Barbeque Spice Blend leads with sweetness, letting caramelization do the work. Sea salt, onion, garlic, and the blend's spices give it savory body, while chiles add a measured heat and hickory smoke and caramel deepen the finish. Used dry, it works at any stage — overnight for a deeper cure, as a rub before cooking for a sweet, smoky bark, or dusted over the finished dish.

Suggested Uses

Dry-Rubbed Ribs — Coat a rack with about 5 teaspoons (20 grams) per pound and let it sit 30 minutes until the sugar turns tacky, then cook over indirect heat so the bark sets without burning. The sugar caramelizes into a dark crust while the hickory works into the meat.

Make-Ahead Dry Rub — Rub ribs or drumsticks at about 5 teaspoons (20 grams) per pound and refrigerate uncovered overnight; the salt and sugar pull surface moisture, dissolve into a tacky cure, and draw back in, carrying the seasoning below the surface and drying the outside so it browns faster. Cook low and slow the next day in a smoker or low oven.

Grilled Chicken Thighs — Rub skin-on thighs with roughly 1 teaspoon each and cook skin-side up over the cooler side of the grill; the sugar crisps the skin but scorches over open flame, so keep it off the hottest coals until the meat is nearly done.

Burgers — Work 1 teaspoon into every ½ pound of ground beef or pork before forming patties; the salt seasons all the way through and the sugar helps the exterior brown into a deeper crust.

Grilled Corn — Brush shucked ears with melted butter and dust each with about ½ teaspoon before grilling; the sugar caramelizes against the kernels and the smoke clings to the char.

Grilled Vegetable Skewers — Toss 2 cups of cut vegetables with 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon of the blend before threading; onion and garlic season the vegetables while the chiles and sugar catch on the grill marks.

BBQ Popcorn — Toss a quart of warm popcorn with a tablespoon of melted butter, then 1 teaspoon of the blend so the fat carries it onto every kernel for a sweet, smoky snack.

Baked Beans — Stir 1 tablespoon into a quart of beans as they simmer; the brown sugar and caramel melt in and give the pot the sweet, smoky backbone of a long-cooked sauce.

Ingredients: granulated brown sugar, organic cane sugar, sea salt, spices, domestic onion, chiles, domestic garlic, paprika extract organic (organic sunflower oil, paprika oleoresin (color), citric acid non-GMO, hickory smoke flavor oil-soluble organic (organic sunflower oil, natural flavors), caramel flavor organic (sunflower oil, natural flavors).