Spice Rubs for Father's Day

My grilling obsession continues! Although I tend to always marinate my meat or fish before cooking it, I decided to switch things up and make some dry rubs. A rub is a combo of salt, pepper, sugar, herbs and spices. Unlike a marinade, a dry rub will form a crust on the exterior of the meat when grilled. The salt in the rub will help draw out the juices in the meat, which results in a juicier end product. Also, the sugar will caramelize and form a crust to seal in all the flavor and juices. Making a rub from scratch rather buying it off the shelf allows you to control the sodium content as well.

Basic Rub

1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Orange Chipotle Rub
3 dried chipotle peppers, ground
3 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 bay leaf, ground
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry ground orange peel

Coffee Rub