Sterling Smith

IT STARTED with Sterling Smith as a finance guy working for a bank in Arizona.

- Jane Ehrhardt

IT STARTED with Sterling Smith as a finance guy working for a bank in Arizona. Then he got hit with the competition barbecue bug, won big, and ended up starting his own rubs and sauces business two years ago. Now he reps for grill companies, teaches barbecue classes, stars in instructional videos, and taught meat at a university.

WHAT UNIVERSITY TEACHES MEAT?

At Texas Tech University. They have a meat college, and I taught a meat science class there. It’s beef country, after all.

DOES MEAT SCIENCE WEIGH INTO CHOOSING A GOOD RUB?

Beef. Chicken. Pork. They’re very different—different proteins, different muscle structure. So my rubs are formulated to take those proteins and help them out a little bit. The animal also ate different things, so they’re going to taste different. That being said, you want something that will complement and accent that flavor. Pork is a sweet meat so brown sugars go really well with pork. When you’re talking about chicken, it needs to be woken up, so salts are pretty prevalent, herbs, citrus notes, and some back-end heat. Then beef partners with salt and pepper. Worcestershire complements beef well too. Salt goes well with everything.

ARE RUBS THE SECRET TO CHAMPIONSHIP BARBECUE?