Miles butchers' reign continues

Local sausage royalty take out gold at Farmfest.

SAUSAGE ROYALTY: Miles Wholesale Meats and Smallgoods staff: school-based Max Andrews, apprentice Jess Eland, owners Daryl and Lyn Bein, and butcher Matt Tong. Picture: Brooke Duncan

THE Sausage King and Queen of Miles are back at it once again after taking out gold at the regional finals of the Sausage King competition.

The Australian Meat Industry Council Outback Regional Sausage King finals were held at Farmfest in Toowoomba earlier this month, with a record number of entries.

Miles Wholesale Meats and Smallgoods owners Lyn and Daryl Bein said there were 280 trays of sausages entered across six categories in what is the most competitive and tightly-contested region in Queensland.

Mr Bein said they went up against 24 other butchers with sausages judged on presentation, composition, texture and the way it cooks on the hot plate.

"The outback region is the toughest competition in Australia, and when you've got so many butchers to compete against it goes down to the wire,” he said.

And winners they were, with the Miles Wholesale Meats and Smallgoods team taking out bronze for their chicken, cheese and chives sausage, silver for a roast lamb and caramelised onion creation, silver for traditional Australian pork, and gold for their beef, smoky bacon and cheese snag.

The gold award qualifies the beef, smoky bacon and cheese sausage for the state finals which will be held at the Ekka in August.

The state winner will head to the national finals held in Sydney in February next year.

The Bein's are no strangers to national level competition and have placed both first and second with their traditional Australian beef sausages in the past.

For Mrs Bein, being in the running again this year is a great feeling.

"We are returning to the state finals with this fantastic gourmet sausage we are very proud of. We know our customers loves this sausage. We make it just about every other week, it's a very popular snag. And this year we're honoured to be taking it down to the state finals.”

The Beins certainly are known for their snags, and Mrs Bein said they've learned a lot from being judging the Sunshine Coast competition themselves in years gone by.

And while the competition might be fierce, the Beins said it's also friendly.

"We know all the butchers, that's one thing, we all get on like family. It's fantastic. Some we've known 25 years,” Mrs Bein said.

For Mr Bein, it's important to note any competition is very much a team effort - including their butcher Matt Tong, apprentice Jess Eland and school-based Max Andrews.

"It's not just Lyn and I in here, we've all got to pull our weight to get it done because there's so much work involved in competing and we're all apart of this team, the whole five of us,” he said.

Originally published as Miles butchers' reign continues