Pro tip: Stop using store bought rubs on brisket. Here's why I switched.

Used to just grab whatever rub was on sale at the grocery store for my briskets. Did that for like 3 years straight. Then I competed at a local cookoff in Austin last June and a pitmaster told me my bark tasted like salt with a side of chemicals. Switched to mixing my own rub with coarse black pepper and kosher salt, nothing else fancy. Has anyone else had a bad experience with pre-made rubs ruining a good cut of meat?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameron_craig7d ago

...and that's exactly what happened to me, only it was with ribs. I had a batch of baby backs I was feeling good about, slathered on some big-name store brand rub, and when I pulled them off the smoker the bark was this weird reddish crust that tasted like paprika and regret. My neighbor, who's been smoking meat since before I was born, took one bite and said, 'Son, you didn't cook these, you dusted them.' I've been grinding my own pepper and mixing in a little garlic powder ever since, nothing fancy, just enough to let the meat do the talking. Pre-made rubs are just shortcuts that cost you the flavor you're actually trying to get.

wren3017d ago

That "weird reddish crust tasting like paprika and regret" is the most accurate description of store rubs I've ever heard.