Bring the taste of classic Memphis BBQ to your grill with this wonderful dry rub from Marlowe Restaurant in Memphis (on Elvis Presley Boulevard, of course). A spice rub that is full of flavor without sugar, just great flavor. Use it with any meat that needs a rub.
The Recipe Story
This recipe is from the famous Marlowe Restaurant in Memphis (on Elvis Presley Boulevard, of course). If you watch a lot of Food Network, you have seen them. It is the mandatory stop in Memphis for ribs.
The recipes were given to Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives by the restaurant. But the original recipe (apparently already cut down) produced 11 1/2 cups of rub plus you need to put together Marlowe's Black Magic Seasoning, and that recipe is 12 more cups of spices.
My Rating
Oh yeah, it is a strong 5.
Recipe Size
Even though the original recipe was "cut down", I would say it was not really "Cooking For Two" friendly nor home cooking friendly as originally published. So I cut it down to a more reasonable size.
The ratio I used was 1 tablespoon for each cup of recommended seasoning. A 1:16 reduction was making about 3/4 cup of rub, which is about what I use on most recipes. It is now home friendly.
Storage
This will keep fresh in tightly closed containers for up to 6 months. You can go longer, but most of the flavor is lost after the bottle is opened, and by 9 to 12 months, it should be tossed.
It is better to be away from light and cooler but not the refrigerator where moisture could condense on the container during use and then damage the spices later. A full container is good, and a vacuum-sealed would be great.
Black Magic Seasoning
One of the components of this dry rub is Marlowe's Black Magic Seasoning. The restaurant kindly provided that recipe at the same time, but again in a huge size. I have cut that recipe down also in another post.
Do I have to use black magic? No. Although Black Magic Seasoning is full favor seasoning that has many uses, you will still have a great rub without it. The seasoning shares several spices with this rub and does add a touch of other flavors, but it is not mandatory. I can tell the difference a tiny bit, and I think most people won't be able to tell.
Having said that, I usually do the black magic, so I have it for other grilled meats.
Tips
Dry rubs and the sauce you use should complement each other. I suggest my Memphis sauce listed below or another sweeter sauce like a Kansas City or St. Louis sauce. Not a Carolina vinegar-based sauce.
This is generally a rub for ribs, but you can use it anywhere that a dry rub is needed.
There is no sugar in this rub, so don't pack it on as much as the sugar-based rubs.
There is also a large amount of salt between the seasoning salt and regular salt in the recipe. I normally skip about half the normal salt and use coarse salt that cuts it even more.
Memphis Recipes
Memphis Barbecue Sauce - A Wonderful Thing
The Best Grilled Pork Tenderloin - Memphis Style
Grilled Memphis Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs
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📖 Recipe
Marlowe's of Memphis BBQ Dry Rub
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt - Lowery's
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- ½ tablespoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon Black Magic spice mix
Instructions
- Mix well, seal tight and store.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Dry rubs and the sauce you use should complement each other. I suggest my Memphis sauce or another sweeter sauce like a Kansas City or St. Louis sauce. Not a Carolina vinegar-based sauce.
- This is generally a rub for ribs, but you can use it anywhere that a dry rub is needed.
- There is no sugar in this rub, so don't pack it on as much as the sugar-based rubs.
- There is also a large amount of salt between the seasoning salt and regular salt in the recipe. I normally skip about half the normal salt, and use coarse salt that cuts it even more.
- This will keep fresh in tightly closed containers up to 6 months.
- It is better to be away from light and cooler but not the refrigerator.
Check Out Other Great Recipes
ADJUST THE RECIPE SIZE:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.Nutrition
Nutrition is generally for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
Publisher's Note: Originally published June 26, 2010, and re-edited with expanded discussion and additional photos.
Simon
Having first found this recipe on food network I feel your scaling down is well off mark for the reasons..1 tbl of sugar will weigh a lot more than 1 tbl oregano etc better to scale it down weight for weight from the original recipe
DrDan
Hi Simon,
Welcome to the blog.
I just went to the original recipe and everything is in cups and not by weight so my ratio using volume is correct.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marlowes-bbq-dry-rub-recipe-1939608
You are correct that if they were using weight, things like sugar would weight a lot more. But to do this by weight. First you would convert the volume to weights. Then cut them down proportionally. Then since most people do volume at home and can not measure by weight in small volume at home, convert back to volume. The results would be the same.
Dan