“Love is in the air. No wait, that’s BBQ. Never mind.” – Anonymous

We are still in barbecue season, even though Labor Day has come and gone. This is partly due to global warming, and partly due to COVID because we want to cook and eat outdoors. Here are some delicious spices and rubs for grilling meats, fish, vegetables, and anything else you can think of. Spices and rubs are used prior to the actual grilling, as a prep step to add flavor to what you are grilling. To save time, I prefer pre-mixed rubs rather than making my own, but there are plenty of grillers who prefer to mix their own with sourced spices. There are abundant sources that fill the needs of both types of BBQ preppers.

The Fire & Smoke Society was formed by three friends who were wild about grilling and wanted to make their food taste great. They offer 19 different spice blends and rubs for every type of food you can think of to grill. Walmart carries the entire line from $4.97 to $6.98 for each 7.5 oz. jar. The Potato Slayer pictured above is a vegetable spice blend, and Chica Licka Bam Bam is a ‘bird rub’.

Traeger Rub has garlic, herbs, and chili pepper. It is versatile as it works well on beef, pork and chicken. $9.95 for 9 oz.

Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub is more on the saltier side than the sweet side. It is great on chicken and ribs and even on burgers. $11.00 for 14 oz.

Snake River Farms Pork Rub can make all the difference when grilling pork ribs or tenderloin. It is a blend of brown sugar, pecan, cherry, and savory spices. On sale for $5.00 for 6.1 oz.

The Spice House sells the classic Kansas City Barbecue Rub. A ½ a cup ‘flatpack’ is $7.29. Or order the Barbecue Collection so you can try all their BBQ rubs. The 4 Jar Box is $35.00 and the 8 Jar Collection is $65.00.

Burlap & Barrel sells sustainably sourced spices from around the world. Use these single ingredients to mix your own rubs. The Fundamentals Collection provides six, nine or twelve classic spices for grilling purposes. The set of six spices for $48.00.

This Savory Salt from Momofuko’s pantry is a mixture of kosher salt with garlic, tamari, kelp and mushroom powder. It is recommended for grilled steaks and vegetables. $20.00 for a 6 oz. pouch.

The BBQGuys Signature x Spiceology Beef Rub is $16.99 for 16 oz. The ingredients include Worcestershire Sauce, rosemary, onion, and garlic. It is an all-purpose spice and herb blend for all beef cuts. There are many other rubs to choose from, as well as variety packs.

Spicewalla has 59 spice blends and rubs for cooking. The Honey & Herb rub was created specifically for salmon but is great on any fish, chicken, pork, or rice. A Big Tin, (4 oz.) is $10.88. Once you have bought a tin, Spicewalla offers to refill your tins at a discount.