Shelf Life of Rubs?

[Clm65]

How long do you keep your RecTec rubs? And how do you store them? I can’t find any expiration dates or refrigeration requirements. I usually keep mine in a kitchen cabinet. But it seems that within a month or so after opening, they start to clump up. I know the right answer is to use them up faster, but if I can’t do that, how long should I keep them? And should I store them differently?

 

[Mastertech59]

I store my RecTec rubs in my pantry along with many other spices and rubs. I'm sure with age the rubs and my other spices may get less potent in flavor and they do sometimes clump up too. I just shake or use a butter knife to break it up. The lids could seal a little bit better on the RecTec containers and think maybe that's what is causing the clumping issue, maybe try storing in a Ziploc bag after opening. I've had the RecTec rubs over a year some not used yet and have many other runs that are many years old and still use them.

 

[Greg Jones]

Most rubs contain just a few ingredients that won’t spoil, although some spices do lose their original flavor over time. The clumping is due to the rub absorbing moisture, salt and sugar are especially bad about that, but doesn’t affect the quality of the rub. I store mine in a cool, dark place away from my stove and just shake them to break up the clumps if I see any.

 

[Buckeye1]

Put some dry rice into the containers, that may help. I used to do that in salt shakers when I lived in the coast in SC.

 

[Jeffhoppy]

My grandma’s trick to keeping brown sugar (common ingredient in most rubs) from hardening is soaking a piece of clay (like a gardening red clay pot type). Soak piece in water for 10-15mins then wrap in parchment. Small piece to fit in a shaker bottle likely doesn’t need this long of a soak. Put it in the container you are storing and no more hard brown sugar. Worked for me in rubs too but only need a smaller piece to fit in the shaker. Putting a link here for you I found that explains it further but my grandma never bought any of this stuff - just used the stuff left over from kids antics and missed ball catches in the yard (if ya know what I mean: “broken flower pots”). https://www.surlatable.com/brown-sugar-saver/PRO-592576.html
Hope this helps.

 

[Clm65]

Thanks for the great replies! I am in Florida, so I think you all are right with the humidity coupled with poor sealing lids. I think I will start with the ziplock bags, and maybe throw some rice in the bags too. I think the holes in the RecTec containers may be too big to keep the rice from coming out with the rub. That clay idea is interesting. May try that on one of the containers to see how it works, but I’m a little confused on how a moist piece of clay would keep the rub from absorbing moisture. Hmmm.

 

[Jeffhoppy]

That clay idea is interesting. May try that on one of the containers to see how it works, but I’m a little confused on how a moist piece of clay would keep the rub from absorbing moisture.

Good point on the humidity. I think depends on the proportions of Brown sugar to salt. Mostly brown sugar the issue is dehydration —> use the clay to add humidity & rehydrate the brown sugar. Mostly salt the issue is moisture absorption—> use the rice to dehydrate the salt.

 

[Geargambler]

Whenever we purchase spices, we sharpie the date on them before going into the spice rack. same goes for rubs and seasonings. its really difficult to see how old something is without a reference!

 

[Mastertech59]

Whenever we purchase spices, we sharpie the date on them before going into the spice rack. same goes for rubs and seasonings. its really difficult to see how old something is without a reference!

We do this with food that goes into the freezer and when opening items but not using the whole contents, I like your idea about doing it to seasons and rubs and may start after we use the 5 to 10 year supply we already have in the pantry.

 

[cookingjnj]

I have never thought about it with savory seasonings like BBQ rub, but I have always put baby marshmellows into open bags of brown sugar. I have never had the brown sugar harden when using the marshmellow method. Without, over time the sugar becomes like a rock. Maybe it would work for rubs as well, and they would not fall through the shaker openings.

 

[Dr.Floyd]

I watched this video and decided on putting the whole bottle in a ziplock bag and 1/2 slice of bread.

 

[Jim6820]

I don’t use the half slice of bread, but I do store my opened rubs in ZipLoc bags with the air squeezed out as much as possible. Works for me.