Rub Ingredient Question

[Shooter38]

Some of the rub recipes on this site include American paprika. I have some Spanish paprika and wonder what the difference is and how much if any effect it would have if I substituted it for the American paprika. Thanks.

[Willy]

I'm apparently not one of them "super-tasters", but I find paprika in general to be fairly bland and I use different ones interchangeably. That would NOT include HOT paprika, but even smoked paprika works well in most paprika applications, imho.

[Pirate Scott]

I could not find anything local near me that said American Paprika, I used what Was available and everything tasted good. I have done Memphis dust, Big Bad Beef Rub, and Mrs Olearys Cow Dust. I am pretty sure there is an explanation of the difference in the Recipe section.

[Spinaker]

Meathead explains this here. It is about half way down the page.......

"When I refer to paprika or American paprika or sweet paprika in my recipes, I mean the simple mild reddish orange powder on most American grocery store spice racks. It is made from dried sweet red peppers. Much of it comes from Spain and Hungary and it resembles Spanish paprika or Hungarian paprika. When fresh, it has a mild flavor, and is used primarily for color."

[Pirate Scott]

Shooter, go to Memphis Dust recipe and click on the American Paprika Hyperlink. It opens a quick explanation.

[Shooter38]

Thank you. I'm still learning where things are on this site. I appreciate the help.

[RonB]

Here's some info from Serious Eats:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/05/spice-hunting-a-guide-to-paprika.html