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53 lbs of rub..... Took me two nights to grind certain spices, to measure everything out, and to mix it all (mixed in a big picnic cooler by hand). This was mixed in May so I didn't have to worry about mixing rubs every time a catering job came along...

This is one of my personal blends, I'm not 100% thrilled with it yet but it's darn close. It's meant for chicken and ribs and it works very well with both. It's got a sweet edge to it, but well balanced with salt, background heat, chilies, other spices, and the secret 'tang' ingredient. It's good stuff.

Ask me for a sample, but it's for slow, indirect heat. It's got too much sugar for direct grilling, the food will just burn.


My beef rub, not pictured, was mixed in a big batch too but I only filled about 3/4 of a pail. I'm talkin' about my brisket rub, which I worked on for 6 months, through about 8 iterations. I took it to Paul Kirk for evaluation... He liked it, agreed it was well balanced with good flavour that should persist through a long cook. It's not a complex rub, only about 8 ingredients, and he nailed 7 of them. The 8th he guessed was chile powder, which was not quite right. I used ancho chili powder, roasted the chilis and ground them myself. Well that's not too far off since most chile powder is something like 70% ancho. He did suggest a bitter note, once I told him the amounts of each ingredient he suggested backing off the chili a bit. So now my recipe uses 3/4 the amount of chili, and I'm happier with it too.

This brisket rub has been used in one competition, resulting in a third place finish.