I know exactly what you mean, about using whatever is on hand. The ribs I did yesterday were rubbed with a simple mixture of Asian 5 spice powder, light brown granulated sugar, and cayenne pepper. Very sweet & tangy on the first bite. About 30 seconds later, the pepper REALLY let you know it was there. Nothing that set your mouth on fire, but the delayed reaction "heat" that spread through the mouth added something intangible to the ribs. I need to learn to keep records, and "measure" what I use. As it is now, I open the cabinet, or the fridge, see what's in there, grab stuff that looks good, and mix it all together. You know, it's the "A little of this, a little of that, and a whole bunch of the other stuff" method. I then marinated the ribs in "Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce" overnight. At least, this time, I know what the ingredients were. This gets better every time I use it. There should be a TV series, devoted solely to Bradley smoker's, and what can be done with them. If everyone on the planet had a Bradley, they'd be too busy creating, smoking, eating, and sharing, to get involved with all the other nonsense that stresses them out. Lets start a Worldwide campaign! Instead of; "A chicken in every pot", it will be "A Bradley for everyone who eats!" I think it would go over quite well. The adventure continues.....
