gray314•16d agoProlific Poster

Unpopular opinion: my buddy's dry rub advice was awful

Ngl, my friend Mike swore by his brown sugar heavy rub for brisket. He said it creates this killer bark everyone loves. I tried it on a $70 prime packer last weekend and it came out tasting like candy, not beef. The crust was sticky and almost burnt in spots. Has anyone else tried cutting way back on sugar in their rubs?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_felix16d ago

Actually I gotta completely disagree here. Brown sugar heavy rubs are one of the most misunderstood things in BBQ, but they work if you dial in your cook temp and timing. Your bark got sticky and burnt because Mike probably didn't tell you to keep it under 250 and watch that sugar during the stall. I run about 40% brown sugar in my brisket rub with some chipotle and it comes out like dark caramelized glass, not candy sweet. The trick is letting that sugar cook long and slow so it molasses up instead of just torching on the surface.

nathan_kim16d ago

Yeah but 40% is a lot. That’s nearly half your rub. At that point you’re basically just coating the meat in sugar and hoping for the best. I think people hear “brown sugar works” and think more is better, but there’s a ceiling. I run closer to 15-20% in mine and I still get that dark, glassy bark you’re talking about. Once you go past a quarter of the mix, you’re fighting against the salt and pepper the whole cook. One bad temp spike or a late wrap and it’s toast. Not saying yours doesn’t come out good, but 40% sounds like you’re on thin ice every time.

barbaradavis16d agoMost Upvoted

Ngl I gotta disagree with you here man. I think 40% works fine if you know what you're doing with temp control and timing. Seriously, I run a pretty heavy hand with brown sugar in my pork shoulder rub and I've never had a bad bark from it. The key is keeping your pit steady around 250 and not letting it spike during the stall. If you wrap late or let the heat jump too high, yeah you're gonna get burnt sugar mess. But if you let that sugar melt slow it turns into this caramelized shell that's way better than anything a lean rub gives you. Not saying your way is wrong, but calling 40% "thin ice" feels like you're assuming everyone else burns their cooks the same way you would.