pan roasting are other dry-heat methods. Sautéing is another method, especially if the spice rub includes flour or bread crumbs.

When water is used for cooking, it is usually after the food has already been partially cooked with the dry heat method.

Spice rubs and culture [edit]

In some cultures, spice rubs are highly personal and sometimes a very secret recipe. Grill masters in the southern United States jealously guard their recipe secrets and they will usually have a secret ingredient that they will not reveal to anyone. In some cultures, the recipe for making a spice rub and how to cook with it are passed from mother to daughter and every family will have a slightly different recipe. Because of the lack of time to cook in most modern societies, spice rubs are now sold in grocery and gourmet stores with some brands enjoying a loyal following.

External links [edit]

Video [edit]

• Spice rub video from PBS site
• Steven Raichlein Article About Dry Rub New York Times

See also [edit]

• Espresso rub
• Barbecue
• Cooking
• Spice
• Grill
• Regional variations of barbecue

This food ingredient-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e