Like beer or wine, coffee has a wide variety of flavor options available, from dark bold blends to beans with light, citrus notes. While coffee is still most appreciated as an eye-opener to start your day, those same flavorful grounds can be put to work as a powerful secret ingredient in meat and barbecue rubs.
“It adds a richness and helps deliver those super earthy flavors to the meat that I just love,” said Jess Pryles, a Texas-based meat authority and author of “Hardcore Carnivore: Cook Meat Like You Mean It.”
If you haven’t thought to use coffee grounds as a rub ingredient, you’re not alone. Commercial rubs that use coffee as an ingredient have only recently hit the market, and coffee rubs still are fairly rare on the competition barbecue circuit.
But demand for high-end coffee for cooking is picking up for local roasters. James Mireles, owner of Pulp Coffee Roasters on the near East Side, said that his product is in high demand for the home users.
“Consumers are using our Ethiopian blends, and the reason is that it’s a lighter roast that hits on some citrus notes and adds the right amount of flavor,” Mireles said. “I haven’t really seen any restaurants jumping on the idea yet, but it’s very big in California, and I’m sure it’s a trend that’s absolutely coming sooner than later.”
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Coffee is an awesome ingredient to rub mixes, provided you pay attention to a few key details and proper ratios when making a blend.
For starters, coffee grounds are more Robin than Batman — they work a lot better in a supporting role than as the star of the dry rub show. If you go too heavy on the coffee, it’s more likely that it will produce bitter meat, so limit it to about a tablespoon in your mix.
Pryles’ coffee rub, which she uses mostly on beef and other red meats (including a recipe for kangaroo fillets in her book), is balanced with chile powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, kosher salt, black pepper and a handful of other ingredients. Other popular pairings include brown sugar, paprika and ground thyme.
The type of coffee used also makes a difference. Ground packaged coffees work, but the freshly ground beans will produce better flavor. Plain medium roast is your best bet.
“Flavored coffees can often have a sort of artificial taste to them, and I think it steers the rub off course,” Pryles said. “The only exception for me would be the pecan coffees, which can add an element of wood smoke taste, which would be something to consider if you were cooking the meats in the oven.”
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The texture of the ground coffee should also be consistent with the other ingredients in the rub. When ground too finely, it can turn into a blackened sludge, but if it’s ground too coarsely, the grounds can uncomfortably jam into teeth crevices.
A good rule of thumb is to start with kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper (since these are standard ingredients to nearly all rubs), and grind the coffee to a similar size. Another cheat is to purchase an existing commercial rub blend, and simply add 1 or 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds to the mixture as a flavor experiment.
The finished product should be a very bold blend that pairs exceptionally well with steaks sizzled over a hot grill to low-and-slow briskets. It also delivers great results with large pork cuts like loin roasts and rib racks.
Because the rub is fairly coarse, it’s also a good idea to apply a coat of olive oil to all the meats, so the blend sticks better to it throughout the cooking process. The big payoff with the coffee infusion comes with both flavor and function, producing a terrific black crust that surrounds the meat like a flavor blanket.
And if you are looking for the perfect beverage to finish off the dining experience, a hot espresso has the ability to bring it all home.
Recipe: Hardcore Carnivore Coffee Rub
Recipe: Coffee-Rubbed Pork Loin
Chuck Blount is a food writer and columnist covering all things grilled and smoked in the San Antonio area. Find his Chuck's Food Shack columns on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com, or read his other coverage on our free site, mySA.com. | cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver
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January 07, 2020 at 01:00AM
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How to add coffee to your meat rubs for grilling steaks, brisket, pork and more - San Antonio Express-News
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