Question about rubs and refrigeration

[lpasteur]

Hello!

I wanted to make my first meat rub, starting with a foundation of lime flavored sea salt.  I had read that a good ratio to use is a cup of coarse salt to the zest of two limes.  However, do I need to refrigerate such rubs if they contain moisture-rich ingredients such as the skins of fruits?  I am concerned about it growing bacteria or mold.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[3montes]

You can buy dehydrated zest of lemon, lime and orange etc. just for this purpose. I use a touch of dehydrated orange zest in my rubs and I love the extra little flavor.

I get mine from the Spice house. Here is a link to lime zest. You can also reconstitute it. But using it in a spice blend works very well.

http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/minced-dehydrated-lime-peel-zest

 

[lpasteur]

Thanks!  You prompted me to look up drying my own zest and I found this: http://simpledailyrecipes.com/9492/how-to-dry-lemon-zest/

It's more work but as per usual, the more time you spend on a project, the more gratifying it feels after you successfully finish.   I saw that for a bath scrub, raw zest was used instead of dried when mixing with salt.