Press Record with Jared Macdonald

A Q&A session with 5 notable Pitmasters about their favourite rubs, cuts and cooking methods.

Derrick is a long time BBQ enthusiast and competitor including the first sanctioned BBQ contest in NZ: Meatstock Auckland. His team Meat, Smoke, Eat are credited with winning the first, first place trophy in competitive BBQ in NZ. Derrick shares his view on SCA, Fireboard and all things BBQ.

James is the third member of Smokeface Grillahs out of Melbourne Victoria Australia. In this episode we discuss the impact of COVID lockdown on the competition scene in Victoria, we talk about how James joins the team, and discuss the team dynamics that make SFG so successful.

Carl is a qualified head judge for both the New Zealand BBQ Alliance and the New Zealand Steak Cook-Off Association. He is a founding member of the championship BBQ team: The Slow Joint and has competed in Australia and extensively in NZ. His team also promote the BBQ competition held annually at Epic brewing in Auckland. Carl has a love for home cooking, BBQing and drinking beer and lives with his wife and 2 children in Auckland.

SHOW LESSKiwi butcher Reuben Sharples is an award-winning small goods producer, butcher and meat guru. An early supporter of the New Zealand BBQ scene he has participated in every NZ Meatstock and achieved Butcher of the year status. He lives in Auckland NZ with his 3 children and runs his Butcher franchise full time.

Sterling Smith is a Navy veteran, multiple GC BBQ competitor and owner of Loot 'N' Booty rubs and sauces. He has competed in Australia over the last 3 years and has won Lamb at the Australian Invitational twice. He lives with his family in Arizona USA where he works full time to promote and distribute his and his partners' products.

Simon Luxton is a freelance artist known for his 'wall of fame' art at the Meatstock festival, he has also contributed a large body of art to BBQ teams, food business and BBQ related industries. Simon is a native of Tasmania Australia and currently resides in Port Macquarie NSW where he is a tattoo artist.

Trevor Dawson is a long time competitor in the NZ scene. He was RGC at the very first Meatstock in Auckland, and has been back and forwards to NZ over a dozen times since. In this interview, we cover his early BBQ days, his evolution as a BBQer, his experience cooking on his Octopit XL, his trailer setup and all things SCA.

I chew the fat about life, competition BBQ, lockdown and Call Of Duty with BBQ legend Jye Healey from the Smokeface Grillahs. He shares a few tips for new teams, confesses about BBQ shenanigans and gives us his pick for the best comp to attend in Victoria.

On this ANZAC day, I sit down with veteran, pitmaster and food enthusiast Matt Flanagan and discuss ANZAC day, his team Mile Marker 66 and his new competition trailer.