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A thick ribeye steak coated in a coarse dark homemade steak rub with cracked black pepper and chile, on a wooden board with a bowl of peppercorns

Cousin Mike's Porcini Steak Rub

A coarse, saltless steak rub built around dried porcini for dry-aged depth. The salt goes on the steak separately the day before — that's the whole trick. Makes about 1/3 cup, roughly 2 teaspoons per side.
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Total Time 10 minutes
Servings: 8 steaks
Course: Seasoning
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the rub (goes in the jar)
  • 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns or 2 tablespoons cracked 16-mesh
  • 1 tablespoon dried porcini powder
  • 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
  • 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon whole coriander seed
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
For the steak (kept separate)
  • 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt Diamond Crystal, for the dry brine

Method
 

  1. Toast the whole spices. Toast the black peppercorns and coriander seed in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking constantly, until the coriander smells citrusy and a few peppercorns start to pop. Dump them onto a cold plate right away — they'll keep cooking in a hot pan and go acrid.
  2. Crack them coarse. Crack the cooled pepper and coriander coarse with a mortar and pestle or the bottom of a heavy pan. You want visible grit, not powder. Fine-ground pepper dissolves into the meat and turns harsh over high heat; coarse pepper builds crust.
  3. Mix the jar. Crush the dried rosemary to near-powder between your fingers, then combine it with the cracked spices, porcini powder, granulated garlic, ancho chile powder, thyme, mustard powder, and cayenne (if using). Shake in a sealed jar for a solid 30 seconds — the porcini and mustard are fine enough to settle to the bottom.
  4. Salt the day before. The day before you cook, pat the steak dry, season all sides with the coarse kosher salt (about 3/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal per pound), and set it on a rack over a sheet pan. Leave it uncovered in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. The surface will look dry and slightly darkened — that's exactly what you want. That dry exterior is the difference between a seared steak and a steamed one.
  5. Rub 30 minutes out. Pull the steak from the fridge and coat it with about 2 teaspoons of rub per side, pressing it in. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while your grill or pan gets screaming hot. No oil needed — the rub grabs onto the tacky, brined surface on its own.
  6. Store the rest. Airtight jar, dark cupboard, nowhere near the stove. The toasted pepper and coriander are at their best for about two months and still good at six. Grind a fresh batch rather than doubling up front — the whole point of toasting is gone by month eight.

Notes

On the porcini: buy dried porcini slices and grind them in a coffee grinder. An ounce of slices costs a fraction of pre-ground mushroom powder and tastes noticeably better. Dried shiitake works too and is cheaper, though it leans darker and more sulfurous — this is the ingredient doing the heavy lifting, so don't skip it. And skip the espresso powder you'll see in other steak rubs; the porcini already covers that roasted, savory register better.