Belated birthday honours list

I’ve been blown away by the support and help from the BBQ community since my friend Aaron opened the Instagram account for me back in March 2021. So I thought I’d take some time to say a personal thank you to some of these people. In no particular order…

Aaron - Thank you for opening the account in the first place. I’m still not sure I would have opened one myself by now if he hadn’t! On a non BBQ related point, check out his mini page. It’s a great little car that’s come on a long way from the near wreck when Aaron bought it.

The Hunter Gatherer - I approached Alex early on about doing some Instagram live cooks, and fully excepted him to say thanks but no thanks. He had such great content and certainly didn’t seem like he needed any more. But he liked the basic idea and we had chat about how to make it work. I hope you’ve seen the four or more episodes we’ve done so far of “Feed the Family” which I really enjoyed making. So thanks Alex for joining me on the live videos so far and here’s to many more.

Karen - Thank you for designing my logo. There was a lot of back and forth but I’m so happy with the result. I still have no idea where all this is going which I’m sure drives Karen mad! But I even have hats now!

Grden Grills - If you’re reading this, then you probably follow me on Instagram, and you probably know I have a Kamado+ from Grden grills. I love this grill so much and as I’ve written before in my blogs the value for money is unparalleled. I do most of my cooking on the Kamado+ and in January decided to take Grden grills up on the trade in deal, upgrading my large model to an XL. As you can see in the pictures this is blooming huge! I was impressed with the size of the large but the XL is in a league of its own. So thank you Christian and the team for helping come this far on my BBQ journey. Back in April Grden Grills announced me as their first brand ambassador. This has been my proudest moment to date and I’m really excited to work with them.

Altons BBQ world - most people in the BBQ community will know about Jay and the boys down at Altons. It's like an Aladdins cave for BBQ enthusiasts. Every time I’m in the area I love popping in and having a chat with Jay and the team. The collective knowledge is like a hive mind for grilling and they are always more than happy to share it! The things these guys do for the BBQ community can often go unnoticed behind the scenes, so just incase it isn’t said enough, thank you.

Warrendale wagyu and Velit outdoor living - Back in May 2021 I won a competition, the prize being a Kamado Joe Jr and a wagyu beef hamper. This added a whole different style to my cooking. The small kamados are a great addition to any outdoor kitchen. The beef was awesome too!

Now for a few of my favourite cooks from my journey so far.

Prosciutto wrapped Camembert - I was so pleased the first time I cooked this and couldn’t believe how well it worked. I improved this the second time I cooked it by adding a layer of cranberry sauce on top of the cheese (as requested by Rich my brother in law)

Lamb shoulder - I wrote about this cook in my blog “from field to bbq to plate” - my friend James gave me an incredible lamb shoulder which I cooked for hours, probably one of my first really low and slow cooks.

My company BBQ - I was asked to cook at our firms summer BBQ. I have to admit I was so nervous cooking for so many people, but it all came together and the pulled pork went down a treat.

My first live cook - for my first live cook with The Hunter Gatherer I went for smash burgers, a fairly simple cook but they really do taste great. And something where I couldn’t go too far wrong live on instagram!

The Christmas turkey - before I started cooking I never understood anyone going outside on Christmas day and cooking a turkey. I now admit I was very very wrong on that front. Wet brining helped to make it the most moist turkey we’ve ever eaten.

Stuffed porchetta - this dish really did have the wow factor I was looking for. Stuffed with apricot honey stuffing and some of the best crackling I’ve eaten made for an awesome meal.

I had no idea my account was going to grow at such a rate. I’m really enjoying cooking and long may it continue (in the words of my wife). My equipment has grown again and I’ve now added an @ooni fyra pizza oven to the squad which now consists of my Grden grill kamado+ XL, my Kamado Joe Jr and my Weber go anywhere. So across all of my grills I’m pretty well set up to cook almost anything I can think of!

Before I sign off here are a few quick fire thank yous to some accounts I’ve had the absolute pleasure of getting to know over the past year or so

George & Martha Nicholson Hart - helping me up my picture game one shoot at a time!

Scotts foods - top bloke, top cook

Smoke faced griller - one of the biggest personalities in the bbq community

Sue Stoneman - always supportive, always smiling and makes the best desserts in the bbq world

JD’s Hot Honey - amazing products, if you haven’t tried yet you ned to!

Charlieboy bbq - producing the most picture perfect burgers and chicken wings in the game!

The Smokey Carter - the first set of rubs I bought when I started. Im still using them in my cooks now

Artust BBQ - another all round great guy. Thanks for the constant inspiration

bbq_stu_ - A good friend with who I’m glad to share our bbq experiences with

UK bbq week - such a great idea, I love taking part in this

One last thank you to each and every one of my followers, viewers and readers. I hope you continue to enjoy my content!

Stuart - Bbqfestu