In general if your meat is Salty after applying Rub and letting it rest over night...You are using too much Salt in the Rub. Alton Brown and some well known sites recommends 8 part Sugar, 3 parts Salt and 1 part each other stuff. That is NUTS! That is A LOT of Salt even for the Dry Brine guys. I use 8 parts Sugar in rubs, that I'll put it in, but only 1 part Salt, Pepper, Onion and Garlic then 1/3 part or less, strong Herbs and Spices. There are exceptions. If using little to no Sugar, I will bump the Salt to 2 parts but ONLY use Kosher Salt. Table Salt, measured by volume, is so fine it's twice the amount called for in most recipes. Below is an example of my Basic Rub and my Brisket Rub for comparison. I also added a reprint from the Extension, Research Based Learning Network on the activity of Salt in Meat, Pork specifically but the same applies to other meats...JJ
Mild Bubba Q Rub (All Purpose)
1/2C Sugar in the Raw (Turbinado)
2T Sweet Paprika (Hungarian)
1T Kosher Salt
1T Chili Powder (contains some Cumin and Oregano) Ancho Chile is same without cumin, oregano etc.
1T Granulated Garlic
1T Granulated Onion
1tsp Black Pepper, more if you like
1/2tsp Grnd Allspice
For more heat add Cayenne or Chipotle Pwd to taste, start with 1/2tsp and go from there. Makes about 1 Cup
Apply your desired amount of Rub to the meat, wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator over night.or longer. The day of the smoke, pull the meat out, add more Rub and go into your pre-heated Smoker...
Bubba Beef Rub
Good on anything Beef. Burgers and Steaks too!
2T Turbinado Sugar
2T Kosher Salt
2T Black Peppercorns
1T Coriander Seed
1T Dill Seed
1T Dry Minced Onion
1T Dry Minced Garlic
1T Dry Lemon Peel
1tsp Allspice Berries
1tsp Dry Thyme Leaves
3 Bay Leaves, crumbled
2ea Whole Chipotle Chiles, stems and seeds removed or 1tsp Chipotle Powder
Add Cayenne if more heat is desired.
All Spices are Whole and are toasted in a dry pan over Medium heat until fragrant. The Garlic and Onion do not need to be toasted.
Let the Spices cool then Grind in a cheapo Coffee Grinder until slightly less than Coarse. Mix with the Salt and Sugar. Store in an air tight container. Makes about a Half cup...JJ
[h3]Salt or sodium chloride[/h3]
The use of salt in meat to increase shelf-life and enhance flavor is an old practice. It also is used to improve water-holding capacity and results in subsequent improvements in purge loss and cook yields. It is usually the second ingredient on the label statement behind water and it is a conventional non-meat additive. Sodium chloride acts to improve water-holding capacity by lowering the isoelectric point of meat proteins and works without changing the meat pH. The swelling of meat proteins has been attributed to their ability to bind more water. Meat proteins have the ability to swell to twice their size in salt concentrations that are used in meat processing.
Sodium chloride addition contributes to the swelling of the proteins and similarly, the chloride ion has been shown to bind to the meat protein filaments and increase the electrostatic repulsive force between them. By increasing the repulsive forces, the protein structure matrix then unfolds and swelling occurs. The swelling provides a higher number of protein side chains that can bind water and therefore, water-holding capacity in increased.
Sodium chloride addition to meat has been associated with its antimicrobial properties. Historically, salt was added to meat to preserve it when refrigeration was not available. For this application, salt levels were very high and traditionally, salt was added either by rubbing the salt on the exterior surface or placing the meat in a high concentrated salt brine for a extended period of time. Salt levels used in enhanced and marinated products may have limited antimicrobial effects; it is the ability of salt to increase waterholding capacity that drives its use in enhanced pork products.
Sodium chloride addition also enhances meat flavor, has been associated with increasing basic salt taste and it has been shown to increase lipid oxidation. Sodium chloride is often added in combination with SP. The challenge is to balance the amount of sodium chloride addition with the amount of SP that is added to maximize water-holding capacity without getting too high of a salt flavor or altering texture. At too high of levels, pork will be too soft or it will have a more processed meat-like bite.
Note...SP is Sodium Phosphate
