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I’ve started the hunt to nail down the best possible steak rub I can find. My intention is to make these showdowns an ongoing series in which, over time, I will narrow down to the very best steak rub out there on the market. Today, I started with 7 of my top contenders. Here’s how they ended up doing over all:

1. Best Damn BBQ Sauce – Rub Baby
2. Boars Night Out – White Lightening with Double Garlic Butter
3. BbqDryRubs.com – Ribeye Steak Seasoning Blend
4. Spade L Ranch – Beef Marinade and Seasoning
5. Boars Night Out – White Lightening
6. Boars Night Out – BBQ Rub
7. The Cozy Cook – Copycat Texas Roadhouse Steak Rub

(none of these companies are affiliates/sponsors)

• Best Damn BBQ Sauce – Rub Baby
  • Rub Baby is a relatively new rub from Best Damn BBQ Sauce. It’s called the ‘West Coast APR’ which might be why it did so well in our West Coast competition. Either way, this rub is worth giving a try. The smell of the rub prior to cooking is good but without any real distinct scents. After cooking, it’s a nice lightly salty flavor that packs a savory punch.
• Boars Night Out – White Lightening with Double Garlic Butter
  • This rub is a spin on one of the more popular SCA steak rubs, White Lightening. I’m not 100% sure if White Lightening with Double Garlic Butter is just as it says or whether it’s a completely different recipe than the original White Lightening. Either way, it proves to out-taste the original White Lightening time and time again in my book.
• BbqDryRubs.com – Ribeye Steak Seasoning Blend
  • This steak rub was actually made by me from a recipe I got over on BbqDryRubs.com. I was very pleasantly surprised by how simple and how delicious this rub is. Although it only ranked #3 in this showdown, it ended up being my personal favorite. Great job with the recipe David!
• Spade L Ranch – Beef Marinade and Seasoning
  • Spade L Ranch doesn’t necessarily impress me with their web presence or packaging. But I’ve personally been using this steak rub for 2-3 years now with loads of great results. The flavor is what matters in the end and I’d say Spade L has plenty with this rub.
• Boars Night Out – White Lightening
  • White Lightening is presumably the base for the Double Garlic Butter which ranked #2 in this showdown. I like the flavor and the simplicity. Along with a few other rubs on our list this rub is pretty MSG heavy, which if used correctly and in moderation makes for a great taste and smoke ring. This rub is very common in our local SCA competitions.
• Boars Night Out – BBQ Rub
  • The BBQ Rub from Boar’s Night Out wasn’t really my favorite on steaks. It is one of the best smelling rubs out of the package that I’ve experienced but it didn’t really translate over into the steak world. I did do a nice home style pork butt with the stuff though and I cannot tell you enough how well this rub goes with pork.
• The Cozy Cook – Copycat Texas Roadhouse Steak Rub
  • Something strange was happening with this rub recipe. Again, this was another rub that I made from a recipe I found on The Cozy Cook website. The interesting part about this rub is it was not great, then really good, then not so great again depending on the temperature. Both with a hot and a cold steak, I didn’t much enjoy this rub. With a steak that is a really nice warm, it seemed to be amazing. I can’t make out really what was going on but overall it didn’t stand up to the others.

Each Steak Rub Contender was assigned to a New York Strip Steak at the beginning of the test. We kept track of the steaks throughout the cook by labeling them and mapping them throughout the process. During the taste test itself, we set the map aside and mixed the rub shakers up to help add to the anonymity.

Each steak was smoked to an internal temperature of 125F. Next, they were all taken off of the smoker to rest for 10 minutes while we heated up the griddle. Finally, we seared all of the steaks for 1.5 minutes on each side with the help of some butter. We cooked the steaks all at the same time and kept the cook as similar as possible for each.

At the end of the cook, 4 separate judges were each given 3 tokens. They were instructed to try each steak and vote for their favorites. The judges were allowed to vote for 3 separate steaks or give multiple votes to 1 outstanding steak. Next time, I may hand out 5 tokens to each judge to help us flush out the list a bit better.

I am going to continue down this path to find the best steak rub. Which is where you come in. I’m looking for recommendations!

Leave me a comment below with any recommendations on test methods you have. Should I do a tournament style? Should I use more judges or more chips? Should I use a different testing method all together?

What rubs do you like? I’m always looking for rub recommendations to test out. Leave me a comment below with your favorite steak rub recipe or a link to buy it. I’ll check them out and add them to the list to test!

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