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[Canadian John]

 I make most of my rubs and in the process no matter how I try, end up with clumps. Mostly small and not great in number but annoying; when it comes to dispensing from a shaker.. Now I have the answer.

I use a 7 1/2" diameter stainless steel colander. The magic is it has 1/8" diameter holes in it..When making a new rub batch, it is run thru the colander. Anything that doesn't make it thru is ground down

using a mortar /pestle... I have sifted rubs made pre-colander using this method so now all the rubs exit the shaker easily right to the very end... For you Canadians: This is a Dollarama item. $4.00.

 Added note: I don't use a grinder to process what doesn't go thru the colander as I don't want a super fine rub, especially the salt.

[BigDave83]

I use one of the Ninja blender things with the motor on top, it has a pitcher that has multiple blades and works great. It also helps to make the rub a bit finer.

[pmillen]

When I inject rub I grind it in a spice or coffee grinder.  On a couple of occasions I've ground rub before shaking it on the meat.  It looks different and is a bit easier to get consistent coverage but tastes the same.

[bregent]

I agree, a blender, coffee mill or food processor will take out the lumps. But as John stated, sometimes you don't want a fine grind for the rub and just want to get the lumps out. A colander is a great idea.

[pmillen]

I don't use a grinder to process what doesn't go thru the colander as I don't want a super fine rub, especially the salt.

Why's that CJ?  Is fine rub or salt troublesome?

[Canadian John]

I don't use a grinder to process what doesn't go thru the colander as I don't want a super fine rub, especially the salt.
[/quot
Why's that CJ?  Is fine rub or salt troublesome?

Both: Lumps can be  brown sugar or incompletely ground peppercorns. Usually brown sugar is the culprit, now...We used to have an inefficient grinder that did a poor job of grinding peppercorns.

After making a rub, my wife would put everything back into the grinder and grind it to the point the peppercorns were broken down enough. The peppercorns alone just did not get chopped properly.  That

worked fine for the peppercorn breakdown. The rest of the spices were more of a dust. That would be fine for injecting, not for my rubs. The spice grinder we have now does a  whiz- bang job chopping

peppercorns, so that problem has been eliminated... Brown sugar is another story. The lumps should be eliminated prior to mixing. However we find it easier to sift afterwards. That's where the colander

comes into play... A damp piece of terracotta is kept in our brown sugar and rubs containing it..Our brown sugar clumping is almost non existent...There is very little captured in the colander now, just enough

to make our rubs 100% useful and easy to use.

[pmillen]

The rest of the spices were more of a dust. That would be fine for injecting, not for my rubs.

I'm sorry, John, I didn't follow you.  Why is a finely powdered rub undesirable?

[Canadian John]

The rest of the spices were more of a dust. That would be fine for injecting, not for my rubs.

I'm sorry, John, I didn't follow you.  Why is a finely powdered rub undesirable?

I just don't like it. Especially the salt and pepper. I prefer small pieces, kosher salt size.

[smokin soon]

I use most of my lumpy rubs for injection. make little bags with cheesecloth and boil. Still gets the flavor and won't clog the injector.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I use most of my lumpy rubs for injection. make little bags with cheesecloth and boil. Still gets the flavor and won't clog the injector.

good idea...never thought of that

[nigilcv]

I just use my food processor to grind down the brown sugar, this seems to help....


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[leppolite]

You can use granulated brown sugar or tubinado sugar in place of the brown sugar, its dry like regular table sugar and doesn't clump up at all. Neither is as cheap as brown sugar but they work well for this application.

[Bar-B-Lew]

You can use granulated brown sugar or tubinado sugar in place of the brown sugar, its dry like regular table sugar and doesn't clump up at all. Neither is as cheap as brown sugar but they work well for this application.

Been using granulated brown sugar in my rub for 25 years for the reason you mentioned.

[riverrat49]

+2 on the Turbinado sugar

You can use granulated brown sugar or tubinado sugar in place of the brown sugar, its dry like regular table sugar and doesn't clump up at all. Neither is as cheap as brown sugar but they work well for this application.

Been using granulated brown sugar in my rub for 25 years for the reason you mentioned.

[Canadian John]

 Interesting take on the sugars. Live and learn. Thanks!