Barbecue Dry Rub

Tonight will be baby back ribs for the holiday weekend. The barbecue dry rub that I use for this (and for sprinkling on all sorts of other grilled stuff as well) is as follows. I make this in batches and keep it in the pantry for general purpose use. Well sealed it lasts quite a while since all ingredients are dry.

• 1/2 cup roughly equal mix of chipotle chili powder, ancho chili powder and paprika (preferably smoked)
• 2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

This recipe follows Rick Bayless' Hickory House dry rub recipe (p. 80) in the June/July 2004 issue (#76) of Saveur magazine fairly closely, changing a few proportions slightly and adding some mustard powder.