Low and slow American-style BBQ. Photo / George Heard
“Barbecue is not a season.”
That’s what the die-hards will tell you... suggesting that the truly committed will be cooking with fire year-round.
If that statement is true – then it’s also true that “Low and Slow” is not a passing shower.
American-style barbecue is here to stay.
Until recently, New Zealand’s ‘barbecue culture’ has been something of an oxymoron.
Think a three-burner gas job with a dozen pre-cooked snags, ‘tenderised’ steak and perfectly square chicken kebabs.
You’ll still find plenty of that this summer – and if you like it, good for you.
Here, have mine.
But more and more backyard Kiwi cooks are brining themselves in a style of barbecue that takes time, patience and an appreciation for getting out what you put in.
Full disclosure – I am one of them. My interest was piqued by Instagram in early 2020 and those damned algorithms made sure that void was filled by a pellet grill just before Christmas the same year. I have only gotten in deeper since then. And I’m not alone.
Not by a long shot.
Alan Wenmoth is at the white-hot coalface of New Zealand’s barbecue revolution.
The owner/operator at Christchurch’s BBQs Direct has seen the rapid rise of low and slow from behind his shop counter. In fact, when he first started – barbecues were a side business.
“A heating store that just did barbecues in summer to keep busy. It flipped, really. And heating for us, you know – died,” says Wenmoth, sat at a leaner in his “barbecue classroom” that adjoins his BBQs Direct showroom in Sydenham.
That’s how far things have “flipped”.
That move away from heating came in 2011.
Barbecues then, were powered by gas. Three-burner, five-burner, but always connected to an LPG source.
“I remember the look in people’s eyes when we brought in the ceramic egg barbecues.
“These alien concepts, you know?” says Wenmoth.
The “egg” models (by Big Green Egg and Kamado Joe) are charcoal burning barbecues and a long, long way removed from the gas-burner.
“Our preference was to cook on the charcoal as much as we could, just to showcase and profile it,” says Wenmoth.
They still do that most weekends – but the “sell” is nowhere near as difficult now. New converts walk through their doors every day.
“We call it friend-get-friend. Guys coming to see us, they’ve been exposed [to smoked barbecue] at a mate’s place, the mate was cooking on a pellet grill or a smoker, and they loved the experience, not just the food, but the experience of the whole barbecue,” says Wenmoth.
The major shift in smoked barbecue, according to Wenmoth, came in 2017.
“The big kicker in the whole picture of slow and low smoked barbecue was our first ‘Meatstock’ in NZ.”
Meatstock is just as you’d expect – the Woodstock of meat. A huge festival to celebrate barbecue and the passionate pitmasters who create it.
Not only did the inaugural event in 2017 sell out – it brought New Zealand’s underground barbecue community together, and they’ve remained that way ever since.
“We had guys coming in and saying, ‘Hey, I didn’t realise I wasn’t the only guy smoked barbecuing in the backyard at the weekends’,” says Wenmoth.
Linked by social media, the movement continues to grow stronger each year – with a community that accepts all levels of ability and dedication.
From hands-on off-set smokers to part-timers with wi-fi driven automated machines (pellet grills).
“Pellet grills are our biggest category of barbecue, and that’s simply because of the ease of use. The convenience that we’ve come to appreciate with gas, but then you’ve also got the lack of direct fire control required,” says Wenmoth without the slightest hint of judgement.
The pellet grills – such as Traeger, require little attention during the cook compared to other types of barbecue.
The heat - and internal temperature of your chosen protein - can be monitored from your phone... while you simultaneously monitor the cricket.
“We got over the initial comments of, ‘hey, you’re using your microwave’, and ‘I see you’re cheating again’ and that sort of thing. But that was all just good fun,” says Wenmoth.
You’ll see pellet grills virtually everywhere a barbecue is sold now.
And, chances are, somewhere near them will be a range of rubs and spices that were hard to find five years ago.
Now, alongside the imported brands – you’ll see a growing selection of locally produced blends. Wenmoth says that’s another indication of how strong the New Zealand barbecue scene is – and it stems from competitive barbecue events and the teams that chase the titles across the country.
“There’s almost a competition somewhere in NZ every week now. They needed funding [to attend the competitions]. So, several of them turned to monetising their rubs and sauces that they were using,” says Wenmoth.
Brands like The Four Saucemen and Rum and Que can now be found in your local supermarket. Unheard of only a short time ago.
“A lot of those guys now, they’ve left their day job, and their fulltime job is now production and distribution of rubs, sauces and so forth.”
The barbecue business has never been bigger in New Zealand – or as wide-reaching.
“We’re privileged here in Christchurch, particularly. We’ve got several really good low and slow or smoked barbecue restaurants,” says Wenmoth.
In a strange part of Christchurch that isn’t quite anything – but also a little bit of everything, you’ll find BEERS by Bacon Bros – a dedicated barbecue restaurant.
Wedged in the middle of a block of unrelated businesses on the fringe of an industrial area and a stone’s throw from houses, it’s flanked by a mobile phone store and an automotive repair workshop.
You’ll only find yourself at BEERS because you were going to BEERS.
Despite being on one of Christchurch’s busiest roads, it’s not an accidental destination. Yet, every service is busy with very deliberate and discerning diners.
They know what BEERS offers and they’re there for it.
Inside it is what you might expect it to be. There are many beers for a start, but as soon as you set foot inside the door, you’re embraced by that intoxicating aroma of proper barbecue.
I’m not sure if it’s hickory or beech or both – but the smoky smell urges you to find out.
The pitmaster at BEERS is Chris McLaren (AKA Macca).
He discovered American-style ‘low and slow’ barbecue in the most unlikely of places – Afghanistan.
“About a decade ago I was in the military, serving overseas in the desert. We had our barbecue over there, us and the Aussies cooking on the gas barbecue.
“Sausages, chops and steaks. The Americans had these half drums, grilling burgers and God knows what else over charcoal”, says McLaren.
Unimpressed with the Americans’ set-up, McLaren boldly invited the US soldiers to sample Kiwi barbecue.
“And they’re like ‘oh, no. We got you here’,” says McLaren.
That’s not quite where the love affair began, though.
A short time later, McLaren found himself much closer to the American barbecue-belt (widely considered to be the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee).
McLaren jetted to the US for a two-month stay in Virginia, undertaking military training.
“And I just saw all these food trailers at the corner of every block. There’d be like this big fog of smoke drifting across the road and at lunchtime there’d be lines of people”, says McLaren.
Soon after allowing his curiosity to take him to lunch, the smoked ribs, pork shoulder and brisket had his heart.
“I was instantly hooked. I was like, ‘how do I do this at home?’.”
At that stage in the rise of ‘low and slow’ in New Zealand, it wasn’t an easy skill to learn – there weren’t many experts available to teach a novice. At least, not face-to-face.
“I came across this YouTube channel called How to Barbecue Right by a guy called Malcolm Reed.”
Reed is a large and larger-than-life barbecue-guru from Mississippi. He has a following of millions across social media.
“And, basically, that’s how I really learned how to barbecue was watching this guy’s videos. Essentially, my barbecue Jesus”, says McLaren with a smile and a look of total sincerity.
Now he’s a pitmaster teaching others while overseeing a renowned kitchen at BEERS, like Nathan Coates (AKA DJ Nacho).
“I’m learning from some amazing humans that know their stuff. They’re really the savants of the barbecue scene,” says Coates.
Coates officially calls himself an assistant pitmaster – but admits his graduation is imminent.
“I think I’ve got the stripes now to be called a pitmaster. Once you start getting scars on your arms from the pit – I think you’re allowed to be called a pitmaster,” says Coates.
McLaren’s career change only came about after connecting with long-time friend and current New Zealand barbecue champion, Troy Bilbrough. It was McLaren who introduced Bilbrough to his charred obsession.
“I went into Bacon Bro’s Little High [Bilbrough’s first restaurant] when it just opened and Troy approached me like, ‘man, what are those photos on your Facebook? What is that short rib there?’,” says McLaren.
“I’m like, ‘oh yeah, just come on round one day. We’ll just cook some barbecue.’
“Might have been 2018?,” recalls McLaren, vaguely.
By 2020 he was regularly competing and, eventually, talked Bilbrough into joining him.
“And it took him a few comps for him to get the confidence to turn up. But once he turned up it was all over for me. Troy just kept going up, up, up and I just stayed the same,” says McLaren modestly.
Bilbrough now regularly competes internationally.
That bond over barbecue became business as BEERS was born. At that stage, barbecue was still finding its place in kiwi hospitality.
“There was Smoky T’s to start. There was Truck Norris. But yeah, it was low key,” says McLaren.
Christchurch now has more than half a dozen American-style barbecue restaurants and even more mobile food trucks. They’re at virtually every event where there’s a crowd and, inevitably, there will be a crowd outside their truck.
“I think it’s still exploding. I’m seeing all sorts of venues starting to add barbecue items and maybe they might just take elements, they might just be adding smoked meat into their menus,” says Kinnear Horsburgh, executive chef at Bacon Bros – the overarching company that BEERS is a part of.
“I think probably some of the TV shows based around it could potentially have something to do with it. And that tends to be what starts food trends a lot,” says Horsburgh.
The supply of barbecue is growing for the one reason that supply of anything grows.
“The demand is real for this type of food, like, it’s something different - something new for New Zealanders,” says McLaren.
The demand – in numbers, for a restaurant like BEERS – is both eye and mouth-watering.
“Friday is our busiest day. We seem to be going through about five to six briskets on a Friday.”
A whole brisket could weigh anything from 4kg to 8kg, so on average they’re smoking about 30kg of beef on Friday alone.
“We’re looking at like 14 racks of ribs, we’ve got lamb shoulder there, we’ve got chicken wings – we go through about 10kg per day,” says McLaren, almost losing track of what he’s dished up that day.
It’s understandable.
His work begins well before most of us get up. Low and slow can’t be rushed. It takes time to break down a complicated cut like brisket – to a point where it will fall apart in your mouth, but not on your fork.
That means bringing it up to an internal temperature of well over 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93C).
“The meat’s tender, it’s juicy. It’s taken past the point that any of us thought would be possible,” says McLaren.
The daily repetition of transforming red meat into a soft, smoke-ringed bite of savoury decadence has also taken McLaren past the point that he thought would be possible.
“I don’t find myself going out of my way for brisket or ribs anymore.”
But white meat?
“In all my years in barbecue, you give me chicken wings – I’ll eat them every day,” says McLaren with a glint in his eye.
“Pork belly. Yeah, I still eat that. But ribs and brisket, you know, I’m looking at that every day. I’m cooking it every day.”
His passion for eating it may have waned, but the intoxicating smoky aromas that greet you at the door of BEERS still trigger McLaren’s senses.
“The smell is beautiful. When the meat hits that grill and it’s been going for as little as half an hour, you walk out the back door and at 3.30am, 4.30am, it just smells sensational.
“It takes me away to Texas,” says McLaren – with great joy.
There’s one thing that Texas doesn’t really do, perhaps it’s best described as the Kiwi contribution to American-style barbecue’s rich history.
“What I think we’ve got up on those guys is we’ve got lamb on there and as soon as that lamb, the lamb liquids hit the baffles and vaporise up, you get that smell out there.
“Nothing beats it, eh?” says McLaren.
Many of the traditional ‘low and slow’ cuts were cheap to buy – because they are labour intensive to cook. Cuts like brisket or beef cheeks and pork shoulders take a lot of breaking down before they’re tender or able to be pulled. That’s not really ‘a thing’ now.
“Like, you just can’t get cheap meat anymore,” says Charlotte Hughes, food scientist and head judge of the New Zealand Barbecue Alliance.
Hughes is as excited as anyone about the exponential growth of barbecue – but not quite so enthusiastic about the flow on effect.
“Mum used to buy beef shin and put it in the slow cooker. That doesn’t happen anymore. We go and buy whole beef shins and put them on the barbecue, but they’re probably now double in price than they were before,” says Hughes.
Hughes says it has also meant the availability of certain “barbecue cuts” is greater, due to a new-found popularity.
“We’re really lucky in our supermarkets regionally that a lot of butchers do barbecue as well, or they know about the barbecue cuts, they’ve researched the American cuts.
“We’re actually starting to see those big cuts in the likes of Pak’nSave and New World,” says Hughes.
If the cheaper meats are now expensive, what’s happening at the top end?
The best place to assess that is where quality is judged, a barbecue competition.
Smoke at the Lake brought together some of the best barbecue teams in New Zealand – and they brought some of the best quality proteins.
“These guys out here are buying $300 briskets,” says Hughes in her role as head judge.
There are also some big cash prizes to compete for and more competitions to compete in.
That’s because there are more teams (and individuals) wanting to compete.
One of them is Kinnear Horsburgh, a long-time chef who has entered his first competition with the encouragement (and guidance) of his boss and competition favourite – Troy Bilbrough.
Making his debut in the steak cook-off, Horsburgh managed a credible 10th in his second effort. Many who finished ahead of him are regular competitors who chase points in a bid to be the national champion.
“Hopefully I don’t get into that bug because it seems like a rather expensive mission, travelling all around NZ every weekend,” says Horsburgh.
Horsburgh does travel – with work, catering for festivals like TGA Smoke and Ōtautahi Smoke. Events like these are also on the rise.
“We’re on our third year now in Christchurch and our first year in Tauranga,” says festival director, Richie Davies.
“The amount of food vendors that are popping up now from when we started, we struggled to find enough vendors to fill our site and now we’ve got a waiting list,” says Davies.
The rapid rise of low and slow shows little sign of slowing down.
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