Pork Rub

Here is the rub I use for my pork ribs. I make a bunch at once and then store it in a marked, plastic container.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons of light brown sugar (half cup)

3 tablespoons kosher salt (could use less if you are watching your salt intake)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon coriander seed

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon oregano

Cooking Directions

Just mix this together in a large bowl. Combine as good as you can.

I think the rub here is good for 1 (or maybe 2) racks of baby back ribs. Often I make 2 or 3 times this recipe and store excess in a plastic container with a tight lid.

Sometimes the brown sugar has some hardened balls of sugar; I pick those out. If I use a thicker kosher salt, I might add that after sifting (since it might not go through the sifter).

I use this on pork, particularly ribs (though also works on chops that I barbecue), in which I will rub the rib meat in the morning before cooking it on the barbecue in the afternoon.

After rubbing this on ribs, I also tend to drizzle some apple cider vinegar over the top of the rub before putting it in the refrigerator. Typically, I refrigerate for 4 hours (could be overnight, but usually just start in the morning).

The night before I cook the ribs, I rub them using this rub and then place them covered with one sheet of foil in the refrigerator.

The next morning, I remove them and put a coat of whichever barbecue sauce I want, pretty much switching that every time. Then I wrap each rack of ribs in 2 layers of heavy duty foil. Then I put them into the oven at 225 for 6 hours.

At this point, they are "fall of the bone" good. In fact, you may want to check them at 5 hours to see how they are.

As an option at this point, I might add another coat of BBQ sauce and put the ribs under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, but normally I skip that because my ribs are falling apart and don't make the transfer.

I do normally let the ribs rest in the foil for another 10-20 minutes, depending on what else I am cooking.

When I serve the ribs, I will normally leave one rack in the foil so that when it is time to serve them, they are still hot.

Enjoy.

Alternate Cooking Directions

Here is a different method I have used for cooking ribs -- though I really prefer the above method and haven't used this one in years

Make a braising liquid (double for double the ribs):

1 cup white wine

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon honey

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Combine these ingredients in a pot (or microwave) and bring to a boil (or 1 minute in microwave). The ribs have marinated in a foil sleeve (wrap foil around them and leave one end open).

Then pour the liquid into the sleeve and close top. Then cook at 225 for 6 hours. When done, you can open up the foil and add a BBQ sauce and then put under the broiler for 5-10 minutes to finish. You can also drain the remainder of the braising liquid and reduce it on the stove by half and then add that as a glaze.