The Great Customer Cook-off, so what is it I hear you ask?
Event Details
5:30am – Chef Choice cook starts
10:45am – Cook 2 – Shot Glass Burger
12:00pm – Shot Glass Burgers will be served
12:30pm – Cook 3 – Chicken drumettes/niblets
2:00pm – Chicken will be served
2:30pm – Winner Announced! The votes will be counted and the winner of BBQs and Outdoor “Great Customer Cook Off” for 2022 will be announced.
Meet Our CONTESTANTS:
Contestant 1 – Rob ”Dealsy” Deal
Describing himself as “Friendly, helpful and a food lover”, Rob is a long-standing customer of BBQs & Outdoor. He was first bitten by the BBQ bug on a business trip to Texas in 2016. There he “had the pleasure of feasting on American home cooked trailer pit BBQ”, describing the taste as “amazing”, upon returning home to Australia he was keen to explore low and slow cooking for himself.
Robs current cookers include a reverse flow offset smoker and an XL size Big Green Egg. It’s the Egg Rob will be cooking on during this competition.
Robs favourite thing to cook is brisket, accompanied with copious amounts of “Gentleman Jack & Coke”. His go to rub is Kosmos Q’s SPG mixed with a little additional onion powder.
Whittlesea Show goers might recognise Rob from his cooking demonstrations there. In Robs own words:
“a lady tasted my Beef Ribs and said “Oh my god, I just had a mouth orgasm!” Sorry ladies, Rob is married, but you can still come down on the day and try his barbecue firsthand!
Contestant 2 – Daniel ”DGR BBQ” Reed!
Describing himself as a “laid-back, sarcastic larrikin”, Daniel started to seriously get into barbecue about 4 years ago. Inspired by the growing popularity locally of the American BBQ Scene, he just “had to get involved and start cooking it myself”. Since then, Daniel has garnered a steady following via his Insta page, be sure to check him out @dgr_bbq
Much to the displeasure of his wife, Daniels barbecue collection appears to be ever growing and currently includes a recent release Blue Weber Go Anywhere, a 1986 H Code 18” Stumpy Weber Kettle, a Weber Baby Q, Weber Spirit E320, a portable spit/rotisserie and a Weber Charcoal Summit. It’s the Summit Daniel will be using during the Cook off.
Daniel notes that he likes barbecuing because “what other excuse gives me 8 hours of peace outside with a beer in hand?”. He recommends a sessionable, easy drinking lager like a Peroni, Corona etc or a Bourbon, which he “claims to buy to make a sauce with, but proceeds to drink instead”.
His go to rubs are either a straight SPG or Hardcore Carnivore Black for beef, otherwise it’s hard to go past Meat Church’s Holy Voodoo for chicken or pork.
Most proud barbecue accomplishment? “My daughters first birthday: feeding 70 people with a 5kg Rolled Pork Belly that JUST fitted in a Weber Kettle, plus beef short ribs, a whole lamb shoulder and a decent collection of sides and there was pretty much nothing left! The reaction when an enormous, perfectly crackled pork belly hit the table alone made the effort worthwhile!”
Contestant 3 – Alex ”Many Barbecues” Herden
The last, but certainly not least of our competitors, Alex has been a long time customer of BBQs & Outdoor. When asked for 3 words to describe himself Alex said “Cars, BBQ & Beer” – so relatable for several members of the BBQs & Outdoor team!
Alex first started getting into barbecuing around 2014, when a mate introduced him to cooking over charcoal. Since then, Alex’s fleet of barbecues has grown exponentially, currently including an XL size Big Green Egg, a charcoal Landman, 2x Weber Kettles, a 5 Burner BeefEater, a Masterbuilt Gravity Fed Smoker (so new it’s still sitting at BBQs & Outdoor waiting collection!) and a Green Mountain Grills Pellet Smoker. Alex will be cooking on the GMG during the comp.
Alex’s favourite thing to barbecue is split between racks of Baby Back Pork Ribs and a good old fashioned steak, paired with either a strong pale ale or JD and coke.
The barbecue accomplishment Alex is most proud of is running 5 barbecues simultaneously for Christmas. He even “nailed a good cut of brisket – even the minister for home affairs liked it!”
Will you like Alex’s cooking? Unless you’re on the invite list for his next Christmas cook up, there’s only one way to find out – attend our Great Customer Cook off and have your say!
