This rub recipe is universal for any pork protein you’re cooking. It stands up for smoking and low temps with ribs, pork belly and shoulders. If you’re looking for searing and grilling your chops, you may want to omit the brown sugar. Sugar gets bitter if you burn it. It get’s damn delicious if you caramelize it slowly. Make two batches. One with and one without.

Quit buying rubs from big chains. They are cheap garbage with a flashy label
As you can see in the incredible production-quality video I embedded in this post, I have no love for big chain shit being peddled to the ignorant masses. Remember when TGI Fridays put out those “potato skin” chips? Almost like they thought the garbage they served at their feed trough masquerading as a restaurant was so good, they needed to mass produce a “chip” in it’s honour. Guess what? I can almost guarantee with great certainty, not one person at TriArtisan Capital and MFP Partners ever ate one. That’s who owns the chain’s name, FYI.
Simple, Fresh and Cheap = Better
Hit your local Bulk Barn, or purveyor of bulk spices and grab a basket. You’re about to spend $30-$50 here, and it’s going to last you longer than the $12.99+tax bottle of preservative-laden commercial rub ever will. I mean literally an entire year or more depending on how much food you make.
- 1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Cup Corse Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar*
- 4 Tbsp Granulated Garlic (not garlic salt)
- 2 Tbsp Granulated Onion (not powder)
- 2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 Tbsp White Sugar*
- 1 Tbsp Mustard Powder
- 1 Tbsp Chipotle Powder
- 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
Make it Stick!
Lightly brush whatever you’re cooking in plain ol’ yellow mustard and sprinkle this mix on liberally. Mustard acts as a perfect rub binder, and doesn’t actually impart any extra flavour once you slowly cook/smoke it. You can also use oil, or even maple syrup if you’re so inclined.
That’s it. It takes less than 10 minutes to save you a ton of money. There are no fillers, anti-clumping chemicals or preservatives. It’s also yours. It also tastes way better. You can also tweak it and make it better YOUR OWN WAY! Want more garlic? Do it! Need a little spice? Light it up! Just get involved with your own food. The dividends are endless.
Next post we’ll cover how to prep and smoke a rack of ribs. You don’t need a smoker to do this! We will cover both the smoker AND gas grills.
Smoke on, friendos!