I am in the minority. Plenty of good rubs out there. Frankly, I don't think anyone can dramatically improve on them. I had a guy recently send me a commercial rub for evaluation and, frankly, I did not know HOW to evaluate it! My taste buds are not that finely tuned to be able to weed out flavors on a piece of meat that has been sitting in smoke for 10 hours! In my mind, rub making is purely a recreational thing cared about only by the rub maker. The rubs I do make myself, are just from already established recipes.

Dave I agree unless there is something that drasticly alters the taste especially salt I too can't tell much difference. Now sauces that a whole different deal.

I usually make mine also. I like the flavor I get from Steven Raichlen's Basic BBQ Rub for pork and have tried a few others for brisket that I also like.

Question for you though. How heavy do you all put your rub on. I usually lay mine on pretty thick and you can't usually see any mustard peeking through. I have seen pictures recently where the rub coat is much thinner and thinking maybe I put too much on.

Thoughts?

Bob

I think I lay it on pretty heavy. I figured my cost at 3 oz per butt/brisket.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Hutson:
I am in the minority. Plenty of good rubs out there. Frankly, I don't think anyone can dramatically improve on them. I had a guy recently send me a commercial rub for evaluation and, frankly, I did not know HOW to evaluate it! My taste buds are not that finely tuned to be able to weed out flavors on a piece of meat that has been sitting in smoke for 10 hours! In my mind, rub making is purely a recreational thing cared about only by the rub maker. The rubs I do make myself, are just from already established recipes.

Very true for say a low and slow smoked brisket. Now take that same rub and do a high heat brisket with it, opens up a whole new ball game. Most rubs IMO, get lost in the low and slow hrs of the cook. But use the same rub in a high heater, and man what a difference on the taste buds.

I've read alot of posts where people mention the Dizzy Pig rubs, I'm running low on rub so I decided to try it. I ordered 2 8oz bottles of the coarse grind dizzy dust (for pork) and 2 bottles of the salt lick (beef) just to try out. I see they offer bulk bags also. Looking forward to trying them out.

Brandon

quote:

Originally posted by Brandon A:
I've read alot of posts where people mention the Dizzy Pig rubs, I'm running low on rub so I decided to try it. I ordered 2 8oz bottles of the coarse grind dizzy dust (for pork) and 2 bottles of the salt lick (beef) just to try out. I see they offer bulk bags also. Looking forward to trying them out.
Brandon

I picked up some Tsunami Spin last weekend to do their wing recipe. It's a good rub. I also got the coffee based one (Red Eye, if I remember the name correctly), and the "Raising the Steaks" rub. Haven't tried those yet, but I'm looking forward to it. They were a bit pricey though. 8 bucks for 8 ounces at my Whole Foods. I'll have to see if it isn't cheaper to buy and have them shipped. Or, since they are so close to home, maybe they'd let me drop by and pick some up.

The way I did it was try a basic rub to see how you like it then start adding the things you like and remove the things you don't . Best to write it down and keep good records then the next smoke you'll be good to go.

I've made pork and beef rubs from recipes obtained here. I will likely try a few commercial ones recommended here, but my wife has to avoid sugar so I appreciate knowing what goes into my rub...

until now, I always did a wet soak but since I found the FOOD NETWORK and this site it is changing. My first shot was a bought dry rub for chicken. it was ok, but I plan on using recipes and then tweak {so that is a 50/50 vote}

I have been doing an indirect cook on my 22OTG and plan on doing my own rub for a beer can chicken this weekend

I don't like spending a lot of money on a small jar of rub. On the other hand, I don't like to spend a ton on a order from Penzies.

A inexpensive rub can be made from seasoned salt, add extra paprika, red or hot pepper for heat and cumin. Mixed with brown sugar (if appropriate).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: David Munson,

I mostly make my own for two reasons. One is that most commercial rubs are too salty for me and my wife. Plus I need to control the amount of sugar because of my wife.

The rubs I make are meat specific and are very minimalist. I think the most seasonings in any rub I make is seven.

Part of the fun is making your own. Lot cheaper too.

For ribs, I make the "Cambridge Rub" from Willingham's book but I skip the double-boiler process, use Domino "brownulated" sugar, and double the amount of sugar used. I've had great luck with bark in recent years and I think this rub is a big part of why.

For chickens, I like Penzey's "Galena Street" and "Ozark" blends, and tend to use one or the other, sometimes with a bit of kosher salt added.

I make my own. It's easy and I usually have all the ingredients home anyway. I also like the control -- I want to know how much salt is in it, and no msg. Mine is basically Mike Mill's Magic Dust. For brisket, I smear with yellow mustard, a bit of kosher salt and plenty of cracked black pepper, then a healthy dusting of the rub. Works for me.

I make all my own rubs I get the flavor profiles that I like and none of the stuff I can't pronounce that is in the commercial stuff.
Personally for all you mustard slathers out there I got but on thing to say"MUSTARD BELONGS ON HOTDOGS"!

Hate to admit it, but Costco's Sweet Mesquite Rub is hard to beat for pork. Use is sparingly as it's pretty strong.

Like the movie character "Radio" when asked whether he wanted the apple pie or the cherry pie: "Both"

I make some rubs - some by recipe and others by experimentation - and use some commercial rubs.

The Chris Lilly recipes are good and Larry Wolfe's rubs are awesome.

For commercial rubs, I like Bad Byrons - especially if I end up doing something on short notice and don't have anything else mixed up - and my new BBQ friend James Stephens from getyourrubon had some terrific rubs that he was kind enough to let me sample, but when I wrote to order some more, he had lost his source for getting his rubs blended and packaged. Maybe he'll get that situation fixed soon.

Pat