Salt or no salt in spice rub

I'm marinating chicken overnight with crushed garlic cloves, toasted and crushed fennel seed and coriander, cayenne, brown sugar, and little grape seed oil. Now, do I add salt to the rub or should I just salt it before it hits the grill.

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tshewman

Adding salt is likely to give you more of a curing effect. So if that is desirable (works well with legs), you might consider it. You could always do one with and one without to see which you prefer.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

If you're going to salt chicken well before cooking, it's better to use it in a brine than a rub (for the curing effect that Todd noted). And brines work best on chicken when injected or are used on skinless meat because the water the brine will waterlog the skin and keep it from becoming crispy, brown, and delicious. Generally speaking, grilled chicken works best with skinless birds (no flareups) that have been brined (more juice). But if you're not brining, I'd save the salt until about an hour before it hits the grill -- just like steak.