OTHER CARRIERS TO CONSIDER
WHEN CREATING RUBS
Salt and sugar are the carriers of the other spices. They get drawn into the meat and bring the other flavors with them, and the sugar nicely offsets the salt. When using alot of brown sugar you may want to dry it out on something like a cookie sheet for a couple of hours first, otherwise its likely to clump because of the hogh moisture content. Ialso suggest cane sugar to beet sugar because of its better flavor and texture.

Tex Mex and Southwest rubs are among the hottest you will find. I love it hot. You can get the heat by adding ground peppercorns, cayenne pepper, ground chipotle or habanero peppers among others. Its important that the hotness stays balanced with the other flavors. A rub that offers only heat isn't a rub its just fire. Don't overpower with any dominant flavor which can also happen with to much nutmeg, mace, clove, oregand, or rosemary.

A rub will also affect the final appearance of the food as it will sear into a dark crust. The redder the rub the better it looks on beef, pork, or lamb. To get that color use chili powder, and sweet, or hot paprika. When the ingredients in your rub have the same dry granular consistency, the spices blend evenly creating a smooth even crust. The use of inconsistently or different sized ingredients will require more remixing before each use but can add a special texture or appearance to the meat.

My best advise is to start simple, then work from there. Start with a little salt and pepper, follow your creativity and build on your experiences. Try your stuff on other pepole, no one complains about a free meal. Keep notes about ingredients and proportions. Once you have your proportions, calling everything parts (1 part this, 3 parts that) makes it simple to make a little or a lot. Teaspoons, tablespoons or cups, it dosn't matter - they're all parts.

Part III: Understanding the role of salts in rubs...

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