Porktopia Pork Rub

Pork. The seller describes it as a rub for pork ribs, roasts, chops and pulled pork. Like everything in this range it is aimed at one protein rather than restricted to it.

It makes a real difference. The membrane on the bone side does not render, does not let seasoning through, and goes leathery. Slide a blunt knife under it at one end, get a corner up, grip it with a paper towel and pull it off in one piece.

Twenty minutes to an hour on the bench, or overnight in the fridge, until the surface looks wet. The rub draws moisture out of the meat and dissolves into it, which is what makes it stay put through hours of cooking rather than falling off as dust.

Not on the skin. Barbecue rubs generally contain sugar, and sugar burns black well below the fierce heat crackling needs. Season the meat side with the rub, and keep the skin scored, dried and salted only.

Sugar over direct flame. Move the meat away from the heat source rather than trying to turn down a lit fire — indirect cooking, with the coals or burners on one side and the pork on the other, is the fix.

Low, around 110–130°C, indirect, for several hours. That range is what turns a sugared rub into bark. It is also what breaks down the connective tissue, which is the other half of why ribs are cooked slowly.

Roughly two level tablespoons for a rack, and considerably more for a shoulder — a large cut destined to be pulled can take three or four, because the seasoning ends up distributed through the whole thing when it is shredded.

You can, but late. Sauce contains more sugar than rub does and will burn faster, so it goes on in the last twenty or thirty minutes rather than at the start.

The ingredient and allergen statement printed on the pack is the only answer to that, and it is the maker's to give. This listing does not publish an ingredient list, and anything the seller's own description says about what the blend contains or is free of is their statement rather than ours. If you are avoiding an allergen, read the pack and ask the maker if anything is unclear.

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