January in these parts can be wet and tends to be a bit chilly. In the last month it’s been quite wet and this last Monday was sunny and about 65 degrees. This was the day I had been waiting for. The previous week I had purchased a small slab of pork ribs figuring on smoking them that coming weekend. I made a fresh home made dry rub and it sat that way all weekend. Oh well, the longer they sit, the more that rub would have a chance to do it’s business.

How many of you have taken the time to play with dry rubs? Sure you’ve either purchased a premade one, or just sprinkled a bunch of random stuff on there. But have you ever sat down and done a little research and made a contorted effort to make something that would, time after time, render your mouth watering for porky rib love? As you can probably guess I’ve done that and a bit more.
Slow down a bit, the meat can wait a moment. Find yourself a decent source for spices. Some place that at least has a good turn around and you know they haven’t been sitting for years. (I actually found a place that had kept their spices for years and I bought a load of them. They were at least 30 years old and looked really cool. But that’s another story). Well, here. This is a GREAT starting dry rub:
4 tb Paprika
2 ts Salt
2 ts Onion powder
2 ts Pepper, black
2 ts Pepper, white
2 ts Pepper, red
As you can see the Paprika is the base component. And again, this is just a starting point. I usually cut down on the salt, it gets powerful. You could try some brown sugar, bu it will burn if your fire gets too hot (gotta keep it below 300). Do not, ever use Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt. Nasty bitter crud you don’t need anywhere near your food. Just don’t. I usually go south of the border with my rubs. A load of Oregano and/or pebrella. Fresh ground cinnemon really dials it in, but remember to use very little. Maybe a teaspoon or less. You just want enough to warm the rub not make a cinnemon rub. Next might be some chili powder, not for chili con carne.
Put it all into a mortar & pestle or an electric whizzer of some kind and pound it a bit. Just enough to break free some aroma. Just for fun, smell the rub before you whiz it and after. You’ll notice a dramatic difference and your meat will love you for it. I’ve used this rub for everything but fish, so have fun with it. The more you cook and take notice of what you’re doing and how, the better you’ll get.

Since it was Monday and I work full-time, I didn’t get the ribs into the warm smoker until 4:20pm. That gave me just enough time to start dinner for the boys, hamburger patties with mashed taters and steamed broc.
If you’re into grilling and/or smoking it really pays to get a decent rig. I can set this one up and walk away for 1.5 hours before it needs more fuel. I’ve also found that pre-burning a load of wood really helps with temperature fluctuations in the pit. This is where my old weber grill comes in handy. Well, okay it’s also good for keeping my que tools dry during the wet months.

4 hours later and here we are.
At 3 hours I pulled the ribs and dredged them through a “smoky & bold” sauce that my wife found at Trader Joes. TJ’s I believe it was (not Trader Joe’s brand). I’ll be doing a little que sauce review later. Anyway, I used a large baking pan and just let the ribs wallow in the sauce. Then tossed them back into the smoker for 20 minutes. Wallowed them again & back into the smoker.
The last few months is the first time in 23 years I’ve used a jar’d sauce. I’ve always made my own and done very well. What changed my mind was a sauce I bought as a fluke called Mr. D & Son’s. It’s good as a dipping sauce or caramelized. Anyways, I thought that maybe premade jar’d sauce had been getting better over the years and it’d be worth a try. Well, TJ’s was okay I suppose, better than most. But not worth buying again.
All in all it was a really good rib experience and a nice treat for a Monday evening.