On Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:35:44 -0700, "Dimitri" >
wrote:

>Going to smoke some St Louis cut ribs on Saturday for a fathers day
>celebration.
>
>I'm curious, the most recent rub recipe said to apply the rub 1 hour up to 8
>hours before cooking.
>
>How long do you leave the rub on before smoking?

I usually use Danny Gaulden's rub, which has a fair bit of salt. I've
put it on the night before, and from 5 min to an hour before the cook.
The salt does pull moisture out of the racks when it's had the
overnight time; I've not noticed much effect in an hour, but I think
there's some.

I think my best luck--and best ribs--have come from the combo of a
light coat of CYM followed by the rub, and then into the pit in no
more than a half-hour.

But again, this is with a somewhat salt-laden rub. I suspect that
with little or no salt in the rub, you could easily go overnight with
no ill effects.

Now, on a butt, I think overnight with the salty rub works
nicely--though with a butterflied Costco boneless butt it'd likely be
different. Haven't tried one of those yet, but will this year.