Spices for rubs from Costco?

[Alphonse]

Looking for experience and opinions on buying spices at Costco for making your own rubs.

I want to begin the journey of mixing my own rubs and curious if any of you have had luck at acquiring decent components at Costco. Decent meaning reasonable cost and quality.

I need to visit my local store (30 min drive) and check out what they have. Unfortunately their website doesn't tell you what's in the local store.

[HawkerXP]

Yes we buy at Costco. They have larger containers of the most used spices. If you have one, I would look at what an "International Mart" has these kind of places sell in bulk at a much better price then say a McCormick brand.

[jfmorris]

I buy bulk spices at Sam’s and Costco, they move enough volume to where I’ve had no complaints about freshness or quality. Online I use The Spice House.

[parkerj2]

Just have to be wary of what you’ll leave leftover. I buy smaller quantities and grind my own or whatever I can. Makes a big difference in flavor IMO. I’m ok spending an extra few bucks. Also prevents having a bunch of space taken up for the large containers.

[Loren]

I use Costco spices. I'm please for the most part, other then we only carry sea salt at my warehouse in reasonable/smaller amounts.

You can also buy spices from Costco.com, which will usually have a wider selection. They also have a "gourmet" spice selection for BBQ...none of which really interested me.

[RonB]

You might consider smaller amounts until you find a few combos you really like. Then, if you use enough, go for the larger quantities.

[mountainsmoker]

Be careful of the quantity you buy as different spices and herbs have different shelf lives. Also be sure you know what you are getting. Peppercorns come in different varieties and have different flavors. Don't know what variety Costco sells. Unground spices will last longer than those that have been ground, usually by a year or two. Herbs are very different with some lasting only a year and some lasting 2-3. It also depends on the storage container, air, light and heat are harmful to spices and herbs.

Get a spice grinder so you can grind you own. Get a feel for what you can use in a year or two. Keep them in a dark cool area, except what you are using.

Good luck, mixing your own rubs is a lot of fun.

[Alphonse]

Yes, I have a grinder already and it works quite well. I have two sons and two buddies that are into this BBQ stuff who'd be highly appreciative of a jar of rub from time to time. So when I work one out, I can imagine that I'll grind and blend up a 5'er batch.

[jfmorris]

Having a pantry full of lots of spices, my recommendation on the bulk stuff is to stick to the basics. Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and maybe oregano are the ones I use the most of from big bulk containers. I bbq enough to where those never reach the end of their shelf life. Get smaller containers of the stuff you won’t use as much of when mixing up rubs.