Texas Q
Ever since she’s appeared on Season 3 of Netflix’s “Barbecue Showdown,” Sloan Rinaldi has become a household name when it comes to the subject of barbecue; more specifically, craft barbecue. This would seem to figure, given Rinaldi comes from four generations of pitmasters. However, Rinaldi’s journey in the barbecue industry has more depth than many ‘cue fans realize. In fact, her life’s journey has been filled with so many obstacles, it’s a down-right miracle she’s as grounded as she is today.
From the mean streets of Houston, Rinaldi was able to pick herself up by her proverbial bootstraps to become the respected pit master she is regarded as today. Besides her stint on TV, Rinaldi is also known for founding Texas Q, a line of barbecue sauces available at more than 300 stores in Texas, including H-E-B.
Now with her new cookbook titled “Barbecue Showdown,” featuring her 13 challenge-winning recipes, out on stands, Rinaldi is an open book when it comes to the subject of her life’s journey thus far.
We recently had a chance to talk with the Netflix celeb about her experience on the show, her favorite recipes, and her tumultuous childhood.
Editor’s Note: (There are spoilers for Season 3 of “Barbecue Showdown” in this article.)
FWM: I just finished binge watching all of Season 3 of “Barbecue Showdown” and was surprised you came in third. I had my money on you taking the whole thing, but you still did really well. How do you feel you did?
SR: I'm very proud of everything we all did, and we were all there for a reason and we just really came together. I think our chemistry was wonderful. It was just a really incredible experience, and I really appreciate your support. I'm finding that a lot of people are kind of disappointed that I didn't make it to the final, and that's okay. I don't want them to worry about me. It's all good for Sloan.
FWM: I love that this season had so much diversity. I mean an Egyptian cowboy and a real chuck wagon cook? What more could you ask for?
SR: Yeah, it was so diverse, and I'm all for that. There was someone for everyone basically. Someone for everyone to identify with or relate to or be fond of. It was great.
FWM: A lot of people don’t realize this, but you haven’t always been working a barbecue smoker. You got started kind of later on in life, right?
SR: That’s correct. I owned a large-scale commercial construction landscape and irrigation business for decades, and that’s what brought me to Kingwood was developing the town center. So, once I came out here, I had lived from one side of Houston to the other, from Galveston to Conroe, and Montrose, everything in between. And once I came out here, I've never left.
But, getting back to your original question, I never had touched a pit really other than to smoke a Turkey on Thanksgiving until I was 50 years old. I liked to do that. I had a stepfather that lived in Beaumont and he turned me on to the incredible flavor of his smoked Turkey. And so, I liked to do that. And then I did ribs every once in a while, but rarely. So, I really was not in barbecue at all.
Although I am a fourth-generation pit master, I was late to it. It wasn't until I sold my business and retired that I decided, okay, ‘what's next?’ Now, I know the show ‘Barbecue Pitmaster’ inspired just a slew of people to get into barbecue, and it inspired me as well. And it was watching that show and realizing that light bulb moment that made me go back to it.
Netflix
FWM: Who was it that taught you to use mustard as a binder for brisket? I noticed you used this technique a lot on the show.
SR: I had been using vegetable oil, which is a decent binder. I mean, it holds it on, but it doesn't have any of the attributes that mustard has. So, you do a little research, and you find out that mustard is your natural tenderizer, right? It helps adhere, and then the flavor. No residual flavor of mustard is left, but the bark that it creates is unparalleled. So, for me, it was a no brainer.
FWM: Tell me a bit about your new cookbook.
SR: Actually, the book is what I like to refer to as a companion cookbook to ‘Barbecue Showdown’ season 3. It represents 13 challenge winning recipes. The majority of the recipes are centuries old family recipes that I elevated with premium ingredients and refined technique. And then others are extremely popular winning recipes on the set from ‘Barbecue Showdown.’ Number one, being a Texas Q Burger. Everyone seems so obsessed with the Texas Q Rodeo burger, and we've got that recipe in there as well. These recipes are incredible. The flavor profiles are spectacular. The baked beans for example, you let them cook for almost four hours for them to caramelize in the bacon.
FWM: Did you watch the show? And if yes, how was it seeing yourself on screen?
SR: Yes, I did. I was in all eight episodes. Yeah, that last episode to help Shaticka (Robinson) win. That was a grueling day for me. Not many people know, and I don't think I've said this to anybody in the press yet, I had both hips replaced like five months before going to film, and now I can see myself on camera, I'm waddling, let's put it that way.
I didn't want to say anything, so no one there knew other than my producers. Everyone would take off running to the meat locker and they'd say, “go start smoking,” and everybody takes off running. And I would say it into my mic to my producer, ‘one of these days, I’m going to have trip one these expletives out there, I can't run.’ But it's all good. It was just such a great experience. Had a blast. It's a testament to how I feel. I can live through anything, even the physicality of barbecue.
FWM: I wanted to bring this up for context. I know that you had overcome your mom's battle with mental illness, and you ended up finding yourself on the streets when you were a teenager. Is this something you’re willing to discuss?
SR: Yes, I was a homeless gay youth. My mom, unfortunately, God bless her soul, was bipolar, schizophrenic, had multiple personality disorder, was a drug addict, and an alcoholic. There was one personality that she had, that was my mom. And when she would break through, there's nothing she wouldn't do for me. She loved me so much and was just riddled with guilt, just so much guilt she couldn't live, could not cope. But Renee LeBlanc, her other personality unfortunately, who she was predominantly, did not like me. So, it was a tough existence, no doubt. But at 17, she dropped me off at I-10 in Beaumont on the side of the freeway with a suitcase because I was gay, and I never went back. I mean, from there on, I just knew that there was a different destiny for me.
God blessed me in a very special way, divine protection, for sure. The greatest gift God gave me was my mind. I was able to completely disassociate from the kid and see where I wanted to be. And I can say today, that I am who I saw myself as, you know what I mean? I was born in 63, so this is by the seventies. More kids are in horrible situations than not. So I want them to know they are not their circumstance, and it is not their fault. You are what you see. What you see is what you can be. So latch onto that. And for me, I would sit in the bathroom and pretend that I was being interviewed by Barbara Walters. Now, I’m being interviewed by you (laughs).
FWM: Now that you’ve braved these obstacles in your life and you are now receiving international praise, that’s got to feel good knowing a bit of your background, wouldn’t you agree?
SR: The global outpouring has been absolutely, I want to say, the most amazing thing I've ever experienced in my life. And I want to say too, and I just posted about this on Instagram, and I haven't posted a video of myself since it all dropped, but I wanted to share this message. There's a common denominator, a theme. There have been a lot of comments, but there have been thousands of people who literally went and found me on Instagram and then sent me a DM with a story, with a message, and every single message was an outpouring of human kindness. Can you believe that? That blows my mind. But at the same time, bottom line is that we are human, and that is it.