Competitive barbecue is now a serious sport in Australia
From the backyard to big business, how the American trend of competition barbecue is now sizzling in Sydney
The traditional Aussie bbq is going up in smoke as American barbecue takes off.
Grilled snags and sizzling steaks are being swapped for brisket and pork shoulder cooked for up to eight hours.
Driving the “low and slow” trend is the growth of competitive barbecuing.
This serious sport is an American phenomenon that sees teams competing over who has the most tender brisket, peachiest pork butt or juiciest chicken.
It’s an expensive hobby, with teams spending on average $3000 per competition.
Smokers range from $1500- $22,000, meat costs run into the thousands if you’re buying wagyu for a competitive advantage, then there are the utensils, marinades, rubs, wood and charcoal as well as entry fees.
It doesn’t deter Nick Cooper of Scotch & Smoke BBQ, who built his first smoker, a 400 kg unit names Bertha, after discovering Southern-style barbecue when visiting the US.
Bertha won the team first place in the brisket category at the Australian BBQ Wars in Port Macquarie and he was “hooked from that point.”
“It’s that male competitiveness streak to be good at something that’s totally ridiculous,” he said.
“There’s the competition side of it but it’s also like going away camping with all mates, but you but cook barbecue, get some beers and we turn it into a family adventure as well because my wife and daughter come along too.”
Mr Cooper has seen the sport flourish over the last three years.
“Smokers have gotten bigger and the level of food being put out by the teams now is incredible compared to when we first started,” he said.
“Competitions have gone from 20 teams to 400 and the amount of competitions in Australia went from three a year to 40.”
Hark Smokers Australia said sales of smokers have seen a 25 per cent increase year-on-year for the last five years.
The Australasian Barbecue Alliance was established in 2014 with only 20 registered competitive teams and has grown to 300.
Mr Cooper will be competing at Meatstock this weekend, a barbecue festival at Sydney Showground that has almost doubled in three years. Around 9,000 people attended the inaugural event and it is expecting 16,000 people this weekend and over 200 registered competitors.
Meatstock’s celebrity judge is Big Moe Cason of US reality TV show, BBQ Pitmaster who is impressed with Australia’s fledgling barbecue scene.
“It is where the US was 15 years ago, which is a massive accomplishment considering how long the US has had this style of barbecue,” he said.
“Australia is embracing all sorts of styles from the US including the seasoning, design of the smokers, cuts of meat yet still creating their own flavours by using native woods like iron bark.”
Originally published as Competitive barbecue is now a serious sport in Australia
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