Making Smoke Trails BBQ Rub, at Home: Recipe and Guide

Last Updated:
May 30, 2024
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Recently Steve Gow (Smoke Trails BBQ) came out with his own rub; I bought the rub, and it’s excellent.

smoke trails bbq rub

Steve also listed the ingredient percentages in the video description.

While the percentages are somewhat actionable, I wanted to create an imitation version at home (in US cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons) so that others could easily mimic it (minus a few ingredients).

Ingredient Explanations, Substitutes, and Omissions

Note: There are certain ingredients I’ll just never have on hand – meaning, some I’ll be omitting (explained below).

This is also why Steve says it’s cheaper to buy the rub vs buying each ingredient.

smoke trails bbq imitation brisket rub
My Copycat Smoke Trails BBQ Brisket Rub

I’ll almost never have:

  • MSG
  • Grilled meat flavor
  • i+g (disodium inosinate and guanylate)
  • Soybean oil
  • Powdered/Flour salt
  • Beef Base Powder
  • Certain mesh sizes of pepper
  • Citric acid
  • Celery seed

You’re likely like me too.

With that said, there are certain ones that this recipe requires and others you may or may not miss.

Any and all ingredients I remove are simply added to the Pepper volume (roughly ~5% of the overall rub volume).

The Pepper

If all you have is 16 mesh black pepper, use 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons.

Steve’s rub uses two different types of “mesh” size for pepper – those being 20 and 34 mesh.

16 mesh black pepper
16 Mesh Black Pepper

For people unaware, mesh size has a lot to do with:

  • Pungency of the pepper due to the evaporation of alkaloids and terpenes.
  • Bark formation on smoked meat.

Steve doesn’t really clarify why he’s using 20-34 mesh but it’s likely a balancing act between those two factors.

Like most people who do BBQ, all I have at home is 16 mesh black pepper, table ground black pepper, and freshly cracked peppercorns.

Most people in the BBQ community use 16 mesh because it’s pungent, but tapers off when smoked for a long period of time. The result is a great bark on smoked meat.

The Paprika

For this ingredient use 1 teaspoon.

Most people don’t realize this but most commercially sold “BBQ rubs” are primarily a low-grade paprika that does almost nothing for flavor – it’s there for color.

Here’s a rib rub that has paprika in it, sweating on the meat:

rib rub sweating into meat
Paprika Makes Color Pop!

Steve also notes that the modest amount in his rub is solely used for color too.

Although, if you don’t have paprika, you can omit it.

Here’s a brisket smoked with just cherry wood – still that mahogany color only there’s no paprika being used:

brisket smoked on weber kettle grill

The Sumac

For this ingredient use 2.5 tablespoons.

cured sumac

Most of the flavor punch in Steve’s rub is from the Sumac.

If you’ve never tasted sumac – I often equate it to the taste of salt and vinegar.

This ingredient is an absolute must when re-creating Steve’s rub at home. Without it, you essentially don’t have the acidic/tart note that’s characteristic to his rub.

I source my cured sumac from Burlap and Barrel.*

*Don’t buy the big jar, the little one is more than enough for a large portion of this rub.

The Salts

For this use 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, 1/2 tablespoon of table salt, and 1/4 tsp celery salt.

Steve uses multiple granule sizes for different purposes. Those being table salt, coarse salt, and flour salt.

Diamond Crystal kosher salt granule size
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt

He doesn’t specify the “coarse” salt that’s being used but it’s safe to assume it’s likely something similar to Diamond Crystal due to the quantity and the mix-ability aspect of that salt in comparison to Morton’s.

Diamond crystal has less of a tendency to dissociate from other ingredients, unlike Morton’s.

The table salt is used to add more savoriness and saltiness.

Steve also lists “ground celery seed” in the rub formulation but I never have that at home – I do use a lot of celery salt.

I also omitted the flour salt so using celery salt is just another way to add a salty ingredient.

Sugar

For this ingredient, use 1 teaspoon of white sugar.

white sugar for rub

Sugar isn’t something you’d think to add in this rub but it does help to cut through the acidity and fattiness of both the rub and the meat.

White sugar works best when trying to add:

  • Sweetness
  • Bark

Granulated Garlic and Granulated Onion

For these ingredients use 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic and 1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of granulated onion.

granulated onion and garlic

Steve list’s the granulated versions as apposed to the powders because, in my opinion, they mix better.

Both of these ingredients help to round out the others and add pleasurable taste sensations.

Ingredients I Believe You Can Safely Omit

Other ingredients Steve lists are:

  • MSG
  • Beef Base powder
  • Powdered/flour salt
  • Soybean oil
  • Disodium inosinate and guanylate
  • Grilled meat flavoring
  • Citric acid

The MSG, disodium inosinate, and guanylate are all umami taste sensations that are sort of hard to describe. More or less it lights up the tongue in an appetizing way.

In comparison to both a finger test and a direct comparison on a brisket, I notice a slight difference between his and my rub – however, I still find the primary taste contributor to be the Sumac, the pepper, and the salt(s).

Beef base powder – this more or less has a beef stock/bullion taste that’s sort of missed in the above rub – especially in the finger test but it’s not super evident when smoking brisket itself. It’s simply there to re-enforce the “beefiness” of the meat.

Soybean oil – This is common in terms of binding ingredients together that have a tendency to dissociate from one another. At home, this ingredient isn’t needed – simply shake the bottle or rub more often when applying.

Citric acid – In my opinion, not needed. I do use lots of citric acid in jerky marinades but I don’t taste much of a difference here.

Grilled meat flavoring – something I’ll never see in my grocery store and would have to source online. To be frank, I don’t really taste this ingredient regardless.

Food for thought: “Grilled meat” flavor is often a taste sensation you can get from barrel cookers too.

Granted, depending on the barrel – these typically cook hot and fast as apposed to low in slow so that’s already a trade-off in terms of taste, fat render, and more.

Do These Taste the Same?

Overall, yes-ish.

Especially on smoked food as apposed to a finger test.

The only real flavors I think you miss are:

The beef base powder, which is really just there to re-enforce the beefiness of the meat anyway.

The MSG flavor that’s just an umami bomb on your tongue but I almost never have MSG at home.

Is it Really More Cost Effective to Buy Steve’s Rub

To preface: I bought his rub regardless because I think Steve makes great content.

Steve claims that while you can make his rub (again he quite literally gives you the ingredient percents), his rub is more cost effective.

His rub is $14.99 for a 9.75 oz bottle.

In comparison, when bought in bulk, my copy-cat recipe is technically cheaper.

IngredientCost
Burlap and Barrel Cured Sumac$39.99/16 oz or $2.49/oz.
White sugarNegligible as most people have at home.
Table SaltNegligible as most people have at home.
Badia 16 Mesh Black Pepper$16.99/16 oz or $1.06/oz
McCormick Paprika $13.95/18.4 oz. or $0.76/oz
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt$4.98/16 oz. or $0.31/oz
Badia Granulated Garlic$7.49/16 oz. or $0.47/oz
Badia Granulated Onion$6.49/20 oz. or $0.32/oz
McCormick Celery Salt$7.39/4 oz. or $1.85/oz.

We can take these percentages and multiply them by our oz values for 9.75 oz.

IngredientPercent Cost
Burlap and Barrel Cured Sumac$2.42
White sugarNegligible
Table SaltNegligible
Badia 16 Mesh Black Pepper$4.865
McCormick Paprika$0.074
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt$0.695
Badia Granulated Garlic$0.18
Badia Granulated Onion$0.09
McCormick Celery Salt$0.18

So with certain ingredients omitted we’re sitting at ~$8.51 for 9.75 oz.

Granted, you have to spend far more upfront because you’re buying these ingredients in bulk and you’re also omitting several.

I’d wager to say Steve is correct, his rub is cheaper upfront in comparison to buying these ingredients in bulk.

However, if you really like his rub and you’re looking to make it in bulk (minus a few ingredients like me), you can save $6.48 for every 9.75 oz. you make.

Smoke Trails BBQ Brisket Rub Copycat

Minus a Few Ingredients
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Rubs

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup 16 Mesh Black Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp 16 Mesh Black Pepper
  • 1 Tsp Paprika
  • 2.5 Tbsp Cured Sumac
  • 1/4 Cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
  • 1/2 Tbsp Table Salt
  • 1/4 Tsp Celery Salt
  • 1 Tsp White Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
  • 1/2 Tbsp Granulated Onion
  • 1 Tsp Granulated Onion

Instructions

  • Combine the ingredients in the specified quantities and then mix well.

Notes

This recipe will make half of Steve’s rub and will give ~4.9oz of rub. 
These ingredients were weighed in ounces and then I personally used measuring instruments to give rough amounts of each. 

Recipe note 5/24/2024:

I think a more suitable way to add the “beefy” and “MSG” umami bomb is via Yeast Extract.

This ingredient is somewhat affordable and both tastes beefy and contains glutamates (which is MSG).

A suitable amount would be 1-3g at most.

dylan bio profile picture
Dylan Clay
Dylan Clay is a pitmaster based in New Hampshire, with over 17 years of experience in grilling, smoking, and dehydrating meat. Throughout this time, he has worked with nearly every cut of meat. In 2019, he launched the Barbecue FAQ website to share his extensive knowledge about all things meat, aiming to assist others in making better barbecue at home.

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