Odie and I worked at a local refinery providing engineering support for small-cap projects. When he heard that I had adopted smoking as a hobby, he decided to mentor me in the art.
Odie learned his skills at the local parish church in a GIANT pit smoking brisket by the hundreds for church fundraisers. The story goes that he was the fire assist for the parish pitmaster who *supposedly* had won the brisket competition at the Houston Livestock Show in years prior with his rub. Well, the pit master appropriately spent his time monitoring each cook by drinking beer and ultimately forgot to remove labels from all of his spice jar containers from time to time (they were stored in a closet near the pit). Over the years, Odie was able to piece together all of the spices that made up the rub and then he worked out the ratios to his liking to create Odie's rub.
Well, Odie provide me with a small jar of his rub. I tried it out on some chicken thighs and it was magic. No BBQ sauce required. The rub absorbed the chicken fat and was amazing. Same thing with the brisket and any other meat I applied it to. I knew I had to have the recipe. I offered to buy the recipe from him...no deal...so I settled for buying large jars of it from him at spice cost. I had then decided the same as you that I'd send a sample off for analysis somehow. I'd stop by and visit Odie each week to discuss the weekend adventures on the pit, always working to shift the conversation to the rub. It wasn't until much later that I ever realized that Odie was having the best time screwing with me on this subject. He would tell me what countries the components came from, how many spices were in the rub and I would go away and try and work it out much to Odie's delight. He was very proud of the fact that there is no sugar or salt in his rub and this was a real point of mystery for me because it tasted well seasoned.
This went on for years and I got closer and closer to at least figuring out the components. By this time I also had started doing larger cooks for my church and volunteering for feeding the homeless as part of church under the bridge project. Odie noticed because he was having to make up lots of jars of rub for me. About that time, Odie's health began to decline and I suspect due to the volunteer work, he promised me that he would share his secret before he retired. Christmas 2013, I received a Christmas card from Odie with the coveted recipe inside. :-D At this point, was amazed at the simplicity of it all and quickly realized all the rabbit trails Odie had me chasing over the years.
Odie never retired, but he did go onto a better place this February. So, in memory of Odie. I'll join him in a beer after lunch today....
