This article explains how easy it is to make your own custom spice rubs at home. It covers rubs for chicken, beef, pork and fish. Also includes a selection of rubs to help you get started along with advice on using them.
Tired of those high spice prices in supermarkets? Would you like to bring the cost down and at the same time get a gourmet chefs reputation? Well read on because I’m going to tell you how to make your own custom spice blends, easier and cheaper than you ever thought possible! I’m also going to include a few recipes to get you started.
Why You Should Make Your Own Spice Rubs
Nothing flavors and adds character to meats and seafood like a good spice blend. Even marinating does not flavor as much as a good rub. A good rub liberally applied not only adds flavor but also aids in the forming of a nice tasty crust. Checking the spice isle in your local supermarket for rubs however makes you think you might need a new tax bracket! Pre-mixed rubs can be very pricy to say the least. The prices make you think there must be some mystery to making them, and there’s not.
Making Your Own is Easy!
Making custom spice rubs is as easy as blending a few ingredients. All you need is a tablespoon and a jar to store the blend in. The real trick if there is any, is in finding a blend you really like. All that takes is some simple experimentation. In fact, in my opinion that’s the fun part! Let’s go over some of the basics.
First make sure you have fresh spices. Old spices lose a lot of flavor.
If using herbs, only use dried herbs.
For maximum flavor buy spices whole and grind them yourself.
To extract maximum flavor heat lightly before use. (Only blends without sugar)
Store blends in a tightly sealed jar in a cool dark space.
For best flavor use blends within 2 months. They will last longer but the flavor will deteriorate over time.
When you find a blend you like make extra for gifts.
Believe it or not those rules are as complicated as it’s going to get. Anyone can make a great spice rub. Develop a great recipe and you might even find yourself in business! Ok, let’s go over a few spice rubs for meat. Please note that in most spice blends for meat (Beef, Pork, Chicken and even lamb and fish) salt is the primary spice used. The best salt to use is not the Iodized kind. Coarse Sea or Kosher salt is a much better choice and flavors the food better. All of the rubs below are made with Kosher salt. I highly recommend you buy some. I can almost guarantee that after you get used to using it you will never go back to Iodized again. If you try and make the rubs with Iodized salt I would definitely use much less than what the recipe calls for. Iodized salt has a much sharper flavor.