Toasted Coriander and Black Pepper Rub
we toasting all the spices for the rub. pinkies out boys
This is the thing under half the meat on this site. Two spices, a dry pan and a mortar, and it is better than anything that comes in a jar for about a tenth of the price.
Whole seed, toasted, then cracked. Ground spice from a jar lost its volatile oils months ago in a warehouse. Toasting whole seed drives the oils to the surface, and cracking it immediately afterwards means they go onto the meat instead of into the air.
Coarse, too. Gravel, not powder. Fine pepper burns bitter over a fourteen-hour smoke; cracked pepper builds a crust.
- Makes
- About 2 cups
- Hands-on
- 15 minutes
- Toast
- Dry pan, 3 minutes
- Grind
- Gravel, not powder
What you need
The rub
- 3/4 cup coriander seed, whole
- 3/4 cup black peppercorns, whole
- 3/4 cup coarse kosher salt
- 2 tbsp granulated garlic
- 1 tbsp mustard seed, optional
- 2 tsp dried chilli flakes, optional
How it goes
1 — Toast each spice separately
Coriander and peppercorns have different sizes and different oils, and they are ready at different moments. Together, one is raw when the other is burnt.
2 — Dry cast-iron pan, medium heat, three minutes
No oil. Shaken constantly. Coriander goes from pale to faintly golden and smells of citrus; peppercorns darken slightly and start to smell sharp and floral.
3 — Tip them straight out of the pan
Into a cold bowl immediately. Cast iron holds its heat for minutes and spice left in it carries on cooking and goes bitter.
pro tip — Stop toasting the moment you can smell it from arm's length. That is the point, and ten seconds later is too far.
4 — Cool completely before grinding
Warm seed grinds to a paste because the oils are still liquid. Cold seed cracks cleanly.
5 — Crack it coarse, under a pan or in a mortar
The bottom of a heavy pan pressed and rocked over the seed on a board, or a few deliberate strikes in a mortar. Gravel-sized, with pieces you can see.
6 — Salt stays separate in the mix
Stirred in afterwards, not ground with the spice. Salt ground fine dissolves instantly and salts unevenly; coarse salt sits on the surface and draws moisture out properly.
7 — Use it within a month
Airtight, out of the light. It is noticeably better in the first week than in the fourth, which is the whole argument for making it rather than buying it.
Pinkies out, boys. LFG.