Smokey Bair’s seasoning mixes made by a native son

As a lover of Lowcountry food traditions such as tailgating and barbecuing, Devin “Smokey” Bair tinkered with making his own seasoning blend over the years until he thought he had it just right.

Like many a food entrepreneur, he also began giving jars of it to friends at the holidays.

Thus, Smokey Bair’s Famous Seasoning and Bloody Mary Rimmer were launched. Boone Hall Farms Market was the first store to take it on.

Both products are available at most area Piggly Wigglys, www.SmokeyBair.com and various specialty shops.

The seasoning, recommended for meat, poultry and seafood, contains brown sugar, kosher salt, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, dry mustard and other spices. It sells for $6.99 for a 5.75-ounce shaker.

Basically the same ingredients are found in the rimmer mix, which is packaged in a round tin and sells for $6.99 for 3.25 ounces.

Bair, 46, acquired his nickname many years ago from his kids.

When not pushing out his new product, he works in landscaping and for Synthetic Turf of Charleston.