Coffee is an AMAZING way to start your day and cooking is a fantastic way to take ownership of it. Food is what brings us all together, after all, and cooking is the wizardry that makes makes all the magic. Here is a fantastic way to combine the two with my starter recipe for making your very own Coffee Rub at home.
How to Make Your Own Coffee Rub
When I was young, my mom inspired me to learn how to cook for myself. First, she told me that it would help make me more independent and self reliant. Second, and what made more of a lasting impact, she told me “girls love a guy that can cook”. So, I knew cooking was for me.
Aside from that, I learned along the way that cooking is actually a lot of fun and a great way to show someone or a group of people, in a special way, that you care about them. I mean honestly, if you think about it, cooking is a reflection of your personal taste and dedication to a craft that everyone can then sample for themselves. And, if you want to show personal taste, and love smoking pork, smoking beef, or any other type of BBQ, what better way than to start the whole process with your own custom tailored spice blend.
Choosing the Best Ingredients for Smoking Meat
When it comes to smoking good food like the quality of the meat you choose matters. So does the quality of the ingredients you put on your meat and use to make your rubs and sauces. Since we are making a coffee dry rub, I am choosing Got Your Six's K.I.S.S. dark roast as my bean of choice.
Delivered to my door in a nice air tight package, the whole bean is better to use than pre-ground coffee as it still contains all ins oils. Another thing thing to think about when choosing a bean for a coffee rub recipe is whether to go with a dark or light roast. I personally think the dark roast is the way to got because of its earthy flavor.
How to Grind Coffee
When it comes to getting your coffee ground correctly, you want to get it to ground size that is large enough to hold and transfer flavor and small enough to spread in a rub. I found that grinding the bean between medium and medium fine is the best option. As you experiment, you may find that certain ground sizes work better with different types of meats like smoked salmon vs smoked beef or even something special like smoked deer venison.
If you are looking for a coffee grinder, there are a ton you can find at most common home good stores. However, if you want one that is reliable, inexpensive, and will come straight to your door, consider the model I have by Mr. Coffee here on Amazon. Being able to grind your own beans is actually really fun and helpful.
How to Store Your Coffee Rub
It's always a good idea to be ready to store your rubs once you start creating them. There are a number of ways to do it but finding something with convenience and consistency is definitely a bonus. A simple and consistent way to store them are Ball or Kerr jars which are plentifully available at hardware, home good, or even crafting stores.
Choosing Your Spices
Other than choosing the grade and degree of roast coffee, you are going to want to choose what type of spice profile you are looking to create. Just because you are making a coffee rub doesn't really mean you've chosen whether to go with a spicy flavor or sweet. For my rub, I chose to lean towards the peppery end of things.
Like most rubs, we are going to be using onion powder, black pepper, garlic powder, and other elements like coffee, brown sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper. Once we measure out our ingredients, we will put them in a small bowl, mix them together, and store in our jar. Check down at the bottom of this post for the print recipe.
Experimenting with Smoking Meat and Rubs
Something I learned after using my own rubs was considering a different method of application depending on which meat I was cooking. Fish, like salmon for example, absorbs a spice profile quite quickly and doesn't really need to marinate for long. One reason for this might be the polyunsaturated fat naturally found in fish which is more fluid at room temperature and allows the flavor to quickly infuse into the protein.
However, when you consider smoked pork or smoked beef, you often use an oil to adhere the rub to the meat. Most oils used for this are a monounsaturated fat which will require more time for a deeper flavor infusion. These meats are also typically thicker and are good to marinate for longer periods of time.
Amazing Homemade Coffee Rub
Here is a simple and amazingly flavorful Coffee Rub recipe for those of you wanting to start making your own rubs. Use this recipe to start and make your own modifications to suite your own flavor preferences. Have fun with it and enjoy the world of smoking meat.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp - Coffee beans
- 3 tbsp - Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp - Granulated Onion
- 1 tbsp - Granulated Garlic
- 1 tbsp - Smoked Paprika
- 2 tbsp - Black Pepper (fresh medium ground)
- 1 tbsp - Chili Powder
- 2 tbsp - Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp - Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
- Grind whole coffee beans to medium fine
- Measure out all remaining ingredients into a small bowl
- Mix all ingredients together with spoon or whisk
- Poor new coffee rub into small mason jar
- Enjoy
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If you make your own coffee rub, are you going spicy or sweet?