Southwest BBQ Rub

Southwest BBQ Rub – Southwestern Cuisine is a blend of American, Mexican and Spanish flavors, with the main ingredient of chile peppers.  This barbecue rub takes advantage of those Southwest chile peppers for its regional spice blend.

Spice Ingredients:  Ancho chiles, chipotle chiles, New Mexican green chiles, New Mexican mild (red) chiles, applewood smoked Pacific sea salt, garlic, onion, cumin, coriander and oregano.

Please click on the RECIPE tab for more detailed cooking instructions.

Southwest BBQ Rub is available in a 4 oz. spice grinder bottle

 Southwest BBQ Rub Cooking Instructions

This rub focuses on the flavors of the Southwest, like: ancho, chipotle and green chiles with Applewood smoked sea salt, garlic, onion and oregano.  This rub is very versatile and could be used on beef, pork, chicken, turkey and strong flavored fish.   

NOTE:  If you would like to learn more about different types of foods to barbecue, grill or oven roast, please read the "Recommendations for selecting your Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey and Seafood" PDF, located in the RECIPE heading at the top of the Home Page.

1)  To use the Grate Grinds Southwest BBQ Rub, evenly spray or rub, a little oil on all sides of your Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey or strong flavored fish like Salmon, Swordfish, Mahi Mahi or Red Snapper.  Then grind the rub evenly on all sides of your meat, gently pressing it onto the surface.  The amount of rub you grind on is up to your flavor preference.  The more you grind on the more of a flavor impact the rub will have.  Fig. 1 below is an example of how much rub to grind onto your meat, as a general rule.  One word of caution, these rubs are self-contained, meaning that they already have salt in them in the proper ratio to the spices and herbs, so don’t overdo it with grinding the rubs and DON"T add any additional salt.

 Fig. 1.  New York Steak with Southwest BBQ Rub ready for the grill.

2)  After you have rubbed your meat, refrigerate it and allow the rub to rest on the meat for at least 20 minutes or up to twenty-four hours.  The longer the resting period, the more the rub can penetrate the meat.

NOTE:  Always buy your meats from a quality reputable stores.  Keep all meat under refrigeration as much as possible during preparation.  Don’t leave any meats out at room temperature for more than 30 minutes, except when you are ready to cook it.  Then let it just reach room temperature prior to cooking, but don’t let time exceed an hour.  Food safe guidelines recommend that any proteins (meats in this case) are not exposed to the “Temperature Danger Zone” (40 F. to 140 F) for more than 4 hours for its entire journey to you cooking it.  We are informing you of these food safety guidelines, because we want you to have a wonderful flavorful safe food experience, every time.

3)  Preheat your grill or oven to 375 to 400ºF.   Place your steak on a 45º angle from the vertical grills on the preheated oiled clean grill (or in the oven in a roasting pan).   When grilling, please try not to flip-flop the meat back and forth. Place your meat on the grill and let it cook, unmolested by you!!

4)  After 3 to 4 minutes slightly rotate your steak 90º to get those classic grill mark lines on your steak.  Leave it for another 3 to 4 minutes and then flip the steak over.  Avoid flare ups with a spray bottle of water.  Now depending on the thickness of your steaks and the temperature of your grill, it could take another 6 to 8 minutes to get your steak to rare for a 1" thick steak.

5)  If you are looking for a specific temperature of doneness according to your taste and personal preference use this general temperature guide: 125 F. for rare, 130 F. for medium rare, 135 F. for medium, 140 F. for medium well and over 150 F. for well done. 

Fig. 2.  Grilled New York steak, medium.

6)  Once you feel your steak has reached the proper temperature, remove it from the grill or oven and let it "rest" under a foil tent.  There is an activity that takes place now called “carryover cooking”.  Once your food is removed from the heat source, it will continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes for smaller cuts.  The retained heat in the meat continues the cooking process for a few more minutes, as the meat cools down. Part of the resting period is to allow the internal liquids in the meat, which are forced to the center by the intense cooking heat, and it will take a few minutes for the liquids to redistribute themselves throughout the meat.

NOTE: If you are looking for more cooking details please read the "Specific Instructions on Barbecuing, Grilled and Oven Roasting" document in the Recipe tab of this website.