Anybody Make Your Own Rub?

[SonnyE]

I developed my own rubs over the years of combining the flavors I liked over smoking meats from many cadaveres.
It finally occurred to me to just put the stuff I loved together, and use a vacant seasoning jar to hold the concocktion.
I see where many here buy this or that commercial rubs. And I have to ask:
Why? Why not build your own?

Mine is:
Sonny's Secret Seasoning
I combined various things I love the flavors of,
Montreal Steak seasoning, Granulated Garlic, Onion Powder, Ground Black Pepper, and some Cayenne pepper for bite.
I add some dehydrated Honey to the dry rub. But I also mix my dry rub with Sweet Baby Rays and a big glob of sage honey to make my Paint I bake onto meat on the bar-B-que.

I decided to try and make my rub repeatable to friends, so I measured the stuff and came to the conclusion of a TBS of each, and a tsp of Cayenne.
For the Secret Sauce, add enough Rub to make it grainy, and about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Sage Honey, for glaze and sweet.

[Shadowdog500]

Yes.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
1 Tablespoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 Teaspoon cyanne (use less for less heat)

[16Adams]

MSU reigns supreme. Maybe IDK. Add green chile powder. We good.

[IamMadMan]

Originally Posted by SonnyE

I see where many here buy this or that commercial rubs. And I have to ask:
Why? Why not build your own?

The main reason for me is the higher quality of the specific species of the spices available to the commercial market. Is there a difference between the flavors of the different species? Absolutely!!! Not only do the flavors vary between species, but also the regions that they are harvested in will affect the final flavors. Good rub producers will order the specific species from specific regions and test them for purity and content. Couple this with quality control and you have a consistent rub time after time.

However not all commercial rubs are equally created...... Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Cheap store spice are just that, cheap on sitting on a shelf for unknown periods of time.

Remember, a $5.00 steak will always taste like a $5.00 steak; a good marbled prime steak will always be superior to the cheap steak, unless you can't properly cook it. The same holds true for spices.

But the best rub is the rub you like best, doesn't matter if you make it or if someone else made it. It all about personal preferences.


More often than not in blind taste tests, the rub you like is usually not the one you make yourself. This is because we get locked into a closed mind of what spices we should put into the rub we make. Personal changes in taste are difficult to make and we tend to lock in on a specific set of ingredients and exclude others that don't appeal to our personal tastes.

This is the reason many people chose other rubs in blind taste tests. They break the barriers of your normal taste and expand your flavor horizons. Remember, that a rub is not only a mixture of spices and herbs, it is a mixture of flavors. A good rub will have a balanced flavor that adds layers of flavor to the meat, without overpowering it. While a rub will add flavor, it is also a flavor enhancer that brings out and compliments the overall flavor of the meat with subtle additions of salty, sweet, savory, and spicy flavors in perfect balance to our taste buds.

Making rubs or buying rubs will always be a personal choice. Doing either does not make your "Q" better or worse. Either can expand your flavor horizons and help you find the apex of your cooks.

Rubs are like tools, a good design can help make the "BBQ" better, while others may not, use your tools properly. Think of using a pair of pliers to remove a screw, it'll get the job done, but not as good and effectively as the proper screwdriver.

[Prodrvr]

Originally Posted by SonnyE

I see where many here buy this or that commercial rubs. And I have to ask:
Why? Why not build your own?

I can sum that up in one word...dollars. Sure, there are hundreds of rub recipes out there, but how much money (not to mention time) are you gonna spend on all these individual spices, meat, and time to bbq them before you find "the one" that you absolutely love? I buy a jar of rub for $12 that someone else had sweated and spent the money on to make it great. Even if I went through $120 in different rubs to find "the one", I'm still ahead rather than doing all that legwork myself.

[SmittyJonz]

Sometimes I peel the label off of a bottle and write Smitty’s Rub on there........

[Prodrvr]

Originally Posted by SmittyJonz

Sometimes I peel the label off of a bottle and write Smitty’s Rub on there........

I'll give ya $5

[JU]

At least weekly. I keep the simple, go-to rubs on hand in small jars. Lately, it has been a salt, pepper and coffee mix I use on all things that once mooed.
But, if I'm making chicken, or ribs or something, I grab my "coffee" grinder and go with my gut.

[BuffaloDave]

I'm always making spice blends, not just for bbq. I think i have a pretty decent lamb rub-heavily spiced with coriander/aleppo pepper. My pastrami rub got high praise from a couple chefs that tried it- I need to scale it out by weight and make a ton.

Right now I'm trying to play around with a charcoal rub- a la hardcore carnivore black. I love the contrast you get on a reverse sear or short smoke- but hate paying the $$$

[long haired hippie]

Found this years ago. Haven’t used store bought since. Momma has to watch the salt, so I’ve made it substituting garlic powder & onion powder & omitting the 3T’s of salt. Comes out fine.

Kick Butt Pork Rub

This recipe is great on Boston butts, country style ribs, spare/babyback ribs and pork loins. Let's begin by collecting the following ingredients:
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup garlic salt
• 1/4 cup onion salt
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
• 3 Tbs. salt
• 1 Tbs. parsley, dried
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp ginger, ground
• 1 tsp cinnamon
Mix thoroughly. Rub thoroughly into meat and allow to sit for 2 hours. Cook on pit using indirect heat (heat on one side of the grill and the meat on the other). Cook at 225° until done. Depending upon the cut of meat, generally: ribs 3-6 hours, tenderloins 3-4 hours, butts (depending upon size) 3-18 hours [cook until you can hold 180°-190° for 1 hour]. Store remainder in air tight jar and keep in freezer.

[BuffettFan]

Also on a reduced salt diet, so I end up making most of my own rubs.
I keep them narrowed down to 4 basic ones: My BBQ rub for pork, chicken and shrimp. Moose's chicken rub #2.
Prime rib rub for prime rib and beef roasts.
Pepper and garlic rub for steaks and burgers.
I do use others, but these are the main ones.
Limiting the salt without losing the flavor is my goal.

[SonnyE]

Thanks everybody!

No idea what the fark you are sayin 16Adams.

IamMadMan, OK, so you entirely put your trust into somebody else making yours, blindly believing they are living up to your hopes. OK. I'm different.
And your reference to pliers on a screw irks me friend. I carry a 30+ pound tool bag for the electrical work I used to do. Each tool has it's purpose. All of them in concert allowed me to accel in my craft. I retired before many sad faces to see me remove myself from the training and learning pool.
You can't really be that naive as to think a commercial rub is so pure. Bannana's. They gather that which is available at the time of need, blend and tweak it, bottle and send it out. But you believe what you want to believe.
Far be it from me to pop your bubble.

Prodrvr, Not really. I have my little spices stash I can pull from to make or modify a taste. You, and your try this, try that, winds up with several "No, I don't like that one's."
Granted, buying the individual bottle's of ingredients isn't cheap. But it did allow selecting what goes into a signature rub.
Think about it. I bet you have several base spices around for certain things you want to flavor, right? I have ground Chili Powder for when I want to make a dutch oven of Chili. But I can also experiment with measures of Pure Red Chili powder where I want to. Or Cayenne, or any other individual spice.
I've never seen a good cooks kitchen that didn't have a good supply of spices they like to use.

SmittyJonz, Now why would I expect anything less from you? Ya Huckster! LOL! I bet you copied answers from your neighbors on your math test, too.

JU, John gets it. Just a simple portioning of most loved flavors he can repeat or tweak. S, P, and for his taste, Coffee. (I presume instant coffee, John?)
While I do use an electric coffee mill for some things (peppercorns, powdering salt, etc.) I have a mortar and pestle I like to grind a blend in.
There is just a certain satisfaction to mashing the farkel out of a blend.
I, too, have some modest blends that make a single shake covers the subject. SPOG comes to mind, John. It's proportionately sound every use.

Buffalo Dave gets it too. It's fun as well, huh David? But I'll wait on the Charcoal rub. If you survive, then I might try it. LOL! (But Charcoal is what they flush your stomach with if they need to clean you out.)

Long Haired Hippie and Buffet Fan hit the nail on the head! Salt control can be a must. Same for me. 2,000 mg a day restriction. Not really a problem, as long as I stay away from Denny's Restaurant.
Shortly after my heart attack in 2010 we were traveling North to visit Family. We stopped at a Denny's for something to eat. I ordered a Turkey (shudder!) Sandwich, thinking it would be healthy. Then we got to looking at the Nutrition facts sheet. How in the hell they cram 2300+ mg of sodium into a single sandwich is beyond me.
1 1/4 tsp in a single sammie! Oh Crunch!
Anyway, if you want control I see no better means than mixing your own.
Personally, I never did add salt, or very rarely. I tend to like things as the cook made them. So salt was never a condiment I tended to grab.
Now pepper, yes. But Pepper doesn't screw with your body as much as Salt does.

But the fun is in the fixin.

[LYU370]

I used to try making all sorts of different rubs from a variety of different recipes. Some were good, some not so good. Now I have my 3 or 4 go to commercial rubs that I use all the time. And every now and then, if I see a new one that looks interesting, I'll try it out. Saves me money over the long run.

That being said, Dr. BBQ's rub recipe is pretty darned tasty.

[Prodrvr]

Originally Posted by SonnyE

Prodrvr, Not really. I have my little spices stash I can pull from to make or modify a taste. You, and your try this, try that, winds up with several "No, I don't like that one's."
Granted, buying the individual bottle's of ingredients isn't cheap. But it did allow selecting what goes into a signature rub.
Think about it. I bet you have several base spices around for certain things you want to flavor, right? I have ground Chili Powder for when I want to make a dutch oven of Chili. But I can also experiment with measures of Pure Red Chili powder where I want to. Or Cayenne, or any other individual spice.
I've never seen a good cooks kitchen that didn't have a good supply of spices they like to use.

I'm not a good cook...yet lol. Yeah, I do have one cabinet that's packed with spices/oils/vinegars, etc... but that's all been accumulated from stuff I made following recipes. You can make chili from scratch?? That's awesome!! When I want chili, I buy ground beef, two cans of tomato sauce, two cans of beans, and two packages of McCormick's chili seasoning. I tried making chili from a recipe when I was around 23 and it tasted like ass. Haven't tried making it since. That's why I stick to the McCormick chili...I KNOW it will turn out good lolol. I truely have no idea what spices work with each other and which don't when it comes to rubs.

[SonnyE]

Originally Posted by LYU370

I used to try making all sorts of different rubs from a variety of different recipes. Some were good, some not so good. Now I have my 3 or 4 go to commercial rubs that I use all the time. And every now and then, if I see a new one that looks interesting, I'll try it out. Saves me money over the long run.

That being said, Dr. BBQ's rub recipe is pretty darned tasty.

I just used things I knew I liked, and eventually hit on my keeper.
Must be doing something right, when I told a DIL and the wife I wanted to make smoked ribs I got stomped on right away.
"DON'T mess with the ribs recipe!"
Well farkel, OK.
Now I'm handcuffed to the grill, doing ribs one way. Schnitzel.
But it keeps them coming.

I snuck in some Cayenne, and got called on it immediately.