Sweet Fire Rib Rub

  4.7 – 21 reviews  • Homemade Spice Blend Recipes

My great-grandmother Johns modified the original Cornwall, England, recipe. It was initially produced and wrapped in butcher paper for the coal workers. The miners’ eagerly anticipated meal would be kept fresh by the firm pastry casing. My grandmother served Coca-Cola and relishes with her meals. Instead of using the pastry recipe, you can use chilled pie crusts to make these more quickly.

Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 5 mins
Servings: 3
Yield: 1 1/4 cup

Ingredients

  1. ½ cup brown sugar
  2. ½ cup white sugar
  3. ¼ cup smoked paprika
  4. 1 tablespoon onion powder
  5. 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  6. 1 tablespoon chili powder
  7. 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
  8. 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  9. 1 tablespoon salt

Instructions

  1. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt together in a bowl. Store in a sealable container in a cool, dry place.
  2. Rub ribs with olive oil or mustard so the rub sticks on the meat. Apply a good coat of rub over both sides, then wrap ribs with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate overnight. I smoke them for 3 hours, wrap them in foil with butter and honey, and then smoke them wrapped for another hour. You want to keep temp at about 260 degrees F (125 degrees C). Then enjoy them right off the BBQ pit.

Reviews

Lauren Miller
I have use this rib rub on everything bbq! Love the flavor! My favorites are on Tri Tip, Burnt ends, and ribs
Michele Adams
This is my go-to rub for most pork and chicken. It is the perfect blend of sweet and spicy with a nice bite as an aftertaste. I use it on most of my smoker recipes, especially chicken breasts and pork ribs.
Frank Lynch
We LOVED this recipe! We smoke a lot of meats, and I’ve tried countless recipes, store bought brands, etc. By FAR, this one is our favorite. Perfection. Recipe made as directed twice(once for ribs, once for chops). The only modification we made on half of the ribs was to omit the cayenne pepper for my elderly father. Still a great flavor with a kick (from the black pepper) but not as much heat. THANK you for sharing this!
Lisa Acosta
Love it! I use it every time I smoke ribs!!! Delicious!
Calvin White
simple, definitely let it rubbed ribs sit in the fridge, as long as overnight. I think it needs more salt.
Destiny Richards
I used Hot Hungarian Paprika instead of Smoked Paprika and Kosher Salt instead of table salt. Smoked with Apple wood for 2 hours, wrapped for 1 hour (a little butter & honey added). Tender, moist and delicious!
David Pugh
Great rib rub, used it on every thing and made them taste great. I also used Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. they seem to go together, made my 3rd batch today. love it. thanks
William Reed
It’s good seasoning, but in the end I prefer wet ribs. Just the spices on the ribs were not enough for me.
Nicholas Allen
I have used this rub several times. Very good rub but in mine and my wife’s opinion it need more pop. I added more cayenne and now we use it on all our ribs and Boston Butts. Don’t know how some of these reviews say to much heat…
Ashley Fuentes
Lately I’ve been doing lots of ribs and trying different recipes. And this one was probably one of our least favorites after it cooks. The rub taste awesome before you cook them. But after you cook them there just isn’t much there. Think that has to do with the amount of sugar in this recipe so it either burns or just melts off. Find a recipe with a bit more salt and a little less sugar is what I’m finding out. Maybe it turned out like this because I used an electric smoker and just put it on the rack. I just couldn’t give up that smoke flavor to do it like it said on here and I’m more of a dry rib guy.
Jordan Wilson
A well balanced sweet heat rub. Maybe a bit to much sugar as it blackened the ribs a bit more than I prefer. Will use again, but with some modifications.
Joel Richard
Easy, fragrant, and delicious!!
Thomas Moore
Absolutely delicious but I would cut on cayenne it’s a bit too hot.
John Herring
Put it on ribs for the family. Great stuff. Only will reduce cayenne pepper by half. Left a little to much bite for the wife and kids. Great mixture.
Ricardo Murphy
We smoked a slab of baby back ribs using this rub and it was fantastic. The only minor change i made was that I only used a half tablespoon of the cayenne pepper because I was concerned it might be a bit too spicy. I think next time I will go ahead and use the entire amount because it wasn’t overwhelming. I also followed the poster’s suggestion of smoking then wrapping the ribs in foil with butter and honey and was extremely impressed by how good they were. Great recipe; loved it!! Thanks for sharing:)
Edward Hawkins
hi . I have used the recipe , three times it has a lot of flavor sweet and spicy. my whole family loves the baby back ribs .
David Lucas
Sooo bomb!
Patricia Moore
It was delicious. I will use this again, but will need to cut back on the spices. I used it on a slab of ribs and on a pork shoulder then smoked it in my Orion smoker. the entire family LOVED it, but did comment on the amount of spice.
Rachel Thomas
Okay, I really doubted this would turn out tasty due to the amount of sugars. It was absolutely great, and I’ve been looking for a really good bbq meat flavor for a long time. Accidentally left them in the fridge for two days, so rinsed them off before cooking the rib tips for 2 hrs at 250 in my toaster oven, tightly wrapped in foil. The only way it could have been better, I’m sure, is if I had SMOKED paprika, as the recipe asks. I added some Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory & Brown Sugar bbq sauce at the last minute, and that just enhanced the flavor, but the rib tips were absolutely great with just the rub.
James Phillips
We loved this rub! Followed the recipe precisely and then the recipe notes in regard to wrapping and refrigerating overnight. We slow smoked the ribs and then applied some homemade Bourbon BBQ sauce. Fantastic! Drove the neighbors crazy ALL DAY with the wonderful aroma! (insert evil grin here) Will be using this recipe often.
Natalie Mason
Outstanding rub! BBQ sauce is Literally running through my veins! Rubs go hand and hand with pork ribs and this delivers the good stuff. Thank You Smokinmeats:0 Love it!

 

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