I'm with IamMadMan here.
Small batch run makers take their trade very seriously. It's their livelihood in a very competitive and highly critical market. They can't afford to cut corners and you should expect to pay for consistency and quality.
Ask KCMike, SirPorkalot, or Steph from Simply Marvelous if they just get cheap spices from anywhere... of if they give any thought to quality control, you'll probably find that there is an enormous amount of work that goes into each batch before they even turn on the lights.
As for doing it yourself....sure we all do that. Personally I've got a cupboard full of base spices that I can throw together a custom mix at any time for anything I want to do at the time to meet a particular profile I'm looking for at the time.
Repeatable? No.
Marketable? No.
Any good? Hit and miss. Sometimes I nail it. Sometimes I wish I'd just put on some Montreal Seasoning.
Bottom line. Support our guys here and get a selection of their stuff. Make some of your own from time to time... but don't criticize them for being 2nd rate at what they do. These guys have a passion for what they do and have gone though the really bloody hard work of bringing excellent products to market over a long period of time.
Cheers!
I wasn't criticizing them, just stating the facts. Simple economics.
Just like crops will vary from year to year (Ask any wine drinker), so will "small batches" of anything.
I make my own, and one thing I use is pre-made Montreal Steak Seasoning. For no other reason than I like the taste of it, and it adds a level of coarseness to my BBQ. But not always.
And since I can make my own, I really have little need to look over the display racks of myriads of ready made rubs in the BBQ sections of the stores I go to.
Proper weighing of any ingredient will aid consistency. Maybe you don't do that and is why you think you can't hit the mark each time you blend.
Frankly, many good cooks don't bother because they can eyeball their ingredients. I have a Son-In-Law who never measures anything, but is a great cook. I do often eyeball and taste test my way through.
But all the commercial producers I've ever seen weigh the ingredients into their batches.
Lastly, meat varies from animal to animal. So some $5 steaks can be tough as a boot sole, or tender as wagyu. And nobody can convince me that meat doesn't vary. Or anything else we might stuff in our faces.
Including spices and rubs, no matter what source.
Grass fed Beef? Sez who?
Organic grown? Prove it.
I can't grow my own Herbs and Spices, either. So I buy brands I've known for my lifetime. Brands I grew up on.
I going back and try some of the rub recipes posted here, in test batches. Because folks took the time to share them.