Avoid This Mistake When Adding Dry Rub To Ribs

As tempting as it might be to get overzealous with the spices when faced with a fresh rack of ribs destined for the grill, you may want to hold off on seasoning with wild abandon. We picked up some tips from Robbie Shoults, celebrity chef and third-generation owner of Bear Creek Smokehouse, an establishment that has been cranking out smoked meat since 1943. In addition to founding a lineup of seasonings and rubs called Bear Rubz Grillin' Spices, Shoults also owns the Marshall Mercantile and High Horse. Shoults is the kind of culinary professional who knows a thing or two about serving up mouth-watering ribs at this weekend's barbecue.

Using dry rub on ribs helps create a caramelized surface packed with flavor and texture, but the wrong approach can backfire on you. "Ribs have plenty of surface area for a dry rub to stick to, so you'll want to be careful not to overdo it," Shoults cautioned. Biting into an overly salted rack of ribs is surely one of life's more disappointing moments, and we'd like to think it is possible to cook a perfect rack of ribs more often than not. Even if you're using a quick three-ingredient dry rub on the baked and grilled baby back ribs you are planning to serve for tonight's dinner, you'll have to season the ribs with mindfulness.

As advised by Robbie Shoults, you should go easy on the dry rub spices when seasoning your ribs, keeping in mind that you can always salt plates later on if necessary. "There are many rubs out there, and the majority of them have salt as the main ingredient," Shoults warned. "If you're not careful, you could get your ribs too salty." If you're making your own dry rub blend and know you have a heavy hand when it comes to spices, you can lighten up when adding salt to the mixture and adjust the proportions of ingredients accordingly. When using store-bought dry rubs, heed Shoults' advice.

While a squeeze of lemon can fix some overly salted plates, no lover of ribs wants to be faced with a heap of meat that requires an urgent dousing of lemon juice. You can always add more seasoning and salt to cooked ribs or flavor your meal with extra spoonfuls of sauce, but trying to dial back the salt once the damage has been done is an easily avoidable cooking catastrophe. Season lightly and enjoy a better-tasting meal.