Being a garden design editor for Southern Living Magazine sounds like a pretty good gig, right? Well, imagine being plucked from your comfort zone and transplanted into a world of smoke and seasonings.
That’s what happened to Troy Black, and it was the lure of that new environment that persuaded him to trade in his old job and begin a new vocation.
“Landscape architecture is my training. I was on staff as a garden design editor for Southern Living Magazine when I was asked to fill in at a barbecue judging event for a travel writer who couldn’t attend. I got hooked,” he said.
While Black continued his day job, he spent his weekends competing at various barbecue events. In 2006 barbecue competitions became his sole focus.
“I began competing as a hobby first, but I got really good at it,” he said.
He has entered more than 400 competitions, has won more than 100 first-place awards as well as a number of state championships.
“I was the first guy out there to make his living through competing and sponsorship. I’ve turned what I loved to do into a living,” he said.
His loyal over-the-road canine companion was Rocko, a boxer mastiff mix.
“When my daughters were younger they would sometimes travel with me but Rocko traveled with me for about four years straight. We spent 10 months together living out of a tour bus traveling from event to event. He became a rock star in his own world. He passed away of cancer in January. That was a really tough time for me,” he said.
A couple of years ago Black decided to quit competing and use his knowledge of the trade to train others. He offers barbecue pit master classes in Franklin, Tenn., where he currently resides, and travels extensively for various corporate sponsors to provide instruction on best barbecue practices. He was recently in Knoxville with the Sam’s Club Barbecue Tour competition.
“I’ll be traveling to 31 different cities with the Sam’s Club Barbecue Tour where we will be hosting competitions,” he said.
Black partnered with Southern Living’s publishing company, Oxmoor House, and in 2010 released his first book “The Big Book of BBQ.” This month his second book, “All Fired Up,” (Oxmoor House, $24.95) is hitting the bookstores. He also has an instructional DVD titled “Real BBQ Know How” that’s available on his website, www.learn2q.com.
“What I did in competition is still relevant today, and I share everything in my book,” he said.
Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess // Buy this photo
Troy Black, award-winning barbecue chef, demonstrates how to prepare barbecue ribs during the Sam’s Club Barbecue Tour in West Knoxville. . (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
The 288-page softbound book includes extensive information in the chapter titled “Tools of the Trade,” including the proper set-up of smokers, gas and charcoal grills; a list of his top 10 must-have tools; how to prepare a charcoal grill; instruction on cooking with direct and indirect heat; as well as the use of wood chips and wood chunks.
More than 175 dishes and 400 captivating color photos are featured in the book with chapter topics including Authentic BBQ; Pig Out; Hot Chix; and Fresh Catch.
Recipes include grilled molasses flank steak with watermelon salsa; hickory-smoked whole chicken; sweet Asian-grilled salmon; chicken-and-brisket Brunswick stew; blackened-grilled catfish fillets; sweet ginger chicken thighs; peach-glazed pork chops; and garlic-and-herb-grilled halibut.
The book also has a section on sauces and rubs, as well as “Special Extras” recipes like hush puppies, grilled sweet potato planks; and grilled rosemary lemonade.
Photo by Oxmoor House
It takes approximately 5 hours to prepare Troy Black’s championship glazed ribs. (Oxmoor House)$RETURN$$RETURN$
Here is a sampling of recipes from the book.
Championship glazed ribs
Yields 6 servings
INGREDIENTS
2 slabs pork spare ribs (about 7 1/2 pounds)
1 cup bottled hickory and brown sugar barbecue sauce
1/3 cup honey
2/3 cup pork dry rub (recipe below)
DIRECTIONS
1 Cut slab perpendicular to the rib bones, reserving rib tips for another use. This style of ribs is known as the St. Louis cut. You can also have your butcher trim them for you.
2 Remove thin membrane from back of ribs by slicing into it with a knife, and then pulling it off. (This will make ribs more tender.)
3 Stir together barbecue sauce and honey in a small bowl; reserve ½ cup to serve with cooked ribs. Sprinkle both sides of ribs generously with pork dry rub; let stand 10 minutes to create a paste.
4 Light one side of grill, heating to 250 to 300 degrees (low heat). Leave other side unlit. Place ribs over unlit side and grill, covered with grill lid, 2 hours and 15 minutes.
5 Turn rib slabs over. Grill 2 hours and 15 minutes or until tender. Cook ribs 15 more minutes, basting frequently with barbecue sauce mixture.
6 Remove ribs from grill and let stand 10 minutes. Cut ribs, slicing between bones. Serve ribs with reserved ½ cup barbecue sauce mixture.
Photo by Oxmoor House
Oxmoor House
These grilled scallop kabobs are as pretty to look at as they are tasty to eat.
Pork dry rub
Yields 3 1/2 cups
INGREDIENTS
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup paprika
1/2 cup granulated garlic
1/2 cup kosher sauce
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
2 tablespoons ground red pepper
2 tablespoons ground chipotle chile pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dry mustard
DIRECTIONS
1 Stir together all ingredients in a medium bowl.
Grilled scallop kabobs
Yield 4-6 servings
INGREDIENTS
10 (6-inch) wooden skewers
20 fresh thick asparagus spears
40 sea scallops (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup herb-flavored olive oil
Salt to taste
Lemon wedges
Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess // Buy this photo
DIRECTIONS
1 Soak wooden skewers in water 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat grill to 350 to 400 degrees (medium-high) heat.
2 Snap off and discard tough ends of asparagus. Cut asparagus into 2-inch pieces.
3 Thread scallops alternately with asparagus pieces onto skewers. Brush with olive oil. Grill kabobs, covered with grill lid, 2 ½ minutes on each side or just until scallops are opaque. Season with salt to taste. Serve kabobs with lemon wedges.
Grilled roasted pepper-stuffed mushrooms
Yields 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
4 portobello mushroom caps
1 large red bell pepper
1 small onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 (5.2-ounce) package buttery garlic-and-herb spreadable cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 teaspoons bottled balsamic glaze
DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat grill to 400-450 degrees (high) heat. Cut stems from mushrooms; chop stems and reserve for cheese mixture. Scrape and discard brown gills from underside of mushrooms, leaving edges of caps intact, using a spoon.
2 Grill bell pepper, covered, with grill lid, 15 minutes or until pepper looks blistered, turning often. At the same time, grill onion slices, cover with grill lid, 10 minutes or until crisp tender.
3 Reduce grill temperature to medium heat. Remove bell pepper from grill and place in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; seal and let stand 10 minutes to loosen skin. Peel pepper; cut pepper in half. Remove and discard seeds. Chop bell pepper and onion slices.
4 Combine reserved chopped mushroom stems, chopped onion, and spreadable cheese.
5 Grill mushrooms, covered with grill lid, 5 minutes, turning once. Spoon cheese mixture into center of mushroom caps. Top each with chopped bell pepper and Parmesan cheese. Grill stuffed mushroom caps, covered with grill lid, 2-3 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and cheese mixture is bubbly around edges. Drizzle with balsamic glaze.
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Smoking woods
Alder: Very popular on the West Coast, this wood imparts a delicate flavor with a hint of sweetness. Brings out the nature taste of fish and works well with chicken, pork and light-meat game birds.
Apple: Light, subtle sweet flavor. Most often used with poultry and wild game meat.
Ash: This is a fast-burning wood that presents a soft, smoky flavor. Good with seafood, beef, pork or poultry.
Cherry: Smoky, sweet flavor. Delicious used with poultry, game birds and pork. Serve a cherry chutney on the side to accentuate the flavor.
Corn cobs: Slightly sweet, fruity flavor that complements pork and poultry.
Grape vines: Tart and fruity, but can overpower meat if used liberally. Similar taste can be achieved by soaking milder-flavored woods in wine prior to smoking. Nice complement to lamb, red meats and wild game.
Hickory: Wood most often associated with barbecuing. The smoke delivers a heavy bacon-like flavor that’s perfect for smoking ham, pork or beef.
Maple: Slightly sweet with subtle maple syrup tones. Good with pork, poultry, cheese and game birds.
Mesquite: Very popular wood, with strong earthy flavor that can be bitter, so use sparingly. For long smokes, best to mix with lighter fruit woods. Burns hot. Good when preparing steak, duck or lamb.
Oak: Great fuel wood that’s often mixed with hickory for smoking. White oak presents a mild flavor, while red oak imparts a heavier taste. Good used with red meat, pork and wild game.
Peach: Sweet, woodsy flavor that is great paired with heavier woods. Works well with poultry, pork and fish.
Pear: Slightly sweet, woodsy flavor that complements natural flavor of game birds, poultry and pork.
Pecan: Robust, nutty flavor with a hint of sweetness. Similar to hickory but not as strong. Burns slow. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese.
Walnut: Most often used with lighter woods because of its heavy smoke flavor. Can present bitter flavor so use sparingly. Perfect for red meats and wild game.
Source: cottage-outfitters.com; barbecuewood.com; “Grillin’ with Gas” by Fred Thompson (Taunton Press)
Grilling by the numbers
Gas grills continue to top the charts as the most popular type of grill, followed by charcoal and electric.
57 percent of grills purchased (8.2 million in 2012) were gas.
41 percent of grills purchased in 2012 (5.9 million) were charcoal
2 percent of grills purchased (280,000) were electric
62 percent of grill owners use their grills year-round.
86 percent of households own an outdoor barbecue, grill or smoker.
54 percent of grill purchasers bought a replacement grill and 68% of those purchasers replaced their grill with the same type of grill
77 percent of respondents said the Fourth of July is the top grilling holiday.
75 percent of grillers use barbecue sauce for basting during cooking.
Source: Hearth, Patio Barbecue Association
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