Dry Brining

[Dr J]

If my rub has salt in it can I use it like a dry brine instead of kosher salting ahead of cook? And how about thinner cuts like ribs. TYIA

[Texas Larry]

I often use a salty rub to dry brine. Don’t think it hurts anything, but the spices won’t penetrate any better.

[Jfrosty27]

Absolutely. I do it all the time.

[T-bone]

You could use it, but think you would have to watch out for over seasoning by putting enough on to dry brine.

I don't dry brine pork ribs. They can get a hammy taste/texture if you're heavy handed with the salt.

[RonB]

Yes, but you may want to dry brine with a smaller amount of salt depending on how much salt is in the rub. The easiest way to determine if you need more salt is to cook somethin' using the rub. If it needs more salt, add a bit before applying the rub next time.

[HawkerXP]

Look at the label to see where the salt falls. Top of the content list you probably don't need anymore. If it falls to the lower end of the list you might want to cut your dry brine salt in half since the rub will make up for the rest. I also don't dry brine ribs. I'll rub them up and put back in fridge while I get the fire going.

[fzxdoc]

I use Huskee 's rule of thumb as my Golden Rule of Dry Brining with Salty Rubs:

Look at the Nutrition label:
200-300mg sodium, brine as if it weren't salted at all
300-400mg sodium, brine lightly.
400+mg, maybe skip brining.

I like his numbers here. They work well for my family.

Kathryn

[Jfrosty27]

That's great advice. I hadn't seen that before. Really takes the guess work out. Thanks Kathryn!

[Troutman]

I just knew that pesky Huskavarna guy was good for something. Good go by.

[Huskee]

I'm glad this works for you. This something Dave Parrish & I workshopped when we were writing recipes for his newly launched ABCbarbecue (at the time) website's turkey w/ SnS recipe.

[waterford335]

I'm going to put a couple of boneless chuck roasts in my pellet grill. I dry brined them overnight with coarse kolhser salt. Should I avoid rubs that contain salt? Thanks

[Mudkat]

I would be in the avoid salted rubs column. If you dry brined the way the free site says that should do it.

[Jfrosty27]

Yes. Avoid the salt. Just hit the beef with pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to your taste.

[JeffJ]

If you dry brine absolutely avoid rubs with salt