Wicked Simple SPG Rub (Salt, Pepper, Garlic) Recipe

Note: My recipe is more pepper forward than salt. If you want the inverse, jump to it by clicking here.

S – Salt

Use 1/2 cup of Morton’s Kosher salt.

SPG rubs can use a variety of salts, but in most cases it’s just Kosher salt.

There are some commercial rubs that will use Kosher salt, table salt, flour salt, etc. The purpose of this is to affect flavor profile via the grain size.

But for a simple SPG rub, stick to kosher salt and mess with granule sizes later.

If you want to get more technical with this rub, you can run the salt through a few presses of a coffee grinder just to disperse it more in the rub.

P – Pepper

Use 1 cup of Medium grind (roughly 30 mesh) black pepper.

Depending on the brand, this can be between 16-30 mesh black pepper.

I’d wager to say that most people will use medium grind, 30 mesh black pepper for an all-purpose SPG-style rub.

16 mesh is more so for things like smoking beef.

This is why your favorite content creators have rubs made specifically for certain cuts of meat – like a “brisket” rub.

G – Garlic

Use 1/4 Cup Granulated Garlic.

This is the granulated version and not the powder.

The powder doesn’t mix nearly as well as the granulated version and similarly doesn’t tend to shake well either.

Garlic powder is also far more potent than granulated garlic and will be a more leading flavor, which isn’t the goal.

SPG +?

Some commercial SPG rubs will be SPG “+” other ingredients.

Usually they’ll add their own twist and use spices like:

• Cumin
• Paprika
• Cayenne
• Tumeric
• Celery salt
• etc.

This is totally up to you and what your taste buds like.

Paprika is usually used for color:

• If you want color, to the above recipe you could add 2 tbsp.

Cumin has a savory, nutty flavor:

• To the above you could add 1 tsp.

You get the gist, basically take the SPG rub above and add spices to it to make your own SPG+ style rub.

Dylan, Your SPG Rub is Too Pepper Heavy

Sorry! – I like pepper.

But don’t fret, you’re likely in the camp of something like Malcolm Reed’s “AP” Rub which is more salt and garlic and less pepper.

This ratio is called “4:2:1“

• 1/2 cup Morton’s Kosher Salt*
• 1/4 Cup Granulated Garlic
• 2 tbsp 30 mesh black pepper

4 parts salt, to 2 parts garlic to 1 part pepper.

*I’d opt to grind this in a Coffee grinder for 1-3 presses just to make it a finer grain in the above rub.