Too Much Emph on Rubs?

[mcdanman]

I am new to smoking and have been doing a lot of research on smokers, rubs and recipes. I pretty much have chosed the WSM Bullet, but there are so many rubs. How do I choose? OTC, Recipe, Make my own? I love ribs the most and then I want to try a brisket. I always used to use a gas grill and sauce the ribs while cooking. I tried some dry rub ribs at a friends who cooked them in an electric rotisserie. but no smoke. I did like the dry rub and she wouldn't give me her rub because she would have to kill me. Common - really? Not so much a friend anymore.

[Outnumbered]

I believe it's the most important part of smoking meat.

[MilitantSquatter]

don't stress it... experimenting is part of the journey.

some take pride in developing their own recipes (through trial and error), others want the guess work done for them and buy a commercially available product. Some do both depending how they feel on a given day.

if you decide to make your own... start simple and learn the basics of balancing ingredients and getting the right ratios of salts, sugars, peppers, spices...

if you decide to buy, go with a brand that has a loyal following

[Bludawg]

I have never bought a rub in 30 yrs to me 1/2 fun is Playing with my Food Figure out what you're wanting Heat, Sweet, Salty & Savory to build the flavor profile you like. a good rub should should season the meat and not cover it up. Think about it like adding salt & pepper to a steak a little goes along way, but the steak flavor is still pronounced.

[Gore]

The more I cook, the more I really appreciate salt and pepper. Oh, I love rubs and I usually do some mods to them as I like, but salt and pepper is really good stuff.

Like Vinny says, though, don't stress it.

[SirPorkaLot]

I don't always use rubs, but when I do.....


I prefer to mix my own.

[firefighter4634]

Do both. Try some of the local commercial rubs you can get a hold of and also experiment by making your own. You can search on here to find some good starting points for making your own rubs then add flavor as you like.

[Smoked]

Nice choice on the equipment. You getting the 18 or the 22? When I first started out, I bought some rubs to try out. Now I make my own and try different spices, but the staples are usually there...kosher salt, black pepper, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chile powder. Then maybe try some cumin or maybe I'll use ancho chile powder, instead of plain. I wonder if I put some nutmeg in this one, what would the end product taste like? See where this is going? Experiment and have fun!!!

[garzanium]

im a noob,but for the cost/simplicity,I'd gladly pay someone that has spent way more time making rubs than I and just buy it. that said, my wife found a rub recipe online that was really good mostly paprika and brown sugar.

[mcdanman]

Originally Posted by SirPorkaLot

I don't always use rubs, but when I do.....


I prefer to mix my own.

I visited your web site. NICE!! I have heard that with beef BBQ salt and pepper is more prefered.

With pork, I want to go easy on the salt, easy on the sugar - I'm more interested in getting the real taste of pork and beef.

[mcdanman]

Originally Posted by Smoked

Nice choice on the equipment. You getting the 18 or the 22? When I first started out, I bought some rubs to try out. Now I make my own and try different spices, but the staples are usually there...kosher salt, black pepper, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chile powder. Then maybe try some cumin or maybe I'll use ancho chile powder, instead of plain. I wonder if I put some nutmeg in this one, what would the end product taste like? See where this is going? Experiment and have fun!!!

Well, I am buy myself so I was just thinking the 18", not because of the price difference, but just because I'm cooking for one. Otherwise, I am open. I only want to purchase once, as I hate starting with a cheap unit only to spend more money for a better unit. What's that old saying? "To old to soon, to late smart." I like the idea of adding cumin to the rub - maybe just a touch of chipotle.

[IamMadMan]

Don't worry and stress over it...

Like the others said, try with salt and pepper, if you want something different there are hundreds of recipes on the web for rubs.

Militant Squatter said it best, "Experimenting is part of the journey".

[HankB]

This:

Originally Posted by MilitantSquatter

don't stress it... experimenting is part of the journey.

Try different rubs but also try smoking w/out a rub. IMHO the smoking wood is the most important. Experiment with that as well.

Originally Posted by SirPorkaLot

I don't always use rubs, but when I do.....


I prefer to mix my own.

I do too. That's half the fun. I find lots of recipes on line and use ideas from those to concoct my own. Works for me so it can't be rocket science. Learn the flavors of the different spices and how they affect the final outcome.

Of course you'll also have to decide whether or not to wrap. I'm a confirmed non-wrapper but I've been experimenting with foiling ribs.

Enjoy your WSM. It's a great cooker! Some WSM Pr0n:

[LMAJ]

Whichever way you go make sure you take notes so you remember what tou liked and what you didn't. Too many times something turned out better then expected and I have no clue what I did... Maybe I'm just getting senile.

[El Ropo]

SPOG works on everything. That's kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, granulated onion and granulated garlic. This is my base for any rub I make. Sugar is an afterthought and IMO any rub recipe that calls for more than 20% sugar is not something I would want to use. I'm also into low salt rubs, so the granulated onion takes the place of a higher proportion of salt in most recipes.

Brown sugar, never use it. Turbinado sugar is what I use when sugar is called for.

Salt and pepper is wonderful on everything. No need to get fancy. Fancy is something you try after you've gotten the cooking process down.