Coffee Rub for Steak: An Easy Homemade Spice Blend

Coffee isn't just for drinking. Ground coffee makes a brilliant dry rub for meat, giving it a dark, savoury crust and a deep, smoky flavour. This easy coffee rub takes five minutes to mix, keeps for months, and works on steak, pork, chicken and lamb, on the barbecue or in a pan.

Ingredients

This makes a small jar, enough for several meals. 1 tbsp is 15ml.

• 4 tbsp freshly ground coffee
• 4 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp paprika (smoked paprika works well)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• Optional: ½ tsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder, for a kick

Method

1. Mix everything together in a bowl, breaking up any lumps of sugar.
2. Store it in a clean jar with a tight lid.
3. To use it, pat your meat dry and rub about 1 tbsp of the mix into each side of a steak (more for a larger joint). For the best flavour, leave it for 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge.
4. Cook as usual. On a very hot grill, keep an eye on it: the sugar can burn, so move the meat to a cooler part of the barbecue if the crust darkens too fast.

What does a coffee rub taste like?

Surprisingly, it doesn't taste much like coffee. It gives the meat a dark, earthy flavour with a good balance of garlic, and the cumin comes through in the background. The salt and sugar are kept low on purpose, so the rub adds to the flavour without making it too salty or sweet, or fighting with any sauce you serve.

Which coffee and grind to use

• Use fresh coffee. Used coffee grounds have given up most of their flavour, so they won't work here. (For ideas for those, see our 14 ways to use leftover coffee grounds.)
• Grind it medium-fine, somewhere between filter and espresso. Very fine coffee can clump and taste dusty, and a coarse grind won't stick to the meat.
• Choose a medium or dark roast with chocolatey or nutty notes. Bright, fruity light roasts are lovely in the cup but get a bit lost here.

Storing your rub

Keep the jar in a cool, dark cupboard. Light and heat fade spices over time, so it's best used within about three months. A small jar of homemade coffee rub also makes a nice gift to take to a barbecue.