In the summer, there is nothing better than sitting down to enjoy a well-cooked rack of beef ribs that has been seasoned with a tasty dry rub and prepared in a barbecue grill or a smoker. It is something that my family and I love to do as often as possible. In our household, we tend to use a lot of Spanish seasonings in our cooking. With that said, here’s a quick look at some of our favorite dry rub mixtures:
Two-Step Savory Beef Ribs
One of my most favorite dry rubs is used in a two-step cooking process. I’ll start to prepare the dry rub by mixing garlic powder, cilantro, ground cumin, ground coriander and dried oregano into a large bowl. Then I’ll add dried thyme, sea salt, red pepper and onion powder into the mix. I’ll rub the mixture onto the ribs and let them sit like that for at least 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes, I’ll put the beef ribs onto the barbecue grill and get to work on creating the sauce needed for the second step of the cooking process.
I’ll pour a jar or two of picante sauce along with some red wine vinegar and sliced red onion into an aluminum pan that will fit onto the barbecue grill. Afterward, I’ll take the partially cooked beef ribs off of the barbecue grill and place them into the sauce filled aluminum pan. I’ll cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil and then put it back onto the grill so the beef ribs can finish cooking. In most instances, I’ll use indirect heat the second go round. I find that it helps to make the beef ribs come out flavorful and tender. I’d suggest serving the beef ribs with a nice potato or macaroni salad.
Do you like your beef ribs seasoned with a dry rub that has both sweet and spicy undertones? I know that I do. When I am in the mood to use a sweet and spicy dry rub, I’ll grab some Spanish paprika (pimento de la vera), adobo (with pepper and cumin), yellow chilies (dried) and dark brown, unrefined, cane sugar (piloncillo). If you have never worked with some of those ingredients before, don’t despair. Piloncillo is like brown sugar and adobo is nothing more than a mixture of assorted spices like oregano and garlic. Spanish paprika is used like other paprikas; it just tends to have a sweet and smoky flavor to it. Just mix the dry rub ingredients together and rub it onto the beef ribs prior to cooking.
Sazon Dry Rub for Beef Ribs
From my perspective, Sazon Goya is an amazing seasoning. It comes in different varieties. I tend to use the sazon with coriander and annatto as well as the one with garlic and onion. I will combine the sazon, paprika and oregano into a dry rub mixture for beef ribs. You can generally pick up a box of sazon through most major grocery stores for less than $3. In most instances, two envelopes of sazon will sufficiently coat a rack of beef ribs. It tastes great and will give the ribs a reddish color. Whatever you do, make sure that you wash your hands thoroughly after handling the sazon. It has a way of temporarily staining your skin if you don’t wash it off promptly.
