Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

Beef is the undisputed star of Texas barbecue. In order to let the flavor of the meat take center stage, seasoning is generally kept simple—most purists publicly favor a no-frills combination of equal parts of salt and pepper, known as Dalmatian rub in central Texas, for seasoning brisket and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/bbq-beef-short-ribs">beef ribs</a>. But when pushed a little on the subject, <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/seasoning-worst-kept-secret-texas-barbecue/">many renowned pitmasters admit to embellishing their dry rubs with a little extra spice</a>. With that in mind, we set out to develop a leveled-up, Texas-inspired dry rub for all your barbecue beef needs.In keeping with tradition, salt and pepper are the primary ingredients for this rub, and for good reason. Just like with a great steak, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/oven-barbecue-brisket">brisket</a> doesn’t require much seasoning assistance in order to realize its beefy flavor potential. Salt, being water-soluble, is able to penetrate the meat below the surface to season the meat through diffusion. The pepper and other spices in the rub—brown sugar, smoked paprika, granulated garlic, bay leaf, celery, and cumin seed—are surface level seasonings that help form a delicious, crunchy bark that complements the rich, tender beef beneath it.

Texas Black Pepper Barbecue Rub