RUBS & SAUCES

RUBBED ONTO THE OUTSIDE OF FOODS, SPICE blends encourage the formation of a deeply browned crust filled with complex, concentrated flavors. Like marinades, spice rubs add flavor to foods, but they have several advantages over their wet counterparts.

Since they are composed almost solely of spices, they provide stronger flavors than marinades, which typically contain oil, an acidic liquid, and spices. Rubs also stick better to the surface of foods than marinades, which, again, gives them an edge when it comes to intensifying flavor. Finally, marinades almost always contain oil and cause flare-ups on the grill. Spice rubs are ideal for foods that will be barbecued or grill-roasted since they can be left on foods for many hours without causing fires.

We find that bare hands—not brushes—are the best tools for applying spice rubs. Use a bit of pressure to make sure the spices actually adhere to the food. Although rubs can be applied right before cooking, we found that the flavor of the spices penetrates deeper into the food if given some time. In general, we like to refrigerate rubbed meats for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop.

In our tests, we found that the spices continue to penetrate and flavor the meat up until a certain point, beyond which we detect no increase in flavor. We found that the point at which the spice flavor stopped increasing was related to the thickness of the meat. For instance, ribs don't gain any more flavor after spending a day covered with a spice rub. However, a thicker pork roast can be rubbed three days before cooking for maximum spice penetration.

Barbecue sauce is best added to grilled foods at the table. When we added the sauce earlier, we found that the sugars and fat in most sauces caused foods to burn. You may brush barbecue sauce on some foods during the final minutes of grill-roasting, if you like. For instance, you may want to glaze a chicken with sauce, applying it during the last 10 minutes of grill time to set the sauce as a light crust.