Spice rub the salt for flavor and the sugar for caramelization. The simplest rub is just coarsely ground black pepper as in steak au poivre. Spice rubs can also have ingredients such as herbs, crushed garlic or oil added to make a paste. Less common ingredients can include coffee beans. Spice rubs are mainly used for preparing meats and fish. There are many different recipes for rubs and most of them are targeted towards a specific kind of food. The exact combination of spices that makes a good rub for a particular kind of food varies from region to region and culture
Basting (cooking) Basting (cooking) Basting is a cooking technique that involves cooking meat with either its own juices or some type of preparation such as a sauce or marinade. The meat is left to cook, then periodically coated with the juice. Prominently used in grilling, rotisserie, roasting, and other meat preparations where the meat is over heat for extended periods of time, basting is used to keep meat moist during the cooking process and also to apply or enhance flavor. Improperly administered basting, however, may actually lead to the very problem it is designed to prevent: the undesired loss of moisture (drying