Commercial rubs... mix 'em all together?

[Mosca]

As part of the pre-holiday cleanup, I was going through the spice cabinet. And I had perhaps half a dozen partial bottles of commercial rubs. I've never had one I didn't like; every choice I ever made with a rub, the ribs/butt/brisket/chicken came out delicious.

Looking at the ingredients list, they are somewhat the same, so what the heck, I took the largest bottle (John Henry's BBQ Rub) and mixed them all together. Not much else to say, it looks, smells, and tastes (touch finger to tongue) like BBQ rub.

I can't be the only person who's ever done this. Anyone else?

[Jerod Broussard]

I got BBBR, MMMD, Chinese 5 Spice, Huskee's at times, Pit Barrel All Purpose....never mixed anything.

[_John_]

I have, lot's of people have given me rubs and most I didn't like, much better mixing together.

[Marauderer]

Some times you end up with an excellent rub abd other times it will be mediocre. I do it. For those that have an extremely sensitive and discriminating palate it might not be the thing for them to do.

[BigBear]

I've never done that but I do supplement rubs from time to time. My favorite is adding Lawry's Seasoned Salt & Pepper to Meathead's Memphis Dust to amp up the salt flavor profile.

[LA Pork Butt]

It doesn't surprise me that most rub mixes are similar unless the are ethnic like Asia or Jamacian, but even those within ethnic groups share similarities. When it comes to typical BBQ rubs, I can tell they are all slightly different. Mixing good and good can't be all bad.

[Mosca]

That's exactly what I think. Commercial spice mixes tend to be good and appeal to a wide range of palates. The only exception I made was the Dean & Deluca rub doesn't have salt, and it is very distinctive in taste and aroma. And Tasty Licks' old recipe has salt and the new one does not. So I mixed all the rubs that have salt in them together, and I kept the salt-free rubs apart. And when I use them up, I'll apply the salted rubs the night before.

[Huskee]

Is that kind of like mixing all the fountain drinks into one cup? Who of us hasn't been there as kids (or adults...) I bet it'll be delicious!

[Huskee]

David Parrish if you say soda in Michigan they look at you like you're a tourist. Lol. Nah maybe not, we're nice and tolerant folks.

[HC in SC]

Huskee - if you say "Gimme a pop" in the Carolinas or Georgia you might get a punch or a slap.

"Pop" down here = "You say that again, Imma pop you in the face".

[David Parrish]

Yeah, what HC said

[DJ DeSpain]

I sometimes mix in some brown sugar with Head Country's rub if I want a bit more sweetness as their rub is a bit on the salty side.

[HC in SC]

I like mixing my own like _John_: MH MD, Huskee's and a home made Greek spice are always on hand.

I do like trying out COTS blends though - here are my favs:

Tony Chachere's (of course - lol)
McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
Konriko Mojo Seasoning
Cavenders Greek Seasoning
Goya Adobo Seasoning

Here are two that I just ordered that look very promising:

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Robin-Seas...obin+seasoning

and

http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Asia-Gi...ds=asian+spice

Please don't laugh - I have never been to a Red Robin so I have no idea what their spice blend is like.

We don't have them in here in the Lowcountry, but they just opened up in Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach - might have to take a road trip after the holidays.

In response to Mosca , I have never mixed OTS spices unless they are VERY similar -- like Tony Chacherie's and Slap Yo Mama. Slap Yo Mama is essentially the same (but not as good as IMHO) as Tony Chacherie's, just hotter.

[Yelnoc]

I guess I'm lazy but in over 20 years of smoking meat I have rarely made a scratch rub, not so much lazy as I have some favorite commercial rubs that are all I feel that I need - mainly Cowtown Sweet Spot and Uncle Jacks. But, this weekend I was doing a quick and dirty shoulder (cold and rainy so you guess how) and I grabbed a readily available commercial rub I had but hadn't used -Rub Some Butt Carolina style - supposedly "bustin" with mustard, vinegar and spices. It was a nice surprise that while the second and third listed ingredients are brown sugar and sugar, it is definitely not a sweet rub and seems overwhelmingly savory. Everyone that tried it loved it and I will buy more but will also mix it with Sweet Spot.