Building Your Own Rubs

The backbone

Almost every good rub is built on four things: salt for seasoning, sugar for browning and balance, paprika for colour and gentle warmth, and black pepper for bite. Get the ratios of those right and everything else is a refinement. A classic all-purpose ratio is roughly equal salt and sugar, with paprika and pepper behind them.

What each ingredient does

• Salt: seasons throughout and helps form the bark.
• Sugar: caramelises for colour and balances heat and salt. Use less for high-heat cooks, where it burns.
• Paprika: colour and mild flavour; smoked paprika adds depth.
• Pepper: heat and structure to the flavour.
• Garlic and onion powder: savoury background.
• Cayenne, chilli, cumin, mustard: for character and heat.

Tune it to the cook

Match the rub to the heat. For low and slow barbecue, more sugar is fine because it caramelises slowly into the bark. For a hot, fast grill, cut the sugar right back or it burns to bitterness before the food is done. A brisket rub can be almost pure salt and coarse pepper; a rib rub leans sweet.

Start simple

Do not overcomplicate it. A great many superb briskets are seasoned with nothing but coarse salt and pepper. Build from that backbone, add one or two things at a time, and taste as you go. A focused rub of a few good ingredients beats a muddle of twenty.