May 3, 2024

Ronald Blackman and “Jethro” are back in business.

Blackman has been smoking meat on his old-school smoker for years, catering events and even doing occasional pop-up dinners when he lived along 26th Street in central Sioux Falls.

He and his family moved to Tea last year, and he finally fulfilled his dream of starting a food truck for R Cross M Big Country BBQ & Catering. But “Jethro” has to stay at home because the truck doesn’t have room for the behemoth wood-fired smoker. His part of the job is done anyway when Blackman heads out for lunch with the food truck loaded with smoked meats.

Blackman did a few pop-ups last fall and is looking forward to a busy season this year.

Find the food truck from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday in the parking lot at Ace Hardware in Tea and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at I-29 Antiques on 271st Street west of Interstate 29. There’s one picnic table for customers in case they want to eat on-site.

Be forewarned: If you show up later in the afternoon, the food might be sold out.

Once Wild Water West opens for the season, Blackman said he’ll be out at the campground too. In June, he’s planning to add lunch delivery through Grubhub that will reach into Sioux Falls.

The menu includes pork ribs, rib tips, pulled pork, pork loin, chicken and sausage. Side dishes are baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and dirty rice.

“Usually, the complaint we get is that we give people too much food,” Blackman said.

Ribs are one of the customer favorites, he said. Sizes range from four bones to half and full slabs.

“I’ve got people that will come multiple times a week to buy full slabs,” he said.

His advice is to order them the night before so that he can prepare enough to serve the lunch crowd too. He’s up at 4 a.m. to start smoking meat for the day.

Barbecue sauces include his signature R Cross M Mop Sauce that’s apple cider vinegar based, a mayo version and one that’s molasses based. Customers can add sauce to their food, and Blackman sells bottles of the Mop Sauce.

Blackman is originally from Arkansas and moved to South Dakota with his parents as a child.

“I got married, and they took off and left me,” he said of his parents, laughing. His wife, Mercedes, and sons, Jayce and Jayden, help occasionally with the business.

A relative owns Valley Corner Bar in Valley Springs, and Blackman will be there May 18 serving free food for the annual customer appreciation party. He’ll be doing a crawfish boil — one of his popular catering offerings — and there will be barbecue.

Find updates on locations and hours for the food truck on Facebook.