My favourite American food shows are Man vs Food and Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Mainly because it gives me a lot of cooking ideas. I think these 2 shows are entirely to blame for a phase I went through over a year ago. Mind you, I’m really glad that I went through this phase because I learned how to cook meats using a dry rub and I have my own recipe for a dry rub now. I also learned the benefits of cooking meats low and slow – cooking them at a low temperature (about 130°C – 150°C) very slowly (at least 5 hours!). This is excellent proof that good (and very tasty) things come to those who are patient!
Tonight, I dusted off my dry rub recipe (which is based on the Kentucky dry rub recipe) and cooked the pork shoulder that I bought yesterday (pork shoulder cuts were 50% off so I couldn’t resist buying it–I am a willing slave to food bargains!). The recipe below will work for meats weighing between 1.75 – 2 kilograms and will work with pork and beef.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoon cornflour
- 1-2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon crushed chicken bouillon cube
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
Directions:
- In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. I find that mixing it with a balloon whisk helps mix it properly and more efficiently. Set a fifth of the powder aside to make barbecue sauce.
- Rub as much of the dry rub as you can onto the meat. You can cook the meat as soon as you’ve finished rubbing the dry rub onto it, or for better flavour, leave it wrapped in cling film overnight in the fridge.
- Place the meat in a roasting tin and cover with foil. Cook the meat in an oven preheated to 200°C for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, turn down the heat to 150°C. Cook at 150 for 4 ½ hours. For the last 30 minutes, turn up the oven to 200°C and remove the foil and cook the meat uncovered.
- Allow the meat to rest covered with foil for 20-30 minutes before slicing.
Yellywelly 