The problem with a simple salt & pepper rub is ...

I use a burr grinder designed for coffee, it is small, cheapish and does a fair amount of pepper in no time. I also sift my pepper and get rid of the dust, use only the particles. Of course, since I am using a burr grinder, there is not a lot of waste.

That being said, I really like the blended peppercorns that Kap'n uses, those add some great flavors.

I would add, there is a danger in looking at someone who does a lot of BBQ in mass quantities and assuming that everything they do applies to a single piece of meat. If you watch Pitmaster T's videos, he is always cooking for his church, large amounts of meat. he rubs heavily, but, it is what he doesn't say. You can see he handles the meat, like it's meat, not fine china, he uses a lot of rub, but, he does not put the meat right onto the pit, it sits, as he gets everything else done. He cooks hot and direct, this changes how the pepper cooks, and makes it milder.

I would suspect that he has a very different amount of rub on his meat, and a very different grade of pepper in there as well. A person who is cooking 30 briskets a day is not grinding fresh Tellicherry pepper each day, he is using food service black pepper, 16 screen, straight from the bottle. Right there, is a big difference. I would bet that Aaron Franklin doesn't really do what he showed in that video when he is burning 45 to 60 briskets a day either.

This is not your pork! said:

Yes, I usually foil at around IT 165°F, so that's interesting. How are rubs optimized for style? You can't really go wrong with simple salt & pepper, and I did not really try some of the more sophisticated rubs with lots of ingredients (except for that farked up pastrami, for which the rub was one of the problems).


Yep, if it works on beef, it should work on pork as well, and that's what I want to try on my next pork.

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First.... sugar is what you use when your process does not create a bark naturally.



Non sugar rubs and what they can produce.




This picture shows how much damn rub I put on my briskets. Lots of salt and pepper. When done according to my non wrap until after the stall style, I have NO problems with salt or pepper (heat content).... but


If you try wrapping at the wrong time its a disaster.... salt is retained, pepper never loses its heat.

Bludawg said:

Salt & Pepper rubbed Butt "no sugar" bark aint a problem

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Right - my point is that increasing or decreasing the salt itself will not have an effect on carmelization and bark - use the salt as a seasoning.

My wife can not tolerate pepper because of a specific stomach condition, my solution- season her meats with only granulated garlic and granulated onion, I like it, too, on chicken.
Another solution may be to use "Grains of Paradise" , something I want to try but haven't yet. Supposed to be pepperlike with other qualities that add more flavor.
Here's a link to an article on it-

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aframomum_melegueta"]Aframomum melegueta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

I haven't had a problem with too much pepper since I switched from regular table black pepper to a course ground. 50/50 with kosher salt. My brisket now looks like PitmasterT's . No foil! Pepper mellows with time and smoke. Foil will take this away, so different methods are needed. This is why you can't mix and match.

This is not your pork! said:

What's lemon pepper?

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You are lost my friend, but I shall extend a hand that may change the way you view the rest of your life:shocked:, starting with a great all purpose rub.:thumb:

This is what I use for my rub I do add more salt then all the other ingredients

4 Bottles of Mrs Dash lemon pepper its salt free(about 280 grams).

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Lemon-Pepper-Seasoning-Blend-224613/dp/B0005Z7FY4/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1352256126&sr=1-1&keywords=mrs+dash+lemon+pepper"]http://www.amazon.com/Lemon-Pepper-Seasoning-Blend-224613/dp/B0005Z7FY4/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1352256126&sr=1-1&keywords=mrs+dash+lemon+pepper[/ame]


Kirkland Signature Coarse Ground Malabar Black Pepper(300 grams).

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Signature-Coarse-Ground-Malabar/dp/B001AYEAR4/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1352256068&sr=1-1&keywords=kirkland+coarse+ground+malabar+pepper"]http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Signature-Coarse-Ground-Malabar/dp/B001AYEAR4/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1352256068&sr=1-1&keywords=kirkland+coarse+ground+malabar+pepper[/ame]


Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt(330 grams)

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Crystal-Kosher-Salt-3-Pounds/dp/B001SAYZNE/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1352255738&sr=1-2&keywords=diamond+kosher+salt"]http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Crystal-Kosher-Salt-3-Pounds/dp/B001SAYZNE/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1352255738&sr=1-2&keywords=diamond+kosher+salt[/ame]



What do you get ? This....









Weighing out your seasoning does work as long as common sense sets in and you know that you will have to compensate more salt because of the granules of the pepper(here's a secret use your eyes). Mix it all together in a ziplock bag, put some in a mason jar for later use and the rest is vac sealed for even later use good luck over seas brotha!

This is not your pork! said:

... that it always gets too hot for my wife and especially the kids.

I already tried different ratios, starting with 50/50 salt & black pepper and 50/25/25 salt + black pepper + white pepper, but nevertheless it's still too hot for them every time.

What else can I try not letting any other ingredients disturb that simple but effective flavor profile of just salt & pepper?

I guess it doesn't make sense to just reduce the amount of pepper, because then all that remains is the saltiness.

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Umm . . . I do believe that this is where BBQ rub came into being. Adding sugar and other spices tone down the pure salt and pepper.

Just sayin' . . .

I like Plowboy's Yardbird for everything.

I use a small pulse type coffee grinder. Any mesh you want.

Don't let the availability of things stand in your way. Some of us over here get carried away with ingredients and science. KISS

This is a particularly nice pic...



Love the color/flavor balance. I'll be making this.

Kosher salt and fresh ground Tellicherry pepper works well--dusted, not rubbed so it's not too strong.

This is not your pork! said:

A lot of good points, be reminded that all the nice products you have over there are not available here in Austria.

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You can order anything online if you don't mind the shipping (or just go on a holiday :wink: ). If you don't want to spend on shipping, there are may good webshops in Germany that carry all kinds of American rubs etc.
You could also make your own Lemon pepper here (Deutsch)

deguerre said:

This is a particularly nice pic...

Love the color/flavor balance. I'll be making this.

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It does have a great color to it, the amount I make will last me about a month or two smoking every weekend. I feel the specific salt and lemon pepper make it brotha. I took that pic in macro mode on my sgs 3, I wanted to show the distribution of spices it looks good enjoy!

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This is not your pork! said:

What's lemon pepper?


That's what we did so far, but they would like to have bark as well.


I already thought about grinding myself, and I already looked but could not find a proper mill that can do "larger" amount (we only have a small battery powered table pepper mill). What machine do you use to grind pepper? I would like to have a universal unit, to be able to grind down my very coarse Sal Marina Natural (that comes in 4.42 lbs bags) as well. Any recommendations?

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If you can't find a peppermill to fit your needs you can use the bottom of a heavy skillet to do the cracking. Place the pepper in a plastic bag and then place the skillet on top, apply firm pressure and slide the pan across the pepper in a circular motion, you'll end up with beautifully cracked pepper.

Coarse pepper is very difficult to find here too. I've been to dozen places that don't have it or have it in gallon jugs only. Easiest is for me to go to a local spice store and have them grind it for me. Keep looking. Good luck.

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El Ropo said:

... As we get into our 20s, the buds start to die off, just like the little hairs inside our ears (cilia). Once they're gone, they don't come back.

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I am 68 and Oh how I wish that were true.