The Smoking Hot Confessions BBQ Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

It's that time of year again - the always incredible Kangaroo Valley Craft Beer and BBQ Festival. In an impossible feat, this year was bigger and better than last year, with a round of the Steak Cookoff Association competition as well as a round of the Australian Barbecue Alliance competition. This is of course in addition to live music, BBQ vendors or all styles, craft beer breweries, distilleries, racing pigs and more. Oh, and how could I forget the always entertaining crew from Pro Wrestling Australia! So join me here as I take you with me on a journey through the two day meat and beer spectacular that is the Kangaroo Valley Craft Beer and BBQ Festival!

#bbq #festival #craftbeer

It's that time of year again, where I head down south of Sydney, Australia, to a tiny town called Kangaroo Valley. KV is famous for having one of, if not THE best Craft Beer and BBQ Festivals in the country. And 2024 did not disappoint.

Join me for another of our 'AFTER DARK' specials where I settle in for a beer and a chat with some of the best competitors out there.

#bbq #bbqfestival #podcast #bbqpodcast

Game meat isn't for everybody. Atleast, it hasn't been historically. However one man, Rob Gallina, is set to change that. He's a builder, contract shooter and BBQ freak who loves nothing more than getting out in the bush for a few weeks at a time and living off the land. Yes, you read that right - he hunts, catches, cleans and cooks what he eats. He's also the founder of Game On Enterprises, which takes people out into the bush and teaches them how to be self-sufficient in the bush, and live sustainably. He also offers classes, and even has his own range of BBQ rubs, that aim to combine delicious traditional BBQ flavours with game meat to create an industry niche with sustainability at its core. 

In this full episode of the Smoking Hot Confessions BBQ Podcast, Rob and I get into:

• The good time he had at Meatstock Toowoomba (0:31)
• Bringing sustainability to the BBQ world (7:06)
• Life as a contract shooter (13:54)
• Taking Big Moe Cason out into the Aussie bush (18:47)
• The rising trend in self-sufficiency classes (22:25)
• How his BBQ business, Game On Enterprises came about (28:13)
• A new idea for competition BBQ categories (35:00)
• Steps toward sustainability you can take (49:08)

Barbe Con is here! The world's first live online BBQ summit is just around the corner and we have three goals - to save you time, save you money and to become the envy of friends and family. We have the best BBQ pitmasters and BBQ business owners from around the country as well as one or two international guests and we're bringing them into your living rooms, LIVE! A two day event, the first day is dedicated to cooking BBQ, and the second day is dedicated to the business of BBQ. We're bringing you cooking demonstrations on Saturday and business presentations on Sunday. Early Bird tickets go on sale Friday the 9th of July. Head to our website to get your tickets now:

https://www.smokinghotconfessions.com/barbecon

BBQ Events Australia like to do things differently to everybody else. Right from the start they've looked beyond the traditional business models within the BBQ industry and have sought to innovate at every opportunity. Jason Linto and his team are responsible for bringing several big name BBQ celebrities from the US to Australia, to share their wisdom with us. Two of those names include Harry Soo and Big Moe Cason. I was privileged to meet Moe and hang out with him at Smokin' on the Water in 2018. But that competition was just one of the things that the BEA boys had him doing!

Perhaps the biggest thing that BEA is known for is bringing Brew'n'Que to Australia. The lads have set this up as a sister competition with the original in NorCo, California. The winner of each event wins an all-expenses paid trip to compete at their sister event. So the Australian winner goes to compete in California and vice versa. This is a truly incredible experience and opportunity for Australian BBQ competitors. 

In this episode Jason and I chat about the formation of BEA, the challenges and successes they've had, as well as their brand new Backyard Barbecue Series and the exciting opportunities there. And finally, we close out the interview with some tips and advice for people wanting to get into competition BBQ for the first time.

This episode of the Smoking Hot Confessions BBQ Podcast is brought to you by Meat n Fire Media Services. To get $100 off the cost of their 'Brand Building through Strategic Social Media Management Course', head on over to https://meatnfiremediaservices.com/allcourses and use the codeword 'Podcast' at checkout. 

Nawaf Refai, owner and head pitmaster of 2 Smokin Arabs would have to be one of the most gentlemanly fellows in the Australian BBQ scene. Known as Raf by his friends, he was bitten by the BBQ bug several years ago, and what started out as a casual toe-dip into the competitive BBQ scene has evolved into so much more.

Raf has gone all-in with his food truck - 2 Smokin Arabs and has grown the business to an incredibly successful level in an incredibly short period of time. And there's big things coming for him just around the corner - but I'll leave that for him to tell you in the episode. 

But it's not just his track record on the competition circuit and the food truck scene that sets him apart. He is a man who understands that his business owes its success to the support of the community that he services. And so he does everything he can to give back. In last year's bushfires he and his team hit the road and not only served the first responders, but also put on fundraising dinners, with the proceeds paid directly to said first responders to help them make sure they had everything they needed. And this is just the tip of the iceberg that is this man's generosity.

In this episode we not only discuss the phenomenal growth of 2 Smokin Arabs, but also the community work that he does, and we close out the episode with a lesson from Raf on how to cook the perfect brisket. Check it out!

Check out 2 Smokin Arabs at: https://www.instagram.com/2smokinarabs_/

Grab the hottest BBQ merch in the world: https://smokinghotconfessions.com/shop/

Ever wondered what a virtual BBQ festival would look like? In this episode of the Smoking Hot Confessions BBQ Podcast I'm giving you a look at how the 2020 Virtual Mike Carney Toyota- Townsville BBQ Battle went down. It was a full day of BBQ, live music, crosses to sponsor sites and more. We were literally jumping in and out of peoples' back yards, from Melbourne all the way up to Townsville. 

This episode is a window into the day's events. We have a Q&A session with Chris from The Smoking Hot Bros, we jump into the back yards of competitors Anthony from Heat Check Barbecue, Dean from Beserker BBQ, Glenn from Smoking Dog BBQ, and the one and only Chloe from Chloe's Que.

Get some of literally the best BBQ merch in the world:

https://smokinghotconfessions.com/shop/

Heavy Kettle Smokers hail from New Zealand, and considering how much they love BBQ over there, the nickname of 'The Land of the Long White Cloud' seems fitting. Daniel Tate is the team captain of the competition BBQ team 'Heavy Kettle Cookers'. His passion for BBQ is overwhelming, and he's competed at almost every competition ever held in New Zealand. His passion has been recognised by some big name sponsors such as Kingsford charcoal and Matangi Angus Beef. His real passion however, is for Weber BBQs. In fact, Daniel and his team cook exclusively on Webers - kettle and Smokey Mountains. Daniel is very proud of his collection of both new and rescued Webers and clearly knows how to use them!

In this episode we find out about how Daniel got into BBQ, and his life growing up in rural New Zealand cooking BBQ with his grandfather. We get into the BBQ scene in New Zealand - we learn about BBQ in NZ culture before the explosion of low'n'slow, including a quick lesson on the iconic 'Hangi'. Then we explore the boom of low'n'slow and competitive BBQ in NZ. Finally, we close out the episode with a lesson from Daniel on how to restore rescued Webers to life and make them look brand new again. 

To learn more about Heavy Kettle Smokers, check out:

https://www.facebook.com/HeavyKettleSmokers/ 

Stay warm this winter with some killer hoodies and beanies from SHC:https://smokinghotconfessions.com/shop/

Smoky Pastures BBQ are an award-winning competitive BBQ team based in South Australia. Tom Damin is the team captain and Pitmaster. He just also happens to be an expert in Agriculture and Primary Production. Whilst the year has been quiet with regards to BBQ competitions, Tom and the rest of the lads from Smoky Pastures BBQ have not been resting on their laurels. They have headed into the lab, and have come to market with an exciting new range of rubs. 

In this interview we not only cover the development and release of these rubs, but we also get into what is very clearly a passion for Tom - Agriculture and Primary Production. Focussing specifically on beef, we discuss the impact of Covid on the Australian beef industry, the development of the Black Angus breed, the importance of pasture balance on the final product, and we put the argument of grass vs grain fed to bed for good!

Stay tuned for Tom to return in another few weeks - an hour was just not enough. We barely scratched the surface in regard to the agricultural industry and the relationship with BBQ. 

Learn more about Smoky Pastures BBQ:

https://www.facebook.com/smokypasturesbbq/ 

Grab our award winning merch now:

https://www.smokinghotconfessions.com/shop/ 

The Townsville BBQ Battle was a highlight of the 2019 BBQ Competition Circuit - and I'm not the only one to say so. It was the perfect combination of sunny Queensland weather, a beachside location, and an incredibly warm and welcoming public. In fact, on a per capita basis, the Townsville BBQ Battle had a better turnout than any Festival I've been to before. Quite the feat for a debut event. 

But all that has changed for 2020. 

In this episode of the Smoking Hot Confessions BBQ Podcast, I chat with Dan Wilschefski, a co-founder of the Townsville BBQ Battle. We get into the ins and outs of the competition, learning how they managed to pull off such an incredible BBQ festival on their first run out of the gate. We also talk about the monumental changes they've had to put in place for 2020. Like so many other events, the Townsville BBQ Battle is unable to go ahead in 2020 due to Covid. So, the 2020 Townsville BBQ Battle is going Virtual!

To find out more about the festival, be sure to head on over to their page on Facebook, throw them a 'Like' and turn on Notifications to make sure you don't miss any of the action: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/874201009724033/ 

Winter is here! Check out our range of winter merch in our online shop:

https://www.smokinghotconfessions.com/shop/

Meatstock founder, Jay Beaumont, is a fan-favourite amongst the BBQ scene in Australia and New Zealand. Not only is Jay the founder of Meatstock, the largest and most successful BBQ festival in both Australia and New Zealand, but he's also one of the co-founders of the Australasian Barbecue Alliance (ABA) - the organisation responsible for kicking off the competition BBQ scene in both countries. Moreover, what really stands out is Jay's ability to create brands that people not just like, but flock to get behind. 

As stated above, Meatstock is the biggest and most successful BBQ festival in Australia and New Zealand with 3 festivals per year across the two countries. The festivals are all-encompassing, including not just a BBQ competition, but live demonstrations, butchering competitions, barber competitions, hot rod shows, axe throwing and so much more. The Meatstock festivals go far beyond just the meat and fire, and embrace all aspects of alternative rockabilly culture. The festivals have proven so successful internationally, that they attract famous international guest Pitmasters, such as Myron Mixon, Tuffy Stone, and Big Moe Cason.

Starting in Sydney, the Meatstock festivals have become a phenomenon, growing rapidly, with festivals now occurring annually in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland. They have become a staple of the BBQ scene for anybody interested in meat and fire and make regular appearances of everybody's calendars. 

In this chat, we get into how Meatstock came about, how it's been affected by Covid, and we wrap up the interview with a lesson in how you too can build a brand that people flock to. 

N.b. In this interview, we won't be getting into the story of how the ABA was formed. To catch up on that piece of BBQ history, check out Episode 001 with Adam Roberts, another of the ABA co-founders. 

More on Meatstock: https://meatstock.com.au/ 

The history of the ABA with Adam Roberts: https://smokinghotconfessions.com/shcpodcast001/ 

Check out our killer merch and support the show: https://smokinghotconfessions.com/shop/