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

[Santamarina]

I’m a roll your own kinda guy. A commercial rub has made an appearance here and there over the years, but for close to a decade the only commercial seasoning that’s always in my spice rack is Tajin (and that’s Tah-Heen, not Tay-Gin 🤣)

I’ve got a handful of rubs I keep on hand. Modified MMD gets fairly frequent use. Even if you’re not making barbecue…sprinkle some on bacon and toss it in the oven 🤌…even on a hotdog!

Used to be a big BBBR fan, but over the last handful of years I’ve found myself sticking to salt and pepper on beef, unless it’s a specific seasoning for an ethnic dish - carne asada, Mongolian beef, etc.

S&G shows up every Thanksgiving. I’ve got a barbecue poultry rub I came up with that I use the rest of the year on chicken - works great whether smoking, grilling, frying, baking…

I’ve got a Mexican rub I developed probably 30 years ago. It was my first home made rub - decades before I made any other rub. It was originally designed as a clone of the taco seasoning pack in every grocery store, but I tweaked it for a more authentic Mexican flavor. Great on gringo tacos (ground beef) and nachos. It also makes an appearance when I spoke a pork butt that’s destined to become carnitas.

I have recipes for all my rubs. Sometimes I make them exact, sometimes I tweak them, sometimes I just wing it using concepts from other rubs. I try to keep notes when I make changes so if I find something I really like it’s repeatable.

[klflowers]

I have a cabinet full of commercial rubs, but my go to rubs are Meat Church Holy Gospel and Kosmos Q Dirty Bird. I always have some MMD on hand. My problem with making my own is that I buy all the spices to make the rub, then I have a cabinet full of stuff I don't use. Lately I have been on a salt and pepper kick. I did some thighs the other day with just salt and pepper and they were outstanding, and the last ribs I did were just salt and pepper.

[jfmorris]

I kinda alternate between some commercial rubs, and batches I mix up of the three specific rubs on the free side - MMD, Big Bad Beef Rub, and the Rendezvous seasoning mix. We really prefer that Rendezvous mix to MMD on ribs. Every once in a while the mason jars of those 3 spice mixes will get low, and I will just mix them together to get enough rub for whatever I am cooking!

We currently have two shelves in the pantry where I store the big 18-32 oz bottles of spices like you buy in bulk at Sam's, and an entire drawer where I lay all the small spice bottles on their sides. At one point a few years back, when folks were posting pictures of their spice cabinets, I did a count, and stopped at around 110-120 bottles, bags or flatpaks (The Spice House) of spices and/or rubs. At that time, I decided to STOP buying every single spice for every single recipe I cook and simplify. I'll google subs, or just omit some spices from a recipe from time to time, to avoid accumulating more bottles of stuff I use for one random recipe and then leave in the drawer or pantry for years...

BBQ spices are a little simpler. I do love cumin as well in my rubs. But I could probably keep a dozen spices on hand and be good for most BBQ.

[FireMan]

Man, I just wrote in the Jokes (not jokin) of the reminders that I got on my recent trek through Chicago, LOAD ONE & the if'n yer high don't drive, and talkin about most life eons ago, then you take me right back with yer rollin yer own! Cheeesh!!
Answer: is there another way!

[Reds Fan 5]

I mix my own for low and slow smoking. My pork rub is a combination of several recipes including Meathead’s Memphis rub and Susie Bulloch’s pork rub.

We use Dalmatian rub for briskets and either that or Meathead’s Big Bad Beef Rub for beef ribs.

Our go to rub for grilling, baking is St Elmo’s (from my hometown Indianapolis’s famous steakhouse). It is good for chicken, beef, and fish.

[WI Bubba]

I usually start with a commercial rub and then add to it based on how I feel that day. Maybe a little more heat, or some extra sweet. I do have a custom chicken rub that I spent a couple of years getting right where I wanted it, so that one doesn't really change at all.