Rolling your own... do you stick to a recipe?

[realdocBBQ]

Mostly when it comes to spices, I flip flop back and forth between using some commercial rubs and my own. My own pork rub I use a lot is loosely based on Meathead's Memphis Dust, but I've altered it enough over the years, I suppose it could be its own rub. I call it "MMD+" because I usually add a few things in, to give a little more... well, if not heat, maybe a little more pep?

Sometimes I'll add chipotle powder - I didn't have any today, but now that I think about it I have ancho and guajillo powder which could have been reasonable subs. I add in mustard powder, in roughly the same amt as the rosemary powder. I also often add some cumin, in a slightly lower amount, maybe 2/3 to 1/2 of the rosemary. No cumin today either, I couldn't find it. I REALLY need to organize my spices better.

I also use turbinado sugar. I like the coarse texture. I skip th white and brown and just use 100% turbinado - you can buy this in big bags as Sugar In The Raw. I just like that it doesn't clump up or harden like brown sugar - every damned time I pull my brown sugar out of the cabinet, it's been so long that it's turned into granite. Most times I end up skipping it. So in my MMD+ recipe I just combine the brown and white sugar volumes and use straight turbinado. I think it helps it sprinkle well, with the coarser texture.

Lastly, the biggest "+" part of the MMD+ is adding Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning. About 1/2-3/4 cup per batch, and my batches are usually a double batch of Meathead's recipe. So, that would be 1/4-1/2 cup per regular batch.

I dunno, this is what I've come up with over the years, and my family loves it. It's not 100% salt-free due to the Tony's, but it's extremely low salt, so I always salt my meat first, then apply my MMD+.

But I do use commercial rubs and like to experiment with them. I've recently bought a big batch of the Meat Church stuff, about 5 lbs (I think?) of Deez Nuts and a couple-three jars of the newer Hickory one. I also picked up a box of Chud's rubs - I really like the Snakebite, but I haven't gotten to try the Steak Rub I snagged yet. I forgot about it - I should have used it the other night when I cooked steaks for The Boy and myself - first time I've grilled steaks in several years. Also got a bottle of his regular Chud Rub, and I sprinkled it on some shredded smoked chikkin the other night, but as it went into tacos, it was hard to tell how it went, by itself. They were smoked chikkin, homemade bacon ranch tacos with Tapatio and my own "El Rancho del Diablo" dressing, topped with cilantro (hell, they were good!). So, yeah, the rub was prolly drowned out a bit. lol

So right now, I am down to some Heath Riles Jalapeno Garlic (I think it is?), the Meat Church seasonings and the Chud rubs. And just made up a big double batch of my MMD+.

But I am always tweaking my recipe based on what I have on hand at the moment, though the core ingredients usually remain the same. I do wish I had added some cumin this time, though, that is a tweak I really like in this pork rub.


So what about you? Have you developed your own and stick to it religiously and don't alter? Personally, knowing most people here, I'd be surprised if many are solidly in this camp of zero adjustments, stick to the recipe types. Maybe some, but it seems like most of us here like to tweak and adjust on the fly. I know this ability has certainly improve my ability to roll with the situation and adapt with every cook. My tri-tip rub, I pretty well stick to it for the most part, though, it's freaking amazing. I do that rarely enough, though, that I don't need to make it up more than once a year or so.

Anyways - time to get back out and check the smoker, so I can start today's mondo cook - 8 or 10 chikkins, 4 big pork butts, a full 1 or 2 pork bellies, mmmm... 8 or 9 racks of ribs, and then throw a brisket on late and cook it through the night.

Gonna be a long, hot but fun-filled day!

Oh, and yardwork and weedeating in the middle of all that, plus running over to my friend's house to help him string a temporary fence to keep his dog in the yard, since a falling tree knocked down his brick privacy fence. That'll be a challenge while running back and forth to keep the offset chugging along! lol

Cheers, and Happy Saturday! Only supposed to be... 94ºF here today??? Something like that.

[DaveD]

I use only a couple commercial rubs and mostly mix up all my own because I want control over the salt separately from everything else. So the only rubs I buy are low- or no-salt. My fave commercial rub is Cowboy Crust, which is very low-salt, I can always dry brine the beef and it never comes out too salty.

I also use my good friend Jenni's bespoke "Jenni In A Bottle" rub, which is also very low-salt (but the actual recipe is a secret, and I wouldn't even ask for it). It's ideal for pork, and has less sugar than MMD, which I prefer. That one counts as homebrew I reckon.

I experimented for a while, mixing up different blends, and between JIAB and CC, I've got beef and pork covered for most applications. I've got a poultry rub I call Fowl Play that works well.

So now I pretty much stick to my short list of regular rubs unless I'm trying some new recipe or cut of meat or what have you. Same thing happened when I was homebrewing - for some years I was the uber pointy-headed experimentalist, systematically exploring the effect of changing one variable at a time, and all that. But once I hit on a reproducible process with reliable outcomes, I stuck with that. Pretty much the same deal here.

[barelfly]

Jenni in a Bottle!!!!!!!!

[Jerod Broussard]

I've gone commercial on pork and use it to brine for the butts and just apply right before the smoker for the ribs. Been cooking too much to mix up that much rub. I have good "large" measurements for my brisket rub.

This stuff is good.

[barelfly]

Let’s see some pics of that cooker!!!!!!

and, I just go with the few commercial brands that I have found and like (Heath Riles Garlic/Jalapeno and Meat Church rubs).

I guess the two that i will mix are SPOGOS and Santa Maria style, I always have those on hand after buying from Oakridge when they were around. But pretty easy to mix up in the batch size I need.

[DTro]

I’m cooking for two others and a the occasional party. It would be so convenient to use a commercial rub but I enjoy the chemistry part of mixing a bunch of herbs and spices together. I have some rubs that were given to me as gifts I don’t use them much. For pork, I have my go to, that like your homemade is tweaked with what is on hand. I always have a bottle of Tony’s on hand. However, never thought to throw some in my pork rub. I see it in my future

[realdocBBQ]

Let’s see some pics of that cooker!!!!!!

and, I just go with the few commercial brands that I have found and like (Heath Riles Garlic/Jalapeno and Meat Church rubs).

I guess the two that i will mix are SPOGOS and Santa Maria style, I always have those on hand after buying from Oakridge when they were around. But pretty easy to mix up in the batch size I need.

Well, I got my first batch on - 36lbs of pork butt.

[barelfly]

Fun cook!!!!!!!!!

[RonB]

I use some commercial rubs, and I mix up a batch of MMD from time to time. However, I usually just dust with some spices using what I think will work.

[captainlee]

There are lots of great commercial rubs out there so now I just stick with them. I used to make a few but ended up buying spices that were a one time use and that was such waste of money.

[klflowers]

This

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I do both.

[cruiseplanner1]

I am boring. I used the Memphis dust recipe on my pork and the Big Bad Beef on my beef when smoking and those are good enough for me. Add a bit of the Vinegar based sauce to my pork when pulling it and we think its fantastic. On chicken I just sprinkle some garlic powder and black pepper. Sometimes a light Lawrys seasoning salt as that will be sauced anyway

[Porkies]

I use my own, sometimes concocted in the moment, for almost all 'spicings' (if that's a word). From home-made spaghetti sauce to burgers to eggs, to chili and soups, and even sandwiches, I tend to add what I think would taste good. So far, SWMBO has enjoyed all of my efforts, as well as other family members and friends.

There have been a few times, mostly earlier in life, where I used commercial rubs/mixes for everything! These days the most commercial I go is Tabasco or maybe a black pepper/garlic mixture.

[J-Melt]

I’m a by the book kinda guy. I almost never change a recipe. I am finally making changes to my chocolate chip recipe that I’ve been using for a decade that I realized needed less salt. And my wife has helped me be somewhat less exact on my recipes, but I stay with MMD and big bad beef rubs exactly as written.

[TripleB]

Rubs, I mix my own. Rarely use a commercial rub. Now BBQ sauces are usually commercial. Occasionally make my own sauce.

[Whiskeyman53]

MMD has been my go to for ribs and pork butt. I have altered it slightly taking out half of the rosemary. BBBR has been my go to for beef ribs. I do not make any adjustments to the recipe.
A few weeks ago I picked up this rub at Tractor Supply. It has a nice earthy, smoky flavor if you can imagine what that means.

[Mosca]

Good question.

There are only so many meals. An issue for me is the nature of the experiment: testing the results means cooking something, because how a rub tastes on the tip of your finger, and how it will taste on a rib or butt or brisket or roast or pork chop or chicken thigh, those are different.

Another issue is the nature of the herbs and spices available. There is a canon involved. Sugar, salt, pepper, ancho, paprika, onion powder, garlic… maybe cumin… you can start getting inventive from there, but that’s a start. Do you really want to think, “I wonder what this would taste like with asafoetida?” Remember, you’ll have $20-$100 invested, plus a day, plus your reputation on the line if you’re not just experimenting but also serving it!

For myself, rub recipes are covered ground. I might come up with something good, but it’s going to be “different the same”. There’s a canon because thousands and thousands of people have been working on it for hundreds and hundreds of years. When I buy rubs, I always feel suckered in, because they all taste “different the same”. There are differences, but they’re all in the same family. But when I mix my own rubs from a recipe, I also feel like I’m wasting time and money; I can’t make a rub for as cheap as I can buy one, because I have to buy a whole bottle of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, a bag of brown sugar, etc! But… but… I have WAAAAY more invested in store bought than I do in recipes and roll my own!



So I got this. You can see in the back, from recipes: MMD, and next to it, in the gold topped jar, is Myron Mixon’s BBQ Rub. I mean, what the hell, right? And I just tossed a couple bottles! I had a bottle of John Henry something or other that I bought when I bought the BGE. In 2009. And a bottle of raspberry chipotle rub. I DO NOT LIKE raspberry chipotle. I thought I would.

So what I do is, I mix this stuff together. They’re ALL good. They’re ALL tasty. I do have them split into those that have added smoke flavor, and those that don’t. I won’t mix the two. But I have nothing against the smoke ones, they have their place. Smoke plus smoke equals smoke.

To me, this is now how I roll my own. The first few times I kinda felt like I’d given up, like I was cheating. But I decided it’s like wineries that buy their juice and blend their wines. Maybe the fact that I mix stuff randomly and don’t keep track of it means that I’m not making it my own. But food is the only art form that is created to be destroyed, right? And this way, every single rack, rib, roast, brisket, shoulder and butt is its own unique work of art.