The Art of Creating Your Own Spice Rub: A Journey to Flavor Perfection

As any seasoned cook knows, having a reliable spice rub on hand can make all the difference in elevating the flavor of your dishes. But where do you start? The key is to create a custom blend that suits your taste preferences and cooking style. In this article, we'll delve into the world of spice blends, exploring the fundamental elements and techniques for crafting your own signature rub.

A Good Starting Point: Cilantro, Mustard, Dried Oregano, and Spanish Paprika

When it comes to building a spice rub, you need a solid foundation. A blend that combines cilantro, ground mustard, dried oregano, and Spanish paprika provides a robust flavor profile with notes of earthy, herbaceous, and slightly sweet undertones. Cilantro adds a fresh, citrusy taste, while the mustard contributes a tangy, slightly spicy kick. Dried oregano provides an earthy, herbal note, while Spanish paprika lends a smoky depth to the blend.

The Magic of Mixing: A Custom Spice Blend

Now that we have our core ingredients, it's time to mix and match to create a unique spice rub. Feel free to experiment with different proportions and combinations to find your perfect balance. The key is to taste as you go, adjusting the seasoning to suit your palate. You can also add other spices, herbs, or aromatics to enhance the flavor profile.

A Great Spice Rub for Any Cut of Meat: Pork, Beef, Lamb, Fish, Chicken

One of the most versatile spice rubs is a blend that works well with pork, beef, lamb, fish, and chicken. This custom blend can be used as a starting point, adjusted to suit your specific protein and cooking method. Remember, the beauty of creating your own spice rub lies in its adaptability.

Making a BBQ Sauce with Sorghum: A Sweet and Smoky Combination

A good barbecue sauce is essential for elevating the flavor of grilled meats. One unique twist on traditional BBQ sauces is using sorghum instead of molasses or honey. Sorghum has a rich, slightly sweet flavor that pairs perfectly with ketchup, mustard, and cider vinegar. Add a chili pepper, such as a habanero, for an extra kick of heat. This blend creates a complex, balanced sauce that complements the smoky, caramelized flavors of grilled meats.

Creating a Barbecue Sauce Recipe: A Simple yet Powerful Blend

Now that we have our sorghum-based BBQ sauce, let's create a recipe that showcases its versatility. Combine ketchup, mustard, cider vinegar, and sorghum in a blender or food processor. Add a dash of chili powder for an extra layer of depth. Taste as you go, adjusting the seasoning to suit your taste preferences.

Resting the Meat: A Crucial Step in Achieving Tender, Flawless Results

When it comes to cooking pork chops, beef strips, or lamb skewers, resting the meat is a crucial step that can make all the difference between tender, flavorful results and tough, overcooked dishes. By letting the meat relax for 5-10 minutes after grilling, you allow the juices to redistribute, reducing the risk of foodborne illness and ensuring that your dish is both visually appealing and delicious.

Grilling the Pork Chops: A Quick and Easy Process

With our spice rub and BBQ sauce in place, it's time to grill the pork chops. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat, brushing the grates with canola oil to prevent sticking. Place the pork chops on the grill, cooking for 3-4 minutes per side, or until they reach a nice crust and internal temperature of 145°F (63°C). Use tongs to flip the chops, taking care not to press down too hard and squeeze out juices.

Resting the Pork Chops: The Final Touch

Once you've removed the pork chops from the grill, it's time to let them rest. Transfer the chops to a clean plate or cutting board, allowing them to relax for 5-10 minutes. This step is crucial in achieving tender, flavorful results. During this time, the juices will redistribute, making the meat more tender and juicy.

The Result: A Flawless Dish with Layers of Flavor

After resting the pork chops, slice them against the grain and serve. The result should be a dish that showcases a beautifully balanced flavor profile, with each bite offering a harmonious blend of smoky, savory, sweet, and spicy notes. This is the true magic of creating your own spice rub: the ability to craft a custom blend that elevates the humblest ingredients into something truly exceptional.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni'm gonna make a pork chop on the grill spice rub a barbecue sauce this is where all the flavor comes in and we're gonna make a spice rub for these pork chops cumin ancho chili powder or just a chili powder in the store chili our bowl if you can't find chili di arbol cayenne works really nicely coriander seed the nice and earthy it's the seed of cilantro ground mustard you know what that tastes like dried oregano a little sort of musty earthy flavor and spanish paprika a really good quality paprika all right we're gonna take some of that mix it up and create our own spice rub and these are things that you're gonna find in your pantry you know they're in there this is something you can use for pork for beef for lamb for fish for chicken and also you want to make a good amount of this so you can make it once and you always have it and this way you know you get hungry one night you got some extra pork chops you have some fish what have you fire away break out the spice rub that you made you know a couple weeks earlier make it happen a little black pepper and some salt just mix it well there you go so these pork chops they're sort of like a t-bone cut you see the t-bone right in the middle here okay so we're gonna take a little bit of canola oil and then we're gonna just sprinkle some of the rub right on top of the pork chops and we're gonna let these sit just for like a half an hour just rub em in just like it says spice rub and this is how i like to get big flavor really quickly it's a great impact of flavor because it actually becomes part of the pork chop itself so we're gonna make a barbecue sauce with sorghum now sorghum if you haven't heard of it before it's sort of like a southern molasses it's like if you took honey and molasses and put them together that's what sargon tastes like if you can't find soy gum you can certainly use molasses or take a combination of honey and molasses and making both so we're gonna take our sorghum some ketchup and some mustard lots of things you know right from your pantry now i'm gonna use a chili i have different kinds of chilies here i'm gonna go for a hot one today this is a habanero but you don't necessarily have to do that if you don't want i'm gonna grab some cider vinegar and everybody goes in the pool i like to use ketchup as a base of my barbecue sauces because not only do i like the flavor i like the texture it sort of helps to create a really nice glaze on the outside of the chops some mustard and some cider vinegar some sorghum and then a habanero pepper and you know these are really hot so i'm only going to use half of one you want to chop this up very finely because you don't want people taking a big taste of this habanero chili all in one bite okay let's get this on the fire very simple barbecue sauce ketchup mustard a little sorghum and i'm actually going to put a little bit of chili powder in here as well this is something you can certainly make ahead of time it freezes pretty well also but i don't actually think you need to freeze it because there's you know there's lots of sugar and preservatives in here it's probably going to keep at least for a couple weeks sure while that's cooking we're going to get our pork chops on the grill we have our spiced rub pork chops i only have the spice rub on one side you see because i just want to enhance the flavor of the pork chops we still want to taste the pork we want to know that it's pork i'm just going to brush the other side with a little bit of canola oil so we're going to let our pork chops cook let's flip these over yeah you see how nice and crusty those get that's exactly what you want beautiful yeah and the spice raw becomes part of the pork chop and these are going to cook very quickly there's very little fat in them and we don't want to overcook them but now this is where all the flavor comes in on top of our pork chop now i'm going to move this to the indirect part of the grill for lower heat i'm going to cover up the grill let them cook let's come over here and grab our pork chops so i let these pork chops rest for about five to ten minutes and we want them to relax and we want the juices to kind of cool down so that when we cut them they don't run into the cutting board but they stay intact and that's really key that's why people say you know rest the meat when it comes off the gorilla time that's exactly why they do that you know what's great about the pork i mean you see how quickly we cook them it may have taken six seven minutes on the grill total add some smokiness from the grill itself and tons of flavor from the spice rub of course the barbecue sauce has that habanero chili right youi'm gonna make a pork chop on the grill spice rub a barbecue sauce this is where all the flavor comes in and we're gonna make a spice rub for these pork chops cumin ancho chili powder or just a chili powder in the store chili our bowl if you can't find chili di arbol cayenne works really nicely coriander seed the nice and earthy it's the seed of cilantro ground mustard you know what that tastes like dried oregano a little sort of musty earthy flavor and spanish paprika a really good quality paprika all right we're gonna take some of that mix it up and create our own spice rub and these are things that you're gonna find in your pantry you know they're in there this is something you can use for pork for beef for lamb for fish for chicken and also you want to make a good amount of this so you can make it once and you always have it and this way you know you get hungry one night you got some extra pork chops you have some fish what have you fire away break out the spice rub that you made you know a couple weeks earlier make it happen a little black pepper and some salt just mix it well there you go so these pork chops they're sort of like a t-bone cut you see the t-bone right in the middle here okay so we're gonna take a little bit of canola oil and then we're gonna just sprinkle some of the rub right on top of the pork chops and we're gonna let these sit just for like a half an hour just rub em in just like it says spice rub and this is how i like to get big flavor really quickly it's a great impact of flavor because it actually becomes part of the pork chop itself so we're gonna make a barbecue sauce with sorghum now sorghum if you haven't heard of it before it's sort of like a southern molasses it's like if you took honey and molasses and put them together that's what sargon tastes like if you can't find soy gum you can certainly use molasses or take a combination of honey and molasses and making both so we're gonna take our sorghum some ketchup and some mustard lots of things you know right from your pantry now i'm gonna use a chili i have different kinds of chilies here i'm gonna go for a hot one today this is a habanero but you don't necessarily have to do that if you don't want i'm gonna grab some cider vinegar and everybody goes in the pool i like to use ketchup as a base of my barbecue sauces because not only do i like the flavor i like the texture it sort of helps to create a really nice glaze on the outside of the chops some mustard and some cider vinegar some sorghum and then a habanero pepper and you know these are really hot so i'm only going to use half of one you want to chop this up very finely because you don't want people taking a big taste of this habanero chili all in one bite okay let's get this on the fire very simple barbecue sauce ketchup mustard a little sorghum and i'm actually going to put a little bit of chili powder in here as well this is something you can certainly make ahead of time it freezes pretty well also but i don't actually think you need to freeze it because there's you know there's lots of sugar and preservatives in here it's probably going to keep at least for a couple weeks sure while that's cooking we're going to get our pork chops on the grill we have our spiced rub pork chops i only have the spice rub on one side you see because i just want to enhance the flavor of the pork chops we still want to taste the pork we want to know that it's pork i'm just going to brush the other side with a little bit of canola oil so we're going to let our pork chops cook let's flip these over yeah you see how nice and crusty those get that's exactly what you want beautiful yeah and the spice raw becomes part of the pork chop and these are going to cook very quickly there's very little fat in them and we don't want to overcook them but now this is where all the flavor comes in on top of our pork chop now i'm going to move this to the indirect part of the grill for lower heat i'm going to cover up the grill let them cook let's come over here and grab our pork chops so i let these pork chops rest for about five to ten minutes and we want them to relax and we want the juices to kind of cool down so that when we cut them they don't run into the cutting board but they stay intact and that's really key that's why people say you know rest the meat when it comes off the gorilla time that's exactly why they do that you know what's great about the pork i mean you see how quickly we cook them it may have taken six seven minutes on the grill total add some smokiness from the grill itself and tons of flavor from the spice rub of course the barbecue sauce has that habanero chili right you\n"