Best Dry Rub For St. Louis Ribs or Any Ribs Recipe
Smoking meat such as the St. Louis ribs you need to know what a good Dry rub is. This post is about the best dry rub for St. Louis ribs or any ribs recipe that I use more than often.
If you are looking for a good dry rub then you won’t be disappointed with these recipes.
This rub gives the meaty flavor of the ribs a boost, so here are the best rubs which you can also use with other types like country-style ribs or spareribs.
You can never go wrong with the simple salt and pepper seasoning, but adding some spice, sweetness, and savory flavors to the mix will go a long way in making a delicious meal.
Using a rub for seasoning the ribs will give the meat a boost in flavor and can also tenderize it.
Salt is known for tenderizing the tendons and lean beef or pork on any cut, so you should do that.
The main challenge when it comes to cooking St. Louis style ribs is making them tender and juicy.
You can do this by controlling the timer and the temperature that you cook them in.
However, you can start making great rubs that adds to the flavor and helps in making sure that the beef or pork stays tender.
Preparation is as important as the cooking process.
So with this post, we will be talking about rib recipes that you can use when cooking St. Louis-style ribs to help you get the best out of the beef or pork and the flavors already in it.
Best DRY rub for St.Louis Ribs
1. Traditional DRY Rub For St. Louis RibS
This traditional dry rub miz seasoning is a good dry rub for ribs that combines both sweetness and saltiness to the mix. It is what is a good dry rub should be and making good rubs should be a habit.
It is full of flavor from the spices you use and will give the St. Louis ribs a better finish. This basic dry rub is one of the best dry spice rub for St.Louis ribs or any other ribs recipe like spareribs.
It is easy to make and you are going to enjoy everything about these well seasoned St. Louis style Ribs.
Good savory flavors get to the mix, which means it can develop no matter how hot the temperature is when cooking the ribs.
It is perfect for both smoking the ribs or searing them.
The hint of spice on this rub will also be making great twists to the ribs.
It is perfect for people who love the tanginess in the seasoning and a bit of spice and it works perfect as a St Louis rib rub recipe for smoking on the grill.
You will also get a taste of freshness with the herb used in this rub.
It accentuates the flavor of the ribs without ruining the meaty flavor that develops when it is cooking.
I have to say that the traditional rub highlights sweetness so you can adjust it if you want it to be saltier. Either way, it will enhance the flavor of the ribs and tenderize them as well.
Ingredients for the traditional dry rub
- A quarter cup of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 3 tablespoons of paprika
- 1 tablespoon of dry mustard
- 1 and a half teaspoons each of garlic powder and onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
The rub you will make with these ingredients will be enough for at least 2 racks of St. Louis ribs. Just mix them all in a bowl and apply the rub to the rack of ribs and the marinade will seep in.
You can also use this rub on your boneless Country-style ribs. Even if I have used store-bought mixes, the ribs still cook perfectly so do not hesitate to look for and use store-bought rubs.
Country-style ribs can absorb flavors easily at a short time, especially if it is in oven-baked, in smoker, in crockpot recipes, or slow cooker so make sure to shorten the process a little bit.
2. Memphis-style Rub for St.Louis Ribs
The Memphis-style dry rub tastes amazing on ribs making it a great rub recipe but it uses a bit more ingredients than the traditional rub.
This dry rub for St.Louis ribs is so good and if you love a mix of sweet, spice, and savory then you would know.
Nonetheless, Memphis-style dry rub ribs only uses simple ingredients to not have to worry about finding the necessary ingredients.
This rub gives the rack of ribs a sweet flavor that almost binds with the glaze you use.
It also almost caramelizes, so the rub will sink deeper into the meat while the ribs are cooking making it the perfect St Louis rib rub recipe for smoking meat.
The herbs you use in this rub are also crucial in giving out the freshness and a savory flavor, especially in oven-baked, in smoker, in crockpot recipes, or slow cooker homemade ribs.
It is perfect for any kind of occasion and will surely give your ribs a unique flavor in just a short cooking time.
When I use the Memphis-style dry rub for ribs, I do counter the sweetness with spice rubs or saltiness on the glaze.
It is all about balancing the ingredients so you can find what you prefer. Go with store-bought ingredients or spices but make sure that they are fresh
Although the rub uses paprika, you cannot feel the heat as the classic way of making this rub is to use sweet paprika.
So it highlights the sweetness and savory flavor rather than saltiness that tastes amazing.
Ingredients for memphis style rub
- A quarter cup of sweet paprika
- Half a cup of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon each of black pepper and garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons each of cumin, salt, and cayenne
- 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
- 1 and a half teaspoons each of celery seed and dried oregano
Mix them all in a bowl and then put a binder on the rack of ribs such as yellow mustard or just olive oil so that the rub will stick to the meat or your best bbq ribs.
3. Low-carb Dry Rub for st. louis style ribs
This is a St Louis ribs dry rub with no sugar dry rub is for healthy people or the ones who are a bit more conscious about their food.
It is made with natural ingredients with as few carbohydrates as possible to make it even healthier.
The rack of ribs already has fats on it, so you need to make sure that the rub itself does not add harmful elements to the recipe.
It stays with the usual savory taste as well as hints of a spice rub to it when I tried it in oven-baked, in smokers, in crockpot recipes, and in slow cooker recipes.
One thing that you can be sure of is that this rub does not have a sweetness to it.
I like spicy at times and I use this St. Louis ribs dry rub when I want a more spicy savory taste in my ribs. You will love this St Louis rib rub recipe for smoking the ribs on the grill.
Unlike the first ones we have seen, you will not be dealing with too much sugar with this rub. I sometimes even try it without sugar and use other sweeteners instead.
Using a brine without sugar is still effective. If you make a brine without sugar, you can still make the meat perfectly cooked. Even without brown sugar, the brine can still do its job.
Brines with no sugar can still put the perfect tenderness to the meat. I often do this with no sugar or without brown sugar and the brine still turns out well with the flavors I need.
So if you just love the savory flavors you get when you cook the ribs, then this rub is for you.
It is perfect for other cuts of meat as well, so I always enjoy making this low-carb dry rub for meat.
If you love spicy bbq then you are going to enjoy this as it is one of the best rub recipes to cook on the grill.
Ingredients for low carb dry rub:
- A quarter cup of paprika
- 3 tablespoons each of garlic powder and Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons of fresh cracked pepper
- 1 tablespoon each of cayenne pepper, dried oregano, dried thyme, and onion powder
How Long Should Dry Rub Be On Ribs Before Cooking?
As I have mentioned above, the dry rub you use, especially if it has salt, will help tenderize the meat.
If you want something quick then you can even get this meat tenderizer for quick results.
But there is more flavor when you make the homemade rub because you can add, remove an ingredient depending on your preference.
That is why you should time the smoking process right to get the tenderness you are looking for.
On average, you should leave the dry rub on the ribs for about 15 minutes at room temperature.
However, if you want the ribs to become even more tender, you can leave them longer in the marinade or rub.
The limit for allowing the dry rub to stay on the ribs before cooking is 2 hours so you will still need a bit of time for your homemade recipe.
Do not go over 2 hours in the marinade as it can ruin the ribs and make the outer parts too mushy when your best bbq rib is cooked.
If you plan on leaving the dry rub on the ribs for more than two hours, make sure to place the ribs in the refrigerator so it does not get contaminated and to slow down the tenderizing process.
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