Tried a new rub with coffee grounds and my ribs came out tasting like a burnt latte

I was watching that show with Myron Mixon and thought hey, coffee in rubs is a thing. So I dumped like half a cup of dark roast grounds into my usual brown sugar mix before smoking a rack of St. Louis ribs at 225 for 6 hours. The bark turned black as night and my wife asked if I was grilling tires. Learned that less is more with coffee, maybe a tablespoon next time instead of a full scoop! Anyone else have a rub experiment go sideways like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

schmidt.amy2d ago

Start with a tablespoon at most. Coffee is potent and too much turns bitter fast. I use a tablespoon of fine ground espresso mixed into my brown sugar base for a full rack. Also toast your coffee grounds in a dry pan for a minute before adding them to the rub. It mellows the harshness and brings out the earthy notes instead of the burnt taste.

umaprice1d ago

That bit about toasting the grounds first is genius, I'm gonna try that. Last time I went heavy on a coffee rub I ended up with bark that tasted like a burnt latte and a smoker that smelled like a Starbucks dumpster for three days.