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Kansas City-style barbecue rub

If you’re new to dry rubs, I recommend this one first. This is absolutely FABULOUS on pork ribs, but it will work on anything, even chicken or lamb. The trick to KC style barbecue is a combination of dry rub and wet sauce: dry rub for cooking, and wet sauce for serving. It works either with or without smoke, which makes it more flexible as well. This recipe makes about 12 cup, enough for 2 full racks of baby back ribs.

The rub:

• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3/4 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt (this is the kicker here)

Tips for a successful rub:

If you’re cooking pork ribs, it’s best to remove the membrane from the inside of the ribs: either rip the membrane end-to-end clean off the bones, or score the membrane against each of the rib bones. This is true for lamb as well: be sure to remove any membrane before rubbing. If you’re cooking a loin or other cut with a significant layer of fat, leave the fat on the meat but score it deeply with a knife in a a cross-hatch pattern. This will let the rub penetrate more deeply into the meat.

Rub with your hands! Get messy and knead the rub in like a deep tissue massage…really work it. You can let the meat marinate in the rub as long as you care, at least a half hour up to two hours or so.

Cook the meat dry. When done, serve the meat with a KC-style barbecue sauce on the side. Don’t baste the meat with barbecue sauce.

People do seem to like this rub.