# Rubs - home vs store bought



## munir fernandez (May 10, 2017)

hi guys,

i know this is a topic most of you have already debated but still i wanted to ask the question. i have read almost everuthing i cant about this topic. salt content, freshness, cost, etc. but i keep asking this question. i have been doing bbq for family purpose, no competition. been at that for almost 3 to 4 years. recently bought the wsm 22.5 and going to smoke on a more regular basis. i live in the dominican republic.

i have seen a lot of people saying why to re invent the wheel, so are is it worth it spending the time making your own rubs? is it just better to buy them? if cost wasnt a factor, which will you prefer?

as always thanks for any response.

regards,

munir fernandez


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## pc farmer (May 10, 2017)

I use mostly store bought rubs.    Only a select few that I make.

The store bought ones I use have little salt.

If salt is the first ingreadient is salt, stay away from it.


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## chef jimmyj (May 10, 2017)

,Most commercial rubs are loaded with salt. Spices cost $ salt is cheap. Ground spice lose much of their flavor in 3-6 months. How long has that jar been on the shelf? Try some commercial rubs buying small containers. If you find one that is good and not too expensive, you are a winner. As Adam said, if salt is the first ingredients, keep looking. I make most of my own...JJ


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## munir fernandez (May 10, 2017)

which one do you buy? can you give me an example of a few brands?


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## munir fernandez (May 10, 2017)

thanks, i also have made mine. i have them on my shelf for abour 3 to 4 months because i bought the big ones.


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## lancep (May 10, 2017)

Personally, I rub most things down with salt and pepper. For anything else, I make my own. I like sauce so I don't see the point of putting some complex rub on there and then covering it all up with sauce. Something is going to get lost and a lot of times it's the meat.


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## shyzabrau (May 10, 2017)

Munir, I don't understand why people that spend so many hours to smoke meat would try to save the five minutes that it would take to make their own rubs. Even from the start, I'm made my own rubs. I don't measure anything - I put together the flavors that I want (and know will work based on my own experience or reading about other's experience) and (most importantly) TASTE the rub as I blend it.

All that said, the smoke can easily overwhelm everything except salt, black pepper and hot pepper. You can spend a lot of time crafting a subtle and amazing rub and have the flavors disappear once it is smoked.

Where in the DR are you? The DR is one of my favorite places (that isn't Virginia)!


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## tallbm (May 10, 2017)

Munir Fernandez said:


> hi guys,
> 
> i know this is a topic most of you have already debated but still i wanted to ask the question. i have read almost everuthing i cant about this topic. salt content, freshness, cost, etc. but i keep asking this question. i have been doing bbq for family purpose, no competition. been at that for almost 3 to 4 years. recently bought the wsm 22.5 and going to smoke on a more regular basis. i live in the dominican republic.
> 
> ...


For "rubs" I make my own.  This is because I do quite a bit of cooking (grill, stove, oven, and smoker) so I always have the spices on hand.

My "rubs" usually consist of Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and Onion.  This works wonders for any kind of meat, steak, soup, etc.  From there I add other seasonings depending on the dish (cumin, chili powder, paprika for Mexican; basil, oregano, thyme for Italian; paprika, cayenne, and bay leaf for Cajun, etc. etc.) 

Most seasonings/rubs will have Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and Onion as the top four ingredients so what is paid for is the little bit of difference for that particular seasoning, which I usually have those spices as well.  Those main four seasonings are crucial and so amazing I don't really consider my seasoning to be much of rub and more of a general common seasoning practice.  

Anyhow, I'm not against buying a rub or a seasoning mix, I just don't find too many to be much greater than what I can sprinkle on with all of the seasonings in my spice cabinet.  I do like Montreal Steak Seasoning for steaks but I get really close to it with Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Onion, and some Cayenne pepper.

Now for sausage and jerky seasonings I have no problem buying mixes.  I also did the same with bacon seasoning.  I have really enjoyed LEM's Backwoods Seasoning for those cooking adventures.  I hope this helps :)


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## SmokinAl (May 11, 2017)

I make my own. It took a while to get it right, but there is no salt in it.

Al


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## lemans (May 11, 2017)

I use jeff's rub on pork , SPG on beef and fish is usually dill and pepper..  I do make my own BBQ sauces .. I don't like store bought.. when my family says I love your Q. I want to know it is mine and from the store!!


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## worktogthr (May 11, 2017)

I make my own and use some store bought.  It all depends on my mood.  For beef, I have tried a million rubs, even some that the whole BBQ world swears by and I always go back to rubbing with a little worcestershire and coating with SPOG.  With ribs and butts, I like Jeff's and Memphis dust but I also like to try whatever store bought I can get my hands on at a decent price.  Some of my favorite store boughts that I've had are:

Code 3 (They have many different rubs, and they are all good...Something else I love is that they donate proceeds of every sale to military and first responder charities...Also their patriot sauce is hands down my favorite commercial sauce

Good Shit Rub  - Has simple ingredients but for some reason they are mixed perfectly

Caribeque - Jerk rub... great flavor on chicken and pork..  I use it a lot for wings

Carolina Dirt is also great on ribs.

Now most of these I have received as gifts so I use them mostly for myself to experiment but when  I really like the flavor I'll use them for friends and extended family and parties and what not.

Hope this helps!

-Chris


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## munir fernandez (May 11, 2017)

Shyzabrau said:


> Munir, I don't understand why people that spend so many hours to smoke meat would try to save the five minutes that it would take to make their own rubs. Even from the start, I'm made my own rubs. I don't measure anything - I put together the flavors that I want (and know will work based on my own experience or reading about other's experience) and (most importantly) TASTE the rub as I blend it.
> 
> All that said, the smoke can easily overwhelm everything except salt, black pepper and hot pepper. You can spend a lot of time crafting a subtle and amazing rub and have the flavors disappear once it is smoked.
> 
> Where in the DR are you? The DR is one of my favorite places (that isn't Virginia)!


hi shyzabrau,

im from the capital Santo Domingo, thanks for the answer. all the rubs that i have till now area basically the same, salt and pepper + what i want. 

again, thanks for the answer.


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## munir fernandez (May 11, 2017)

TallBM said:


> For "rubs" I make my own.  This is because I do quite a bit of cooking (grill, stove, oven, and smoker) so I always have the spices on hand.
> 
> My "rubs" usually consist of Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and Onion.  This works wonders for any kind of meat, steak, soup, etc.  From there I add other seasonings depending on the dish (cumin, chili powder, paprika for Mexican; basil, oregano, thyme for Italian; paprika, cayenne, and bay leaf for Cajun, etc. etc.)
> 
> ...


thanks for the opinion will sure take it into account.


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## munir fernandez (May 11, 2017)

worktogthr said:


> I make my own and use some store bought.  It all depends on my mood.  For beef, I have tried a million rubs, even some that the whole BBQ world swears by and I always go back to rubbing with a little worcestershire and coating with SPOG.  With ribs and butts, I like Jeff's and Memphis dust but I also like to try whatever store bought I can get my hands on at a decent price.  Some of my favorite store boughts that I've had are:
> 
> Code 3 (They have many different rubs, and they are all good...Something else I love is that they donate proceeds of every sale to military and first responder charities...Also their patriot sauce is hands down my favorite commercial sauce
> 
> ...


thanks


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## shyzabrau (May 11, 2017)

Munir Fernandez said:


> im from the capital Santo Domingo


I've been there many times as I have done a lot of business with the port in Caucedo (by Boca Chica).

I'd love to hear about your own recipes and procedures and how they are different from the typical US smoking/cooking.


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## munir fernandez (May 11, 2017)

Shyzabrau said:


> I've been there many times as I have done a lot of business with the port in Caucedo (by Boca Chica).
> 
> I'd love to hear about your own recipes and procedures and how they are different from the typical US smoking/cooking.


i know where Caucedo is perfectly. 

the recipes that i have made using the gastronomy of the country arent a lot but here i go:

planked salmon with coconut sauce.

stuffed pork loin with tomato mermalade, bacon and platains (the ones that are sweet).

among others....


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## phatbac (May 11, 2017)

I used to make my own rubs and now i just buy rubs from Butcher's BBQ. ( Winner on BBQ pit masters) If you go on their website you can order a sampler pack for  all their rubs like 1 oz each and try out each flavor they had and order the bigger shakers to the ones you like. I really like their cherry rub and and pecan rub.

try them out you wont be disappointed!

Happy Smoking

phatbac (Aaron)


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## biaviian (May 11, 2017)

I make my own and experiment a lot.  I found cheap freeze-dried blueberries once and I used that as my base for a shoulder.  I like a sweet rub on my butts so I load it up with dark brown sugar and sometimes maple sugar.


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## HalfSmoked (May 12, 2017)

Lot of replies here and as with so many things on this forum it all comes down to personal taste and preference. So I would say again there is no right or wrong way so do what you like and enjoy. I will say that I mostly use kosher salt because it is much lower in sodium then regular table salt.

Warren


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## shyzabrau (May 12, 2017)

HalfSmoked said:


> I will say that I mostly use kosher salt because it is much lower in sodium then regular table salt.


By weight it has _*exactly the same amount of sodium*_. Some salts are less dense than others and will have lower sodium per volume.

This is why you should always use weight for salt. Even different brands of kosher salt can be dramatically different densities.


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## indaswamp (May 12, 2017)

SmokinAl said:


> I make my own. It took a while to get it right, but there is no salt in it.
> 
> Al


I'm with Al here. I make my own rubs without salt. I like to salt the meat at the rate of about 1/2 tsp. per pound 12 to 24 hours before I plan on cooking it. This allows the salt to tavel into the meat where it can help flavor it and more importantly retain moisture. I'll add the rub about an hour prior to cooking.


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## big woot (May 15, 2017)

I mix my own rubs because we use a lot of spices on all of our foods and have them on hand. I have tried commercial rubs but like the taste of my own and the savings to me. For pork now I use Chris Lilly's competition pork rub recipe. For beef I basically use nothing but koshier salt, black pepper and granulated garlic and onion.There is only 1 rub I will buy and that is Williams Rib Tickler Rub. It's what Johnny Trigg uses and is good.


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## 3montes (May 16, 2017)

I have made my own from Jeff's recipes that I tweaked to my own taste. I cook for so many events now for large groups that making my own became more a matter of time than money. Making up large batches of rub just became one more thing to do among many when preparing for a large cook. This led me to search for a commercial rub that would fill my needs. Freshness is always the key to spices and spice blends. I was buying a lot of stuff from the Spice House which was always very fresh and they have some very good blends.

Then one day I ran across Oak Ridge BBQ web site. They make only small batches and don't inventory anything that sits on a shelf waiting to be purchased and going stale in the meantime. They fill orders on Mondays and ship out within a day or so. So you need to plan your ordering a bit.

Their rubs have some excellent flavor profiles, the best I have found yet, The price is competitive with what I would spend on individual spices and mixing my own. It's saved me so much time and I know I'm using a fresh rub that adds fantastic flavor.


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