By Dylan Clay
This rub is sweet from the 2 types of sugar and smokey from 3 types of pepper powders.
It goes great with chicken, pork, and veggies.
*If you like more heat, use 1 tsp of Chipotle powder.
This ingredient is the difference between homemade rubs and the BBQ rubs you find in the store.
Almost all of them use this sugar because it:
It’s essentially just light brown sugar in a granule form.
For “cleaner” sweetness, I think white sugar works best.
You could opt for Turbinado sugar or evaporated cane sugar instead but these aren’t as sweet.
I like using Diamond crystal kosher salt in rubs because it mixes better than Mortons and isn’t as salty (it’s 2x less dense).
Meaning, you can get more aggressive with the rub without over-salting your food.
I’m from New England and celery salt is very popular. It’s also in A LOT of seasoned salt that people in BBQ like without knowing it (like Lawry’s).
Smoked paprika adds the stereotypical red color and smokey-ness.
Chipotle powder adds a warming heat and works well with the smoky-earthy-flavor from the paprika.
Ancho chili is also smokey and earthy but also slightly sweet.
These mix far better in your rub where-as the powders do not.
Meaning they’ll come out of the shaker bottle or sprinkle better when released from your fingers.
Onion powder and/or granulated onion is quite strong – stick with a 2:1 ratio for Garlic:Onion.