Culture

10 Great Barbecue Rubs You Ought To Know About

By Jenny Lee-Adrian


Published on June 9, 2011

Photo: Helen Rosner

Barbecue rubs add more flavor to ribs, brisket, chicken wings and seafood. Rubs are generally a blend of salt, black pepper, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and other spices. These dry marinades definitely enhance the meat you grill. Here are some of our favorites:

Sweet, salty and spicy, Loveless Cafe's Dry Rub from Nashville, Tennessee has the perfect blend of brown sugar, salt and chipotle powder. While pork ribs is an obvious choice to use the rub, try it on poultry, fish or vegetables.

Amid all the rubs for ribs, DennyMike's Sauces & Rubs makes Fintastic, a dry marinade specifically for fish and seafood. Made in York, Maine, this rub hits the taste buds with lemon and lime peel. Add it to fish, scallops or shrimp.

The oldest barbecue restaurant in Texas, Black's Barbecue in Lockhart makes its World Famous Dry Rub with a lot of salt and black coarse pepper. Crushed hot chilies add to the spiciness. Use the rub on any type of meat.

Filled with roasted chilies and cayenne, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub slowly burns on your tongue. Use the rub on beef, chicken or seafood to get a sample of this well-known barbecue joint that's in Syracuse, Rochester and New York City.

Arthur Bryant's Meat and Rib Rub will make beef, pork, chicken or fish taste a little sweeter with its blend of spices. The famous Kansas City barbecue franchise also recommends adding the rub to Bloody Mary cocktails.

Legend Barbecue's Cheyenne Rub is on the sweet side. This all-purpose rub from Harbert, Michigan is balanced with sugar, salt, garlic powder and other spices.

More than 40 years ago, the Roberts family began serving barbecue at The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas. Get a taste of their famous ribs using The Salt Lick's Original Dry Rub, a spicy blend of salt, black pepper, cayenne and other ingredients.

A Memphis, Tennessee favorite, Jim Neely's Interstate Bar-B-Q Seasoning is a mix of paprika, chili pepper and dried onion and garlic. Try it on beef, pork or chicken.

Kansas City's Cowtown The Squeal Hog Rub has a touch of sweetness along with strong flavors of garlic and onion. The rub's combination of spices won the American Royal Barbecue Contest twice. Try it on pork or chicken.

17th Street BBQ calls its rub Magic Dust, but it's not meant to be sprinkled; it's meant to be generously used. Use this rub hailing from Murphysboro, Illinois on meat, poultry and fish.

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