Image of Smokin' Triggers created for this document6
 
 

World Championship BBQ P2

By: W.G.Wilson


Inside the competitive BBQ world, two of the nicest and most knowledgeable people are Johnny (a.k.a.: 'The Godfather of Competitive BBQ,' as well as: 'The Rib King') and his lovely wife, Trish Trigg. Their learning course is named: Smokin' Trigger's BBQ Cooking School. I had the good fortune to attend this school several years ago. It was held just outside of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and it consisted of 3-days of classes covering all aspects of Team Competition in World Championship BBQ. Since this time, Johnny's classes now focus on his specialty, RIB's. But at the time I took his courses, Smokin' Trigger's covered everything a team would need to know in order to be able to compete in any BBQ Competition.

These classes began on a Friday night, with their Official: 'Meet & Greet.' Trish Trigg shared some of her famous cookies, chocolate chip, if memory serves me. I think I'm right. I only seem to recall that the cookies... were darned good eating. Yum!

What stands out in my mind, was the Q&A we had with Johnny. We all had questions about the show: BBQ Pitmasters, in particular, Season 1 (my personal favorite season of the show).
BBQ Pitmasters season 1 introduced us to all of the drama surrounding Competitive BBQ. Johnny and Trish were featured in several of the shows that season.

The shows I wanted to know about were the shows about the Texas twenty-some year old chef, Paul Petersen. Paul was a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) graduate, and had convinced himself that he could master BBQ and walk away a winner at ANY BBQ Competition. Paul had a secret weapon: a flavor unknown to the BBQ world: Cherry flavoring. Paul had convinced himself that his Cherry rub was the greatest thing since sliced bread. What he didn't realize is that what most people are reminded of when tasting Cherry, is cough syrup. Does anyone want cough syrup on their BBQ?

Perhaps it's needless to say, but Paul finished dead-last, and did so in a couple of Competitions on the show. Finally, Johnny felt sorry for him, and agreed to take Paul under-his-wing, so-to-speak.
Johnny was straight with Paul about using Cherry: it was a bad idea, universally disliked in BBQ circles. In what everyone saw coming but Johnny and Trish: Paul couldn't resist the lure of Cherry in his rub, and despite promising the Trigg's that he wouldn't use it anymore, added it back in to his flavor profile. AND... he lost again!

So, I asked the Trigg's about Paul. Was the show accurate? What became of Paul?

The candid nature of their answer shocked everyone in the class.

Now, I believe in digression. But, I will say this (if you're able to read-between the lines): we were told that Paul had demons that many others had also faced, and it was actually quite a sad story. They wished him well, but helping him was not a skill within their wheelhouse.

The subject of Myron Mixon came up, and Johnny found out that I was a Jack's Old-South graduate. He asked me what I had to say about Myron's class? I believe that I replied with the correct answer:

"I'll tell people the same thing that I'm going to say if they ask me about you: if they want to know anything specific, they need to take your class!"

This seemed to satisfy Johnny, and we moved on.


Day 2 - Saturday @ Smokin' Trigger's BBQ Cooking School


Johnny is a makes no sense to reinvent the wheel type as a cook: he tends to stick with commercial rubs and sauces. Before any preparation begins, create a list of the various rubs, sauces, and other items that you'll need in order to cook, and acquire these items.

Johnny also professed his liking of various Plowboy's rubs.


Smokin' Trigger's Pork Butt


Assemble the following products:

  • Hain's (or similar) Peanut oil
  • Smokin' Gun's Hot Rub
  • 1 bottle of Pure Clover honey
  • 1 bottle of Tiger Sauce
  • 1 large bottle of Apple Juice (not Cider)
  • 1 empty spray bottle (you should keep several of these on-hand)


    • Trim the butt of excess fat, silver, and blood-shots. Run your hands over the meat to ensure that there are no bone slivers on the meat. Rinse and dry.

    Apply a coating of Hain's (or similar) Peanut oil, Lawry's Seasoned Salt (to taste, go light, more Lawry's can easily be added), and a liberal coating of Smokin' Gun's Hot Rub. Fill the empty spray bottle with Apple Juice, and set the bottle aside.

    Cooking instructions:

    Cook for 3 hours @ 275 degrees and then, foil.

    Foil preparation:

    Place the foil shiny-side out. Apply a layer of Clover honey and 5 ounces of Tiger Sauce on the foil. Spray both sides of the butt heavily with Apple Juice, and place the butt with the fat-cap up, on the foil. Wrap, and return to the smoker for 1 to 1.5 hours.

    Pull @ 195 degrees internal temperature.

    Wrap in Butcher paper and place in a cooler, and allow the butt to rest 2-3 hours.

    Remove from the Butcher paper. Sauce, to taste.


    Image of 2-Time World Champion Johnny Trigg
                 2-Time World Champion Johnny Trigg



    Trigg Brisket


    Assemble the following products:

  • Head Country All-Purpose Championship Seasoning rub
  • Obie-Cue's Double Strenght Garlic Pepper
  • Lawry's Seasoned Salt
  • Plain Olive Oil


    • Trim the brisket of excess fat, silver, and blood-shots, being sure to remove the fat between the point and the flat. You can mark this area with a slight cut across the grain. This ensures that you slice it in the right direction after the cook, and rest. Leave a generous fat-cap. Run your hands over the meat to ensure that there are no bone slivers on the meat. Rinse and dry.

    Cooking instructions:

    Starting with the fat cap up, cook for two hours @ 275 degrees, flip the meat over, and cook for two more hours with the fat cap down. Foil, and place the meat back on the grill until it reaches 203 degrees. Pull, and rest.

    Trigger's Chicken


    Assemble the following products:

  • 1 pat of salt-free butter
  • Obie-Cue's Sweet Rub BBQ Spice for Chicken (it'll have an image of a Chicken on the label)
  • Obie-Cue's Sweet N' Heat
  • Hain's (or similar) Peanut oil
  • Lawry's Seasoned Salt
  • 1 can Dole Pineapple Juice
  • 1 empty spray bottle (you should keep several of these on-hand)


    • The piece of choice for most competition teams is the thigh. Johnny Trigg uses thighs in the competitions he enters.

    Trim the chicken pieces of excess fat blood-shots and square-off the corners. Run your hands over the meat to ensure that there are no bone slivers on the meat. Rinse and dry.

    Fold the pat of butter into the peanut oil, and pour a medium amount of the combined peanut oil/butter on the meat and work it in using your hands. Apply medium amounts of Lawry's and both Obie Cue's. Pour the Pineapple Juice into the spray bottle.


    Cooking instructions:

    Place Chicken inside an aluminum cooking pan. Cook for one hour @ 275 degrees, skin-side up.
    Flip to meat-side. Spray with pineapple juice. Return to the smoker for another 45 minutes.
    Flip the chicken again (back to the skin-side) and spray again with the Pineapple Juice.
    Return to smoker for 15 additional minutes, saucing as necessary.


    Johnny's Specialty: Those Amazing Ribs


    Assemble the following products:

  • 1 bottle of Coarse Black Pepper
  • 1 box of Light Brown Sugar (Johnny uses Domino brand)
  • 1 bottle of Squeeze Parkay margarine
  • 1 bottle of Tiger Sauce
  • 1 bottle of Apple Juice (not cider)
  • 1 bottle of Pure Clover honey
  • 1 bottle of McCormick (or similar) Minced Onions
  • Obie-Cue's Sweet N' Heat
  • Lawry's Seasoned Saly
  • Hain's (or similar) Peanut oil
  • William's Rib Tickler
  • 1 empty spray bottle (you should keep several of these on-hand)



    • Trim, remove excess fat, and the membrane. If you are uncomfortable removing the membrane, any full-service Butcher Shop will happily remove it for their customer. Run your hands over the meat to ensure that there are no bone slivers on the meat. Rinse, and dry.


    Starting meat-side up, apply a light coating of Hain's (or similar) Peanut oil.

    Apply a light coating of Lawry's Seasoned Salt, a light coating of coarse ground pepper, a liberal coating of Obie-Cue's Sweet N' Heat rub, and a light coating of William's Rib Tickler.


    Cooking instructions:

    Johnny uses the 3-2-1 system.

    Cook for 3 hours @ 275 degrees and then remove to wrap in foil.

    Foil preparation:

    Place the foil shiny-side out.

    Spread about 4 lines of Parkay on the foil. The lines should each be the length of the rack of ribs. Apply a layer of Light Brown Sugar on top of the Parkay. Apply a layer of Tiger Sauce (about 2 lines worth) on top of the Light Brown Sugar, and a layer of the Pure Clover honey over the Tiger Sauce, making sure that the Pure Clover honey completely covers the Tiger Sauce. One (1) pinch of the McCormick's (or similar) Minced Onion should be spread evenly over the ingredient pile on the foil. Spray both sides of the ribs with Apple Juice, and place the rib meat-side down onto the foil/ingredient pile. Wrap the foil around the rib, and return to the grill for 1 to 1.5 hours.

    Remove foil return ribs to grill for 15 minutes to char slightly.

    Sauce, to taste.






    Class Price: $75 Per-Person(Group-Rate-Available).
    Website URL:  http://jacksoldsouth.com