As warmer weather approaches, many of us look forward to cooking on the grill. There's just something special about the taste of food that's fresh off the grill, and one of the best ways to amp up the flavor of grilled meat is by using dry rubs. The beauty of using a dry rub when cooking meat is that the method is the same, whether you're cooking beef, pork, chicken, or fish. So for those of you who have never used a rub, here are the simple steps to cooking incredible meals.
First, rinse the meat in running water, and pat it dry with paper towels. Then, apply some oil to the surface of the meat and rub it in well, making sure you have covered the surface evenly. Use any good quality vegetable oil. Now, sprinkle the rub onto the meat, taking care to cover the entire surface. For best coverage, put the rub into a shaker. A good rule of thumb is to use 2-3 tablespoons per pound of meat. For some interesting variations, you can rub milk, yogurt, flavored oil, even beer or whiskey onto the meat before applying the rub. If you're using a spicy rub, keep in mind the more rub, the more heat you will have in the finished dish.
Now here's the fun part - rub the seasoning into the surface of the meat really well. If you're cooking poultry with the skin on, make sure to rub it under the skin. Once you've given the meat a good rub-down, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator for anywhere from an hour or so to overnight to marinate. Larger pieces of meat will require a longer time to marinate.
When you're ready to cook, allow the still-wrapped meat to warm to room temperature before cooking. While the meat is warming, make sure the grate on the grill is clean, and, if you're cooking a delicate meat like fish, you'll probably want to apply some oil or cooking spray to the grate, so the meat won't stick. Then remove the plastic wrap and grill the meat as you normally would. Keep in mind that if the rub you used has sugar in it, you'll need to keep an eye on the cooking process to keep the sugar from burning on the surface of the meat. That's it - now all that's left to do is eat.
On those days when you choose not to grill, you can use these same methods if you're oven-roasting or pan-frying the meat. Now that was easy, wasn't it?
