Rest Your Rub

Thought I'd show what happens when you let your rub rest for a bit instead of mixing and using right away. The picture below isn't the best, but you can make out that there is a color difference in the rub on the right versus the rub on the left. They are the same rub with the same source ingredients. The rub on the left was made 3-5 days prior to the picture. The rub on the right was made about five minutes prior to the picture.

The older rub (left) has a more unified color and the individual granules are harder to identify. The rub that was just made (right) has more color differences. You can see white specs of salt and sugar more clearly throughout the rub.

The idea is that over time the oils from the chili powder, garlic, paprika, etc. stains the salt and white sugar granules. The individual colors become less distinctive. I personally doubt this all makes a world of difference in the appearance and taste of the final product. However, I do think it makes a difference, even if marginal. More coarse ground salts and sugars may be affected more. My picture is a fairly fine grind throughout.

My advice for any comp BBQers is to make your rub up at least several days ahead of time. Don't make it the day of the comp.

SP said:

The top part of my rub containers will loose color if they set too long.

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Yes, I'm posting this as an article on my site and added that the other advice is to give your rub a shake every few days. This shifts the granules around which addresses settling and supports the distribution of oils and colors.

Light will also affect color of rub. It will bleach it. Dark places to store your rub, dark canisters, and large labels on clear canisters are good steps to prevent sun/light bleaching. At comp, I always try to keep my rubs out of the sun if I can help it.

SP said:

Plastic bags or food saver for me when I make big batches. Keep them in the freezer.

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Hmmm... this sounds like an idea for a new experiment. The next time I make rub, I'll put half in the freezer and half in a cabinet. Wait a week and then compare. I wonder if the freezer will prohibit the oils from the chili from mingling with the salt and sugar. If so, the result would be two different looking rubs after a week... just like the picture above.

Maybe even divide into thirds and leave a batch out on the counter for a week. Then again, I don't want to waste rub.

swamprb said:

My last batch of rub I ran some of the ingredients (Turbinado sugar, Kosher salt) through the blade coffee grinder for a second or two, and like the consistency better than past batches. But I got to thinking about grinding-since I'm in the coffee center of the Universe(Starbucks Country) we teach our young to store coffee in a cool dark place in an airtight container and never store in the refrigerator, and that burr grinders produce less heat thereby releasing less volatile oils needed to produce the optimum cup of caffeinatated beverage. Just a thought...or ramble

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Hmmm.. one of my good friends is long time salesman with a major coffee distributor. He stores his beans in the freezer. Is that not right?