<p>More than a light sprinkle, but you don’t need to pack it on. I use a shaker top spice jar for my rub and just shake it on generously. You don’t actually have to rub it in. If you just let it sit for a few minutes, it absorbs into the meat in the same way that salt and pepper would. It’s just spices.</p>
<p>There’s usually a little sugar in a rub, which means the meat will brown darkly. I actually leave the sugar out of my rub because it doesn’t “keep” well and extra browning really isn’t an issue when you cook it on charcoal.</p>
<p>Justamom - I rub in quite a bit of the dry rub; it’s most effective if done the night before when you can wrap the rack of ribs in plastic wrap and let the spices soak in. </p>
<p>I also do the long slow cook without sauce, then add the sauce for the last 20 minutes in a hot oven or under a broiler. The sauce has a lot of sugar, which gives it that charred finish. So you don’t want to start the charring 5 hours ahead!</p>
<p>We had a broiler in our oven at home, and my mom always had ribs in there. My dad, brothers, would come home, open the broiler drawer, and there were always ribs there.
It was quite instrumental in landing me a husband. Who couldn’t resist a house where there are ribs available 24/7?</p>
<p>That being said, I don’t think there was any fancy marinating involved. Since I didn’t eat ribs back then, (man’s food), I’m just going by memory, but mom had an aluminum baking pan, deep, like you would use for a big pan of brownies. She’d cover that with foil, put in the ribs, cover with barbecue sauce, and put them in the broiler. I wouldn’t consider them “wet ribs”, although they were probably wetter when they were first done than after warming in the oven for a few hours.</p>
<p>First thing the men did when they came into the kitchen was not open the refrigerator, but the oven broiler, to check to see if there were still ribs left in the oven.</p>
<p>I will ask my mom her “recipe”, but I’m sure she doesn’t have one, as these things are passed through the genes down here in New Orleans.</p>
<p>Yes, my dry rub mix (Ted Reader) has sugar in it and I cover the meat but I do not “crust” it. This is the recipe I use. I make this up and store in an airtight container and use it all the time and on all kinds of meat and even fish. Love it best on ribs. </p>
<p>Here’s my all-purpose Bar-b-q rub. I believe that it’s from a heavily stained book of regional bar-b-q sauces and rubs that I have used for years. I omit the sugar now, because I keep this in a shaker spice jar and the sugar is just a mess, attracting moisture, etc. Plus, all the bar-b-q sauces I make have copious amounts of sugar, so it’s unnecessary.</p>
<p>Bar-b-q rub:</p>
<p>1* TBS:** Paprika 2 tsp: Black Pepper, Chili Powder, Sugar 1 tsp: Salt 1/2 tsp: Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Powder, Mustard Powder, Thyme, Allspice, Celery Seed 1/4 tsp: Cinnamon, Sage, Mace*</p>
<p>Here’s the Chili Powder that goes into the rub:</p>
<p>This mixture, along with the homemade chilii powder, and a jar of Emeril’s creole seasoning that I mix up and keep in the spice rack, cover a lot of bases for easy quick seasoning. For example, sauted chicken breasts or scallops dusted in the chili powder are fantastic with some kind of citrus vinaigrette sauce on a side salad and drizzled over the meat – a trick I learned from Bobby Flay who would dip scallops into a plate of Ancho chili (like flour) and sear that a crust in a non-stick skillet.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, I’m fixin’ to sue you for copyright infringement. The ingredients you posted are ALMOST exactly the same as I use. I am injured sir and will not suffer this transgression lightly. Meet me at the New Jersey Palisades at sunrise and bring your spice grinder and cooking apron, Mr. Burr.</p>
<p>I was actually going to ask interesteddad if he would marry me. Of course, I would have to get rid of the present husband first, but it would be totally worth it for a man that cooks.</p>
<p>More snow forecast for tomorrow, so I’ve got a big piece of beef ready to go in the oven for Marcella Hazen’s Italian Pot Roast in Red Wine. Just beef, diced veggies, some italian plum tomatoes, and red wine. I add a little flour to make a roux while I’m browning the veggies, just to thicken the sauce a bit and I’ve got a couple of Yukon Gold potatos I’ll add to the pot. Simmer that in the oven for a couple of hours. Hmmm… Hmmmm. Nothing like pot roast on a snowy day.</p>
<p>Sure. The rub is just seasoning. Conceptually, it’s the same as salt and pepper so the bar-b-q sauce could go on at any time.</p>
<p>I cook my ribs “dry” and then serve the sauce at the table, or perhaps coat the ribs once with sauce for the last half hour of cooking. But, in a crock pot, you probably need the sauce as the brasing liquid?</p>