Awesome Spice Rub

So I was watching a show on the Create channel where this guy made a spice rub for his award winning ribs. I got a burst of inspiration. Of course it came just in time, because Create sets up special themes when holidays come around and what do you know. It's Memorial Day. I'd never tried out a rub before and was definitely up to something new and different. I sent my husband out to the store to pick up some things that we didn't have around and got to work.

I decided I wanted to double up on the recipe so that I could rub up the chicken as well as the ribs, and ended up coming up short on some of the ingredients, so I had to improvise. The recipe is as follows and it makes a generous amount of rub, so think about possibly dividing it into two parts and saving some for later unless you're barbecuing for a small army (and yes I would do it again).

4 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
4 Tbsp Brown Sugar (either dark or light should be fine)
4 Tbsp Ground Cumin
4 Tbsp Chili Powder
4 Tbsp Salt
4 Tbsp Black Pepper
4Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
2 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
1 Tbsp Freshly Ground Mixed Peppercorns

Note: If you're not ready for a big kick in your mouth, cut out half of the the cayenne pepper and don't add the red pepper flakes and by all means choose another variety of the barbecue sauce that doesn't contain chipotles. Otherwise carry on. Mix everything up well and as soon as you're done rinsing your meat that you'll be using, apply the rub. The water from rinsing makes a great binder for the spice rub. Grill using indirect heat technique (which is just placing your meat opposite of where your coals are laid out) for 5-6 hours. If you don't already have a favorite barbecue sauce, i'd definitely recommend Sweet Baby Ray's in any flavor choice that you choose. You can apply this in the last 15 minutes or so of your meat cooking, or afterwards if you so choose. If you try it, let me know how you like it.