Homemade rubs

Here's a good source:  http://amazingribs.com/recipes/rubs_pastes_marinades_and_brines/index.html

in addition to the site that @dogoffo recommended (good stuff, I've made many of those rubs with great results), here is a good site that discusses rubs and salt: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/rubs_pastes_marinades_and_brines/the_science_of_rubs.html

I'll share some info.

A few years ago, I collected around 180 rub recipes from around the net. There was wide variation. A few for beef were mostly salt. Some pork rubs were mostly sugar. There were a couple of oddballs, like one that had cocoa powder as the main ingredient.

So I picked over all the recipes that were listed as all purpose or for pork. Here is the average rub, portions in teaspoons

19 brown sugar
15 sweet paprika
9 Kosher salt
8 black pepper, freshly ground
5 garlic granules
4 chili powder blend (a ground chili w. garlic and oregano)
3 onion powder
1 cayenne pepper

It works, but to my taste is really, well, "average."  I like more salt, and I'm not big on salt. It seems that most of the paprika flavor cooks away, and almost as much of the black pepper.

Among all the other stuff that are in the recipes are:

adobo, allspice, basil, bay leaf, cajun seasoning, celery salt, celery seed, chili flakes, chipotle, cinammon, cloves, cocoa powder, coffee, coriander, cumin, curry powder, file powder, ginger, jalapeno seasoning, lemon peel, lemon pepper, lemon powder, marjoram, molasses powder, msg, mustard powder, mustard seed, nutmeg, old bay mix, onion salt, oregano, poultry seasoning, red pepper, rosemary, sage, savory, sazon,  tarragon, thyme, white pepper.

Cumin, mustard, rosemary, thyme and sage are very common additions to the base.

For me, very small amounts of allspice, clove, & nutmeg, have a strong effect on the final taste.

What I've been doing for some time is to make a rub w. less paprika and black pepper to start, and do a late dusting of the meat w. more so the flavor is still evident.

Coffee Rub (turkey, chicken, beef & pork)

Equal part: Instant Expresso Ground coffee..

Equal part: Brown Sugar..

½ part: Black Pepper..

½ part: Kosher Salt..

½ part: Garlic Powder..

¾ part: Ancho Chili Powder..

  Don't worry on exact, just close on measurement. I used to use turbinado sugar but we like with brown better. This is pulled from MollyShark, Hungry Man, & Richard In Fl then tweaked. I find the ancho chili powder is far less expensive in the bulk spice area than the bottled area ( have used both light or dark version). I make it starting with a half cup Instant Expresso Ground coffee and work from there as it seems to store well if sealed.

This is my steak rub which I really enjoy.  It's a little heavy on the salt, an item I will adjust, maybe move it into the teaspoon section:

leemschu said:

Thanks for all the help everyone! The only commercial run I don't think I'll let go of is Cow Lick. Definitely trying @Mickey s coffee rub.

What part of the country are you in?

If you google Elder Ward's pulled pork recipe, he has a great rub recipe there. Kind of a sweet and hot. I've used it for years on many different things. Love it on baby backs. Not to mention the pulled pork recipe is excellent itself.

Another one I should have mentioned is a Creole style vegetable seasoning. Apparently good on beef too, but I haven't tried it. Starts with a ridiculous 6 Tbls of salt. I cut that WAY back the first time, then made a second batch with no salt at all, which is just fine to me. Makes nearly 2 cups so you might want to cut it a bit to see if you like it. Pretty spicy.

Creole Vegetable Seasoning
Recipe by Danny Trace, executive chef of Brennan’s of Houston

6 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp, plus 1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp, plus 2 ¼ tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp onion powder
½ cup paprika
¼ cup dried thyme
3 ½ Tbsp dried oregano

Hmm, wonder if this would work on chicken...

I recently got a new Alton Brown cookbook and made his rub (for St. Louis ribs but I used it on a butt).  I made a triple batch of the below, and I used a bit less salt and added about a quarter-up of brown sugar, but the rest is below and it smelled and tasted phenomenal:

2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons kosher salt

Egg-zactly! Buy the spices and make yer own. I ain't payin' $10 for a little jar of salt and paprika, no.