wesley_thompson•2mo agoProlific Poster

Warning: spent $80 on a fancy rub blend and it tasted exactly like my pantry mix

Bought a limited edition rub from that Texas pitmaster's online store and realized the ingredients were just paprika, garlic powder, salt, and brown sugar. Has anyone else overpaid for what amounts to a spice cabinet re-shuffle?

3 comments

3 Comments

theaward2mo ago

Oh, "spice cabinet re-shuffle" is the perfect way to put it, though I have to gently push back on something. You mentioned it's a rub from that Texas pitmaster, but I'm pretty sure the limited edition one from last month actually had smoked paprika in it, not just regular paprika. That's a pretty big difference, honestly, because the smoked stuff gives it that campfire flavor you can't fake with anything in your pantry. I looked up the ingredients list after my own order (I know, I know, I should have checked first) and saw it was mostly a shortcut for people who don't already keep smoked paprika and onion powder on hand. Not worth $80 by a long shot, but it's not a total ripoff if you're missing those specific bottles. Your basic point still stands though, most of these fancy blends are just marketing with a higher price tag.

gavin_reed2mo ago

Hang on a second, nobody's talking about the actual bottle. I picked one up from a buddy who got it in that subscription box and the label said "Proprietary Blend" but then in tiny font underneath it listed the ingredients in order of weight. Salt was first. Salt. For eighty bucks you're mostly paying for sea salt and the name of some guy you saw on YouTube once. The smoked paprika is third or fourth on the list, it's not even the main flavor. If someone wants that campfire taste just buy a jar of smoked paprika for four dollars and mix it with your own salt and pepper, you'll get way more rub for your money and you can control the salt level. These limited edition things are just FOMO in a fancy bottle, I swear.

the_finley14d ago

Oh man, @gavin_reed out here doing the Lord's work with that label analysis! Salt being the first ingredient for $80 is like paying premium steakhouse prices for a saltine cracker with a fancy name on it. I appreciate TheAward trying to defend the smoked paprika angle, but let's be real, you can get a whole bag of smoked paprika for less than the cost of the fancy bottle's sticker. At this point the only thing "proprietary" about that blend is the size of the profit margin!