Cinnamon in a rib rub?

njl · November 2012

To be different, I'm planning on making baby back ribs for Thanksgiving. I've seen a few (just a few) rub recipes that use 1 tsp or so of ground cinnamon. I wonder how that would go if I added it to my usual rub which is brown sugar, kosher salt, ground black pepper, chili powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper (in that order of most to least)?

nolaegghead · November 2012

It's a good combo. Cloves and cinnamon are in all kinds of stuff you don't think about like pastrami - most Italian charcuterie, etc. You want it to be subtle, and it should be if you follow the recipe. Cinnamon isn't commonly associated as a savory spice, but it is used as one very frequently.

SteveWPBFL · November 2012

Cinnamon and other 'pumpkin pie' spices are used with great fanfare in Cincinnati and other chili and many unsuspecting BBQ recipes. When I cook up an Egg full of rib racks, as I did yesterday, at least one rack is for 'development' to try out new rubs and whatnot. And so let us know how they come out!

tulocay · November 2012

I like cinnamon in my rib rub. I also use coriander, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne pepper and salt. Good combination of sweet and spice.

Nature Boy · November 2012

Cinnamon can be a nice addition. It can also overwhelm really quickly. Start small....you can always add more.

Happy rubbin!
Chris

gdenby · November 2012

A couple of pinches would work well.

Texas style chili powders usually have some oregano in them. I'm not sure the cinnamon would go so well w. that, but just mixes of dried capsicum would blend o.k. I think.

njl · November 2012

I put a teaspoon in a jar of my home made rub about the size a 12oz soda can. I used most of that jar on the 3 racks. I'll be cooking this evening.

njl · November 2012

Well, I'd meant for these to be turbo, but looking at my log, I don't think I can really call them that. I put them on a 350F dome egg, but lost temperature when I put them in. I figured it was just the 8.5lbs of cold meat and didn't adjust anything until almost an hour had passed.

2:10pm 350F dome, ribs on the egg in rib rack
2:25pm 290F dome
2:55pm 280F dome, opened DFMT petals from half to full, cracked bottom vent a little more
3:15pm 290F dome
3:30pm 320F dome, cracked DFMT
3:45pm 375F dome, closed DFMT back to just the petals, boated with apple cider
5:15pm 350F dome, removed from boat, sauced, put back on grid
5:30pm finished saucing.
6:10pm 330F dome removed to glass dish and foiled 30min

1.5-1.5-.66 I probably could have stopped at 1.5-1.5-0.5

4 hours for baby backs...not exactly turbo. :)

But they came out excellent. If I didn't know I'd added 1tsp cinnamon, I wouldn't have guessed it. Some bites I thought maybe I could taste a hint of it. It certainly wasn't overpowering, and I don't think anyone else noticed it. My wife likes ribs to fall off the bone, and I've done the above sort of method before, but never quite gotten to FOTB. This time, I gave it an extra 30min in the boat, and it seems that made the difference. As I started cutting up the first half rack, some of the meat was just falling off the bones.

Howdy, Stranger!

Forums

Cinnamon in a rib rub?

Comments