When fixing ribs, I used to marinate them in apple juice for a few days
in the refrigerator. Later on, I got a vacuum sealer and learned I
could do a better job in about a day using a vacuum cannister. When the
ribs are marinated, I take them out, let them drip on the racks, then
wipe very lightly with CYM (Thanks, Brick, for the abbreviation) and
then dust liberally with my home made rub.

Over time, I've naturally experimented with different ways to do it and
can't understand something. One experiment I've done several times is
to divide the ribs equally into two vacuum cannisters. One gets the
unsweetened apple juice and nothing more. The other gets the same apple
juice, but also a good scoop of my dry rub and a heaping tsp of CYM.

What I consistently get is my own, Mrs. Nonny's and guests preferences
for ribs done in just the apple juice and "seasoned" just before
smoking. One alternative has been to "reseason" the ones marinated in
the mixture with more dry rub, but folks still gravitate to the ones
just marinated in apple juice and then seasoned at the last minute
before smoking. Do any of you pros have any thoughts about why this
would be?

In my rub, I use spices only, and have no sugar, salt or cracked pepper.
However, when I season ribs after marinating, I add salt and pepper
along with the dry rub, so that's not a variable. Somehow, when the rub
is marinated into the meat, the flavor just isn't as good as when it's
just sprinkled on before cooking, and I can't come up with a good reason
to explain it.

Nonny
--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son