Pulled Pork Rub

One of the most popular and affordable smoked meats of all time, pork butt or shoulder only needs one thing to make it perfect: a good pulled pork rub. While you can buy a pre-mixed rub, finding the perfect store-bought rub can be a challenge. However, making your own will give you perfection in a jar, fast and easy!

🧾 Ingredients

🛒Seasoning Salt – This is a blend of table salt, herbs, and spices you can buy at your local grocery store. Any brand will work.

🛒Ground Mustard – Adds tang and a bit of heat.

🛒Chili Powder – Many people do not realize that this is a spice blend, including the powder of dried chilis and other spices, such as cumin, garlic, paprika, and oregano.

🛒Onion Powder – Made of dried onions that have been ground into a powder. If you don’t have this, you can make it by pulsing dried minced onions in your food processor.

🛒Garlic Powder – Similar in consistency to onion powder, this is made of dried garlic. You can substitute dried minced garlic or granulated garlic instead.

🛒Cumin – Use ground cumin and not cumin seeds.

🛒Black Pepper – I like to use coarse ground black pepper or freshly cracked black pepper.

🛒Oregano – Oregano leaves work perfectly. If you only have ground oregano, it is more concentrated, and you should back off on the amount.

🛒Paprika – You can get the regular kind, hot paprika, or smoked paprika.

🛒Brown Sugar – I like to use dark brown sugar for the extra molasses flavor, but light brown sugar will work just as well.

🔥 Instructions

🔸Step 1: Mix all ingredients in a large bowl or jar.

🔸Step 2: Store in a sealed, air-tight container or jar. Use a funnel to add the rub to the storage jar. It will make it so much easier.

🧂Applying The Rub To Pork

It’s interesting how something so simple as the way you season a chunk of meat can have such an impact on how it turns out after cooking.

Seasoning a pork butt is not rocket science and once you learn these tricks, you’ll realize they apply to all meat!

🍖 Techniques For Rubbing Meat

When applying your rub to pork, there are two main techniques: rubbing and sprinkling. Each method has its own merits and can affect the flavor and texture of the meat.

👉Rubbing. I’ll start with my favorite seasoning method. You simply need to massage the meat using your spice mix really well. Make sure it gets everywhere!

It’s extra work but you will help the flavors better penetrate the meat. The even layer of rub will allow the smoke to stick to the surface of your pork shoulder or butt. This creates a better ‘bark’ or crust on the pork, especially if you’re smoking or grilling it.

Food-safe gloves are my best friend when I’m doing this and I recommend them to everyone. It makes the job less messy!

👉Sprinkling. Let gravity do the work and “see what sticks”. Use this method if you prefer your pulled pork seasoned on the lighter side. It will let the natural taste of pork shine through.

Rubbing is what makes the seasoning stick best, which is not the case for sprinkling. You might get some uneven areas and the flavor will be lighter.

On the other hand, it’s faster and a lot cleaner.

👉Dredging. This method requires spreading the rub evenly on a sheet pan or a large plate. Then, roll the pork in the seasoning until all sides are evenly covered with the rub.

Dredging is still less messy than rubbing and will allow you to cover the meat more uniformly compared to sprinkling.

Flavor-wise, it sits somewhere in between rubbing and sprinkling as there will be more dry rub on the meat but it won’t infuse it as much as when you’re using your hands to work it in.

I try to avoid this method despite the fact it would be more practical when I need to season two or more pork butts. It always requires adding extra dry rub in the sheet pan, which cannot be reused.

The rub that comes into contact with raw meat is contaminated with bacteria and should be discarded.

⏱ How Long Should Dry Rub Sit On Pork?

Using a wet pork marinade is always an option, but simply leaving the dry rub to sit on the meat is another marinating method.

Whether you season and cook your pork shoulder or butt right away, or allow it to sit for a while and absorb the flavors comes down to your preferred taste and texture.

🔥Immediate cooking | Brining, marinating, and other techniques for tenderizing and flavoring meat sound great, except when you haven’t planned anything and your time is limited.

There’s nothing wrong with a smoked pork butt that was cooked right after applying the dry rub. The most important thing for getting the perfect juicy pulled pork is to smoke it low and slow at 250-275°F and cook the meat to an internal temperature of 200-205°F (refer to our pulled pork temperature chart for more details). You’ll get the tender, pull-apart meat, we all want!

👨🏻‍🍳Marinating | If you let the rub sit on the pork for a while, it will give a more intense flavor to the meat. The salt in the rub can also help tenderize the meat over time.

Of course, marinating requires planning, but if you love your spices, it’s worth it! I recommend you let the rub sit on the meat for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours if you have the time.

Don’t be afraid to experiment here: you’ll never find out if you like your pulled pork better with or without marinating unless you try both.

🍱 Storage

Keep this pulled pork rub in a sealed, airtight container for up to 1 year. A Mason jar with a lid works well.

✔️Avoid light exposure | Keep the jar in a dry, cool location. Don’t store your spices or dry mixes in the cabinet above your stovetop, where moisture and heat can ruin them.

You can also put your spice rub in a sealed plastic bag if you prefer.

✔️Vacuum-sealed containers | These will help your spice blends last longer by reducing air exposure.

✔️Labeling | Always label your homemade condiments with the date and contents. It’s the easiest way to keep track of what you have and use before it goes bad.

✔️Cool area | There’s no need to refrigerate but your dry rub will keep best in a place with a consistent, cool temperature. A pantry or the back of a cupboard are good places to stash your rub blends.

✔️Freeze for longer-term storage | Storing the rub in the freezer will make it last more than a year. Use a heavy-duty freezer bag or an airtight container to minimize contact with moisture and oxygen. Thaw on the counter before using.

🌶️ Additions and Substitutions

I always recommend trying a recipe the way it is written the first time. However, a dry rub can always be adjusted to your liking. Feel free to increase the garlic, salt, pepper, or any other seasoning you particularly enjoy and back off on any seasoning you do not enjoy.

👍Sweeteners | This is a dry rub, so liquid sweeteners are not recommended but you still have plenty of substitutes for brown sugar you can try. When nothing else is on hand, the plain white sugar is a substitute most of us have on hand.

👍Add heat | Bump up the heat with cayenne pepper, chipotle, red chili flakes, ancho chili powder, or the dried chile powder of your choice. Chile powder (spelled with an e) is pure dried, ground chilis.

👍Try smoked paprika | Use smoked paprika instead of the regular kind if you’re not smoking your pork shoulder or butt. It will add some of that smoky flavor to your oven-roasted or slow-cooker pulled pork.

👍Cumin alternatives | Not a fan of cumin? I love its earthy profile but you can tone it down by replacing cumin with other spices such as ground coriander, or fennel seeds.

👍Herb replacements | You can replace oregano with other herbs that pair with pork like rosemary or thyme.

👍Salt types | I think we can all agree salt, is the one ingredient you can’t skip for a dry rub. However, there are lots of types you can try, such as Himalayan salt, herb salt, celery salt, and smoked salt.

We used Kosher salt and seasoning salt, which is a mix of table salt, herbs, spices, and other flavorings. If you’re using table salt instead, you might want to add a bit more of the other herbs and spices to compensate for the loss of flavor.

🍴Serving Suggestions

⭐Pork butt or shoulder | This pulled pork rub is perfect on a grilled pork shoulder or smoked pork butt with beautiful results. Serve your delicious smoked pulled pork with smoked potato salad, Guinness brisket baked beans, smoked mac and cheese, whiskey BBQ sauce, a bright, fresh coleslaw, or one of the many other pulled pork sides.

⭐Other large roasts | Smoked pork loin and this bacon-wrapped smoked tenderloin only need about 2 hours in the smoker and the results are delicious! The pulled pork dry rub will work wonderfully on these cuts too.

You can also use the rub to replace the simple salt and pepper seasoning I used for this smoked pork roast. For special occasions and holidays, this smoked pork crown roast will give you the most festive-looking BBQ meat.

⭐Ribs | By now, you have probably realized this rub recipe won’t fail you whatever pork cut you choose. Ribs are a no-brainer!

Your guests will be very eager to sink their teeth into some smoked Country style ribs, smoked St. Louis style ribs, or smoked baby back ribs seasoned with this rub.

⭐Steaks & skewers | Sprinkle some of this dry rub on smoked Tomahawk pork chops and they will taste just as good as they look.

This works for other pork steaks and kabobs like this grilled pork belly yakitori.

🥣 More Dry Rub Recipes

As convenient as premade rubs are, the homemade kind is so easy to make, and you have absolute control over the ingredients.

Pork meat pairs well with a large variety of spices, so you have a lot of room for creativity.

⚡My all-purpose dry rub for grilling is excellent as is, but it also makes a great starting point for a new rub recipe. This one can be used on any meat: pork, beef, chicken, turkey….your choice!

⚡Ribs are another legendary BBQ meat and this dry rub for ribs will complement their natural taste.

⚡Feeling adventurous? Try this homemade Java rub on your pork shoulder or Boston butt. The mild coffee flavor blends with the smoky taste for a unique, layered taste profile!

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