In a new golden age of barbecuing, American-style low-and-slow has overtaken the gas four-burner. Mount Maunganui’s Mike Jeffries is a trailblazer in the ‘sport’ - the first to cater for events on big-scale barbecues in New Zealand and a member of the internationally ranked barbecue team. Now, he and friend Shane Southby plan to open the country’s first barbecue eatery with a front-row ‘theatre’.
Truck driver turned pitmaster Mike Jeffries is hoarding an undisclosed number of slow-cooker barbecues in his backyard and each has a nickname.
His favourite is 14-year-old “Big Smoke”, an 8-metre long, $30,000, 2.5-tonne “freight train” custom-made barbie from Texas that holds 500kg of meat.
“Barbecues are like golf clubs,” the 51-year-old reckons. “You can never have too many because they each play different shots.”
He claims slow-cooking meat, likewise a “family man’s sport”, is a full day’s work. While a chicken takes 3-4 hours, a beef brisket can take 11 hours, 12 hours for a pork shoulder and 14 hours for a whole pig.
The key to getting it right is “not drinking too many beers”. He says consuming anything beyond a dozen tends to result in cooking failure.
To cook a brisket requires 45 minutes to light a fire and bring the barbeque temperature up to 275F. He then trims the meat, massages in a spice rub, smokes the meat for about five hours and wraps it like a Christmas present. He then places it on a rack away from the flame or smoke for another five hours.
Depending on the type of “pit” he’s using, his fire may require lump charcoal, briquettes or wood (his favourite is pohūtukawa).
Heat and smoke then slowly cook the meat until the meat’s connective tissue breaks down, leaving it tender and flavoursome. The method is a practised art rather than a quick and easy job on the gas burner.
Jeffries owns catering business The Big Smoke BBQ Co, with branches in Tauranga and Auckland, and is on the world-champion barbecue team with star American pitmaster Moe Cason.
Last year they placed third at the four-day Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and he’s heading back for more this year. While competing, he’s rubbed shoulders with celebrity chef Guy Fieri and Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl who’s attended as a judge.
Front row BBQ ‘theatre’
With his trademark handlebar moustache, black uniform, and wraparound sunglasses, Jeffries left truck driving to follow his barbecue passion and establish Big Smoke in 2009.
At the time, no one else in New Zealand was catering for events on big-scale barbecues. Now, he owns six commercial barbeques, and low and slow culture has grown exponentially thanks to Covid lockdowns, and the long-running American TV show BBQ Pitmasters.
Nationally, the NZ BBQ Alliance Facebook group, which describes itself as “ ... a forum for like-minded people to discuss and offer advice on all things charcoal/wood barbecue-related”, has more than 55,000 members.
Meatstock, promoted asNew Zealand’s biggest barbecue festival, began in New Zealand in 2017 and this year attracted 10,000 people to Mystery Creek.
Slow-cooking barbecue originated in southern US cuisine and slow cookers for home use are pricey (a quality Kamado Joe ceramic grill starts at $1000-plus, a wood pellet grill is $6500 and the most lavish machine on the BBQs & More website is $16,000). Yet Kiwis are eager to join the club.
To meet increasing demand, supermarkets are offering a greater variety of meat cuts; and the advent of the pellet grill with Wi-Fi control from your cell phone (albeit controversial among some hardcore pitmasters), has made low-and-slow cooking easier.
This year, Jeffries and fellow Mount Maunganui barbecue enthusiast Shane Southby plan to open The Big Smoke Barbecue Deli and Brew house, attached to BBQs & More on Newton St, Mount Maunganui. Currently in the consent process, it will be the first of its kind in New Zealand, featuring a front-row barbecue “theatre” in an open warehouse space. Think smoke, fire and the tempo of fat dripping onto coals. Star billing will go to a $50,000, 3.5-tonne custom-built barbecue made by Tauranga’s Tri-dek Engineering.
”We’re going to have meat going around on spits. I want a carving table where people see me slicing up. Maybe we’ll do some whole pigs on a Sunday,” says Jeffries. “I want people to see what they’re getting.”
‘No great story ever started from eating salad’
Jeffries and Southby, who have competed and judged on TV1′s Cooks on Fire, offer in-person masterclasses aimed at the would-be “barbecue god or goddess”.
The men teach their students to bring meat to room temperature before cooking to avoid the shock of cold to hot. They show people how to break a whole rump into different cuts; how to wrap ribs or brisket with peach paper or foil; and how to make their own steak butter and salads. “(However), no great story ever started from eating salad”, Jeffries notes.
“We’ve had a couple of vegans attend our class asking, ‘What have you got for me?’ Well, probably a taxi”.
Interestingly, more women are taking up the sport. Waikato’s The Girlmours BBQ Girls have more than 500 Instagram followers. The three women compete on the New Zealand Barbecue Alliance circuit. Jeffries and Southby have had one local woman attend their class five times.
Southby: “She retired and wanted to get into a hobby so she thought the barbecue might be her thing. Her son has told us, ‘I go round for dinner and she’s got a brisket going, ribs. No longer the traditional Sunday roast, Mum’s into it’.”
And while students can easily find guidance on YouTube, Southby says most content is Americanised.
“We teach the way Mike does it and what works for him because he cooks for hundreds and thousands of people.” To which Jeffries responds: “Yip, I’ve cooked zoos.”
Jeffries is booked two years in advance for weddings and if a brisket is due to be served at lunchtime, he’ll be up at midnight lighting a fire the night before. He never reheats meat, and is rarely invited to other people’s barbecues because “they all think I’m judging them”.
‘We spent our house deposit on a BBQ business’
The former truck driver gets around in an old-school Hot Wheels-inspired Kenworth truck called “Wingman”, which he jokes was bought during a midlife crisis.
The truck is destined to become a mobile barbecue classroom, but he also takes it to the supermarket to stock up on supplies.
The Big Smoke BBQ Co idea emerged while he was living in the United Kingdom, driving trucks, diggers and bulldozers at work sites in Europe and helping a mate do spit roasts in London pubs.
He bought his first Big Smoke barbecue from the United States using money he and his partner Nadine had set aside for a house deposit.
Jeffries claims he plied his partner with white wine before talking her around and playing the sympathy card – his dad had just died. He also tried to use similar methods on his late Scottish chef father-in-law but the plan did not go well.
“My father-in-law was a full Scottish Gordon Ramsay back then. He controlled the kitchen; yeller and screamer; old-school chef. Nadine said ‘I’ve got to tell Dad we’ve spent our house deposit on a barbecue’. So, we got him around home, gave him a couple of whiskys, and started talking about this business. He was rolling his eyes, and then I looked outside and there was a bit of a glow. The shoulder that I had going around the spit had a fat fire. I kicked the barbecue over, unhooked the gas bottle, and ended up ordering pizza. And, yes, he wasn’t very impressed.”
But he did accept the idea. “Once he saw how hard I worked he came and helped out in the kitchen, and helped design menus.
“I started off catering for 40 people at the first wedding I did and I couldn’t sleep for two weeks prior. Now, we do a couple of thousand.”
Southby, equally passionate about barbecuing, was a former ANZ corporate banker. He met Jeffries at a charity event and later became his bank manager before leaving the bank pre-Covid to help form Big Smoke’s restaurant plan.
“We’d go out for a few long, bank lunches together, and I’d pick his brains on all things barbecue cooking.”
When Covid lockdown hit, the pair focused on Jeffries’ secret barbecue recipes, sauces, and rubs, including his famous Bad Ass Blueberry BBQ Sauce that can be used on meats or dessert.
Southby says the lockdown ideas included developing a smoked Bavarian sausage that was judged top five in the 2021 New Zealand Artisan Awards.
Jeffries, whose bacon jam was used by fast-food chain Wendy’s in 2017, now has a second business with Southby that makes and sells a range of barbecue condiments.
He claims they get their best ideas “after a few Lion Reds”. “It’s the thinking man’s drink,” Southby quips.
Both men are glad to share their top barbecue tips.
Southby: “Always plan and allow enough time. We’ve all been there when it’s 10pm and your wife’s going ‘Is it nearly done yet?’”
Jeffries: “Click your tongs twice for luck. And don’t barbecue bacon naked.”
- Unleash your would-be barbecue god or goddess at The Big Smoke BBQ’s four-hour masterclass during the Flavours of Plenty Festival on April 14. Learn the secrets of fire management, barbecue methods, temperatures, smoking woods, meat selection, and preparation. Visit: flavoursofplentyfestival.com More than 45 events are offered at this year’s festival, backed by Tourism Bay of Plenty.
Big Smoke BBQ’s Classic NZ Lamb Rumps with Creamy Mash and Salsa BBQ Beans
We love these at home. Nice and simple as it gets into cooler days. This is great barbecue comfort food that combines some amazing flavours.
Ingredients
4x lamb rumps (ask your butcher for these or Gilmours)
The Big Smoke BBQ Raging Lamb Rub or Big Smoke Piranha Pitmaster Rub
Creamy mash
6 large Agria potatoes
2x parsnip
2x cubes of vegetable stock
½ carton of buttermilk
100gms salted butter
Salsa BBQ beans
1x can of cannellini beans in brine
1x tbsp onion powder
1x tbsp garlic powder
1x tbsp paprika
½ small jar of jalapenos
2x large brown onions
3 x roasted yellow capsicums
2x tbsp brown sugar
2x tbsp New York Cut or cracked pepper
½ cup Apple cider vinegar
1x can tomato puree
2x tins of Italian chopped tomatoes
½ bunch celery
1x bag flat-leaf parsley
Method
Prepare and peel potatoes and parsnip for the mash. Place into a pot with water and a small amount of stock. Bring to a boil. Coat the lamb rumps with Big Smoke BBQ Raging Lamb or Piranha Pirt Master All Purpose Rub. Set aside for 15 minutes and bring to room temperature. Then place them onto the grill/barbecue using indirect heat. Cook through turning once. Halfway through, cook until the internal temperature reaches 150F. Set aside and cover to rest. Prepare and finely cut all ingredients for the beans and place them into a cast iron pot in the barbecue. Add wood chunks for some extra smoke. Mash potatoes and parsnips together with buttermilk and more stock powder to taste. Whip until smooth and creamy. Serve the lamb on a bed of mash, surrounded by barbecue beans.
Carly Gibbs is a weekend magazine writer for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post and has been a journalist for two decades. She is a former news and feature writer, for which she’s been both an award finalist and winner.