Dry Rubs
The Easiest Way to Prepare Meat
A marinade used to flavor and tenderize your food is basically a combination of liquids, juices, sauces and spices. A dry rub is a mixture of dry ingredients used to rub onto your meat to give it added flavor. With well-known tougher cuts of meat, such as London broil, flank steaks, skirt steaks, etc., you should really use a marinade because it usually has some type of an acid ingredient in it to help tenderize the meat. However, on meats that are already tender, feel free to use either a marinade or a dry rub.
If you are going to use a dry rub, you should coat the food with olive oil first, then apply the dry rub and let it soak in for five to10 minutes. The dry rubs combine with the juices that are drawn from the meat and work like a dry marinade. Because they are dried, most spices can be added to the meat before you cook it as heat and moisture is needed to release the meat's essential oils.
You can always buy pre-mixed dry rubs or buy the separate ingredients to make your own. The amount, type and ratio of ingredients you want to use for dry rubs are basically endless. The decision on which ingredients to use in your dry rub, and how much of them you want to use, is up to you and your experienced taste buds. Dry rubs can basically include any and all of the dried spices and herbs you can think of including: salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, allspice, peppercorns, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, anise seeds, paprika, oregano, cilantro/coriander, nutmeg, basil, mint, parsley, rosemary, chili peppers and sage.
If you have all of the ingredients for making dry rubs, but aren't sure which herbs and spices taste the best with certain dishes, you may want to look in some cookbooks or on the internet for some recipes. However, there are some well known classic combinations such as rosemary and thyme with lamb, dill with salmon and basil with tomato products. You should experiment though and use whatever tastes right to you as somebody else's opinion shouldn't be etched in stone. Remember to store your dry rubs in a cool, dark place.