Aussie becomes leading authority on live fire cooking in Texas
Jess Pryles’ life completely changed during a trip to Texas back in 2008 when she was exposed to something that would ultimately force her to move there.
Jess Pryles knows a thing or two about barbecuing, some may call her the “Aussie BBQ queen” – and for good reason.
The US-based Aussie chef got her first taste of live fire cooking during a trip to Texas back in 2008 – and since then she’s established herself as a leading authority on the cooking method.
Before her hugely successful career in the field as a chef, TV host and author, Jess is first to admit she couldn’t tell the difference between steak types or how to cook them.
But fast-forward 15 years, she’s now the go-to for all your meat-cooking advice and needs.
The 44-year-old uprooted her life in Melbourne to live in Austin which unlocked her passion for live fire cooking – a method that uses wood or charcoal embers to cook food.
Jess fell in love with Austin and barbecuing so much, she made it her mission to learn everything there is to know about the industry.
“When you come to Texas, you have to try the barbecue – it’s what you do as a tourist,” Jess told news.com.au.
“So, I had my very first taste of Texas style barbecue and it was like ‘Oh my God’. It was a religious eating experience.”
The chef said it was the catalyst behind her live fire cooking journey.
“I loved seeing the big smokers and was so curious to learn how it was made,” she said. “I also fell in love with Texas at the same time.”
She went back to the city every year between 2008 and 2015, dedicating her time to mastering everything about meat from exploring live fire cooking techniques, visiting ranches, butchers and slaughterhouses.
“In the last couple of years before I moved, I was going twice a year for three months at a time so long as my visa would allow it,” she said.
“I learned so much about barbecuing that I started to become the media touch point, the barbecue missionary I guess, in Australia.
“[But] I was living a double life – and I just thought I’d love to try life in Texas, to keep my authenticity and my expertise and that’s when I moved. It felt like home.”
Jess’ Texan life began in 2015, around the same time she co-founded the Australasian Barbecue Alliance – the biggest sanctioning body for competition barbecue in southern hemisphere.
She’s also hosted several TV shows including Aussie Barbecue Heros and Hardcore Carnivore, judged some of the world’s largest barbecue competitions and spoken and cooked at major events like SXSW, Southern Smoke and Camp Brisket.
Not long after relocating to Austin she founded Hardcore Carnivore, an idea inspired from one of her recipe experiment sessions.
“It was born out of the most organic, earnest desire for people to eat meats the way I think they should be seasoned,” she told news.com.au.
“I let the meat be the star of the show with a few good quality ingredients.”
The first of her nine products was an activated charcoal seasoning that’s still a huge hit.
“I loved the crusted texture it gave to steaks – and it got so popular, a friend of mine turned to me one day at a pub in Port Macquarie and said, ‘You know, you’ve got a brand now, you probably need to bring out more flavours’.”
Deep down, Jess knew she was onto something special with Black Spice and she wasn’t wrong.
“Luckily, my hunch that others would love the seasoning as much as I did was right. Black started garnering a huge following of loyal fans, and the Hardcore Carnivore brand was truly born.”
She’s now got a full line-up of rubs and sauces including Texas Jalepeno Salt and Sweet BBQ Rub.
The brand has also expanded to include apparel and grilling tools.
“Every item we add to the line-up is a product I personally use in my live fire kitchen, and figure other folks will enjoy using them, too,” she said
The live fire cook shares her recipes with her 299,000-strong Instagram followers, providing handy tips and advice on to how cook the perfect steak.
She said one of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to barbecuing is not letting the grill get hot enough before adding the meat and picking the wrong cuts.
“It was one of the biggest mistakes I made too,” she said.
To top it all off, the Aussie has collaborated with Pitts & Spitts, a popular Texas pit maker, to design her own signature edition smoker.
“I have cooked on a Pitts & Spitts offset smoker since I first moved to Texas. Last year, I contacted Ryan to ask him if it were possible to get something a little more customised.
“I told him I had a few ideas that would enhance the functionality of the pit, plus a few other details I thought would be ideal.
“He replied that we should not only make it, but spend some time refining the design and put it on the market as my own. And here we are.”
Jess will return to Australia in April to host the Australian Wagyu Association Awards and she is also working on her second cookbook, due to be released in 2026.
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