Clumpy brown sugar when mixing rubs

[DaveD]

Hey folks, any tips for minimizing clumping of brown sugar when mixing up rubs? Doesn't seem to be a problem with granulated white sugar, but I have real trouble preventing clumps when using brown. I've tried things like the mortar and pestle, but even that doesn't seem to help much. Also tried dehydrating it in a toaster oven set to about 200F/mid-90sC to try to drive off adsorbed water, but no real change there either. Presumably it's down to the molasses or whatever is mixed in there rather than water.

From my days as a lab scientist I have a LOT of experience mixing powders so that they are homogeneous, when fabricating starting materials, where that is absolutely critical to get right. But all those are inorganic compounds that one can store in a desiccating oven and they behave very well. Clearly not the case here.

Thanks for any advice!

Edits: We do store all our brown sugars in the proper container with the terra cotta tile, as STEbbq asked. And to be clear, every rub I mix is salt-free because I exclusively salt via dry brining ahead of time.

And the clump sizes I'm talking about are pea-sized, gravel-sized almost. I can live with anything on the millimeter scale.

[STEbbq]

I’ll get the dumb question out of the way: are you using the special container with the terra cotta tile?

I mean, it works!

https://thepracticalkitchen.com/brown-sugar-containers-no-hardening-clumping/

[Skinsfan1311]

Yes it does work, and it works well!

[DaveD]

Yes!! My lovely bride put those in place years ago, check and check.

[Panhead John]

The things you learn in this place! I love it! Never heard of these things, but I’ll damn sure order me one when I get home. Brown sugar hardening has been a problem for me for years. No more putting a slice of bread in the bag.

[LA Pork Butt]

It is a pain, but if you run the brown sugar through a flour sifter before mixing it mixes much better.

[Skip]

Here'a link to Huskee's Rub in which he dried the sugar. I've done that and it works. Another option is Turbinado Sugar. I've run the Turbinado Sugar thru a coffee grinder to get it smaller sized to mix in better too.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/recipes-technique-food-cooking/rubs-seasonings-marinades-injections-brines-batters-and-paste-recipes/1585-huskee-s-rib-rub-recipe

[Bkhuna]

I don't use brown sugar often so I started keeping turbinado on hand for rubs and such. A quick buzz in the Cuisinart mini-prep will take care of any clumps and make it finer. I doesn't seem to get hard like brown sugar.

Thanks for the link to the rib rub.

[ssandy_561]

When I make my rubs I use a ziplock bag to mix them in. Any clumps that occur I just squeeze.

I do notice the rubs I make with salt tend to not clump up as much. The salt free rubs I make with brown sugar are a bit clumpy but I can live with that.

[DaveD]

Ah, good point, editing the OP to reflect that all the rubs I mix are salt-free because I exclusively dry brine solo ahead of time.

Interesting idea to mix in a ziplock!! I think I will try that next time I mix.

[coupster]

FWIW, brown sugar is not supposed to be dry and granulated. Its gets dry, clumpy and brick-like because its dry. Think of the moistness as a gentle binder. Here's a link for several ways of softening (re-moistening) it.
The Quickest Way to Soften Brown Sugar (seriouseats.com)

[Richard Chrz]

When I blend a seasoning that will have a small amount of brown sugar, I use a small salad fork and mix through to break any of those clumps, and blend it in.

[mrichie1229]

+1. I do this as well.

[Texas Larry]

I buzz mine up briefly in this mini/chopper grinder:

Cuisinart MCH-4 Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper, White and Stainless https://a.co/d/8DSOZ5f

Works great. We use this for lots of small grinding/chopping jobs.

[DaveD]

I was going to use one my lovely bride had for several years when she replaced it with a new one. But then the switch went haywire, the thing will not shut off! Had to unplug it to get it to stop. Not gonna mess with that, that's a disaster waiting to happen. Haven't gotten around to getting one for myself, but maybe that's the answer...

[MBMorgan]

You could do what I did ... move to Colorado (not helpful, I know). A less expensive post-lumpectomy alternative (once you've taken some, or all, of the above good advice) is to invest in some very inexpensive food-grade silica gel packets to reduce the likelihood of clumps (re)forming in your laboriously-mixed seasonings/rubs.

[DaveD]

I use uncooked rice as a desiccant, which works pretty well too, I toss in a dozen or two grains depending on the size of the bottle I'm filling.

[MBMorgan]

DaveD - I’ll have to try that. Thx.

[FireMan]

Just unclump it and quit yer complainin ya whippersnapper.

[DaveD]

Yessir, pullin m'self up by m'bootstraps!!

[TripleB]

Toaster oven method always worked for me.

[Rob whatever]

What has worked best for me is just leaving out the sugar.

rob

[DaveD]

And here I thought *I* was the Master of the Obvious!!

[Red Man]

I second the flour sifter suggestion. It busts up everything but the rock hard tiny lumps and you can just discard those.

[phbern]

I try to prevent the clumping by storing the sugar in an air-tight (as possible) zip lock bag with a small piece of damp paper towel inside. Works pretty well. Same principle as the terra cotta thing.

[jhapka]

https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/prokeeper-brown-sugar-storage-container

this is what you need. It’s amazing. You drop a terracotta disk in a glass of water every time you need brown sugar or every 3 months or so and it’s always new bag fresh

[DaveD]

Thanks - I mentioned above that this is exactly how we store our brown sugar.