Hi — I’m Ed. US Navy veteran, enthusiastic golfer (I said enthusiastic, not good), and the guy behind everything you see here.
I was stationed aboard the USS John F. Kennedy (CV67) out of Norfolk, VA in the early ’80s. That’s the 1980s — not the 1880s. The Navy taught me that hard work and shortcuts aren’t compatible. A lesson I took straight to the grill.
It was a Father’s Day. 2019. My kids got me an electric smoker. That changed things.
I went deep. Pork shoulder. Ribs. Chicken. Brisket — my favorite. Learned that the rub is where the flavor actually starts. Then I started looking at what was in the grocery store rubs.
Salt. Sugar. More salt. Filler ingredients that cost less than the real ones.
I started making my own — real garlic, real paprika, the freshest natural ingredients I could source. Then I learned you could smoke the spices themselves. Hickory smoke on salt and pepper isn’t just a rub. It’s a different thing entirely. SmokED Stuff was born.
I love golf. I’m not very good at it. But the vocabulary fits — Par, Birdie, Bunker, Driver, Pitching Wedge. Precision, patience, and the knowledge that sometimes you hit it perfectly and sometimes you’re in the rough. BBQ is the same game.
Every SmokED Stuff rub and spice is all-natural, MSG-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, and hickory-smoked — the real thing, not flavoring. No fillers. No shortcuts. Formulated personally by me for smoking, grilling, broiling, and baking.
We ship nationwide and you can find us at markets and festivals throughout the Tampa Bay area most weekends — check the Events page and say hello if you see us.
Ed
