Adelaide – it may not be as big or as popular as Sydney or Melbourne but it houses some of Australia’s most creative dishes and now it’s home to the country’s best barbequers.
This week, the five finalist teams in Brand USA, Trafalgar, United Airlines, Weber and Flight Centre’s ‘The Australia VS USA World BBQ Champion Cook Off 2015’ competition flew to Sydney to put their cooking skills to the test and prove they are the best behind the barbeque.
Five duos heated, grilled and turned meat for four hours at Beachside Dojo in Manly to find out who the best of the best really is.
And the winners are…
Introducing Craig Philpott and Grant Neal – Australia’s BBQ Champions.
Former cooking rivals and Adelaide-born and raised, Grant Neal and Craig Philpott.
The pair, also known as Team Suck Knuckle Smokers, won after serving low and slow cooked beef cheeks accompanied with steamed buns, pickles and various sauces.
Despite their obvious cooking chemistry and dynamic pairing, the duo have very little experience cooking together, in fact up until two weeks ago they were on rivaling barbeque teams.
Craig, who can be found putting out fires with the South Australia fire service, told KarryOn he decided to enter the competition with his opponent because of his passion and talent.
“Grant being such a passionate barbequer that he is, I knew I wanted him on board with me for this experience because we both love the sport.”
Craig Philpott, Australia’s BBQ Champion
As well as taking home the title and knowing they serve some of the best barbeque dishes in the country, Craig and Grant will head to the USA next month where they will take on BBQ champions in the US, The Randalls, who feature as Trafalgar’s Be My Guest hosts during select tours, and prove Aussies know how to do it best behind the barbie.
Grant, an IT expert by day, said while America has a huge barbeque scene, he expects The Randalls will be surprised by what Team Suck Knuckle Smokers brings to the plate.
“We’re not going out there with the attitude that we’re going to dominate, we expect to learn a lot more especially from seeing how they do things. But we are going to be a bit of a surprise because they’ve never seen us do it and they don’t know what they’re going to get.”
Grant Neal, Australia’s BBQ Champion
As well as competing with America’s best, the duo will also receive an USA culinary experience including an exclusive visit to Weber’s headquarters in Chicago to meet Weber Grill Master, Kevin Kolman for personalised lessons at Weber’s Grill Academy.
Congratulations to the pair!
