This rub is taken directly from Meathead Goldwyn’s published recipe at AmazingRibs.com — Meathead’s Memphis Dust Rub. It is a sweet, salt-free blend styled after Memphis dry ribs. It is Meathead’s own formula and not the recipe of any Memphis restaurant, which is worth understanding before you compare it with the famous ones.
Dry Ribs, Memphis Style
Meathead writes that ribs elsewhere are often slathered in sauce, while Memphis pitmasters dress them with nothing more than a flavorful spice blend. In a separate AmazingRibs piece on the rub used at Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous, he says it is common in Memphis for barbecue joints to offer ribs “dry,” without sauce, just a liberal sprinkling of spices and herbs. That piece lists the recipe the restaurant gives to the media as salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, celery seed, paprika and chile powder, and claims the actual bottled seasoning contains other ingredients such as whole coriander seeds, mustard seeds and allspice. So “Memphis dry rub” describes a style, and the blends differ. Meathead’s Memphis Dust takes a sweeter, ginger-and-rosemary route.
Ingredients
Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
- 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup American paprika
- 1/4 cup garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon rosemary, ground to a powder
There is no salt in the mix. Meathead says that because of this, salting the meat first is a must.
Method
- Grind the rosemary leaves into a powder, then mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. If the sugar has lumps, crumble them by hand or against the side of the bowl with a fork.
- Salt the meat: the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of Morton Coarse Kosher Salt per pound of meat, sprinkled on up to 12 hours in advance.
- Dampen the surface of the meat with water and sprinkle on enough of the rub to coat it.
Meathead’s general guidance is enough to coat the meat evenly in a generous layer without clumping, which he compares to a flavorful outer shell. At 2 tablespoons per slab, one batch covers about 24 slabs of ribs.
Why Ginger and Rosemary?
Meathead says ginger has a natural affinity for pork and adds that the Chinese figured that out centuries ago. He says rosemary contributes just a touch of piney, resinous undercurrent that makes the rub stand out. He recommends against leaving them out. The rub is also promoted for chicken, fish and vegetables, not only ribs.
Watch the Sugar
Sugars make up 1 1/2 cups of the roughly 2 1/2 cups this recipe yields, so sugar is a big part of the mix. Meathead’s warning: if you finish ribs over high heat to caramelize the crust, flip often and watch. For a whole hog over direct heat, the recipe says to omit the sugars.
Storage
You can use the rub immediately or keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for months, according to the recipe. If it clumps, chop it up, or spread it on a baking sheet and put it in a 225°F oven for 15 minutes to drive off moisture.
One handling point from USDA’s grilling guidance: harmful bacteria in raw meat and poultry and their juices can contaminate safely cooked food, and USDA says not to use the same platter and utensils for raw and cooked meat. That guidance is about platters and utensils, not spice jars, but it points to a sensible habit. Shake what you need into a separate bowl before you start handling raw meat, and keep your raw-meat hands out of the storage jar. That habit is my extension of the USDA principle, not a statement from the page.
Diet Notes
The ingredient list contains no meat, fish, dairy, egg or honey. The recipe is not labeled vegan or vegetarian by AmazingRibs, and I have not verified how the sugars were processed, so this article makes no diet claim.
Keep reading
- Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous: The Real Story Behind Memphis Dry Ribs
- Big Bad Beef Rub for Brisket: AmazingRibs Recipe
- Meathead’s Classic Kansas City BBQ Sauce, Explained
- Francis Mallmann’s Chimichurri, as Published by Saveur