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FOUR Port Macquarie teams will join nearly 90 others in vying for barbecue bragging rights this weekend.
All four have plenty of experience in the Australian Barbecue Wars to draw on as they smoke plenty of meat at the wars, which get underway Friday afternoon.
The preparation at the Town Green begins at about 3pm when the teams start flavouring their meat. Cooking goes all night, with judging from Saturday morning.
There are five competition categories: Beef, lamb, pork, pork ribs and chicken.
The chef's choice allows teams to have some fun. There won't be any competition points on offer in that category.
The Meating Place
Ashley Hocking and The Meating Place were keeping mum about what they would cook in the chef's choice.
"That's classified information," Mr Hocking said.
Dale Randall, Ben Whitehair and Luke Winters are Mr Hocking's teammates.
Mr Hocking said he was captain by name only.
"I got it all together years ago," he said, referring to the first competition the team entered.
"If it goes bad, I can walk away."
The boys won the chook category last year with their take on chicken medallions.
"We'll stick to the winning recipe," Mr Hocking said.
The secret to winning came down to your knowledge of meat, Mr Whitehair said.
"You've got to know your cuts of meat," he said.
"You've got to get the choice cuts."
The Casual Smokers
The Casual Smokers have some quality restaurant experience to draw on when they fire up the smokers this afternoon.
Charlie Edwards worked at Kurobuta London, a Japanese restaurant on the King's Road, Chelsea.
He'll join Greg Smith, his father Sean Edwards and butcher Garry Waddell.
The Grumpys Meats owner is in charge of cutting up the meat, while Charlie Edwards is the smoker, rubber and baster.
Mr Smith is cooking and Sean Edwards is looking after his teammates.
"I'll keep the cold drinks flowing," he said.
Burn for Yew
Consistency and attention to detail are the keys to doing well, according to Burn for Yew's Brad Hodge.
Sleep is also good, too.
"I'll keep setting the alarm and getting up to check it [the meat]," he said.
Like the other teams, he agreed a good cut of meat was essential to the outcome.
Marbling ensures the fat content is higher, which will keep the meat tender and moist.
"It definitely helps, having good cuts," Mr Hodge said.
"But it's not the be all and end all."
Mr Hodge's team is made up of himself, Craig Scaysbrook, Adam Robertson and Dwayne Styles.
He was yet to decide what the team would serve up for chef's choice.
A dessert might be on the cards.
"Everyone might be over smoked meat," he said.
"Desserts always do well in that category."
XS BBQ
Matt Ford's XS BBQ team came second in the lamb category by a point last year, and hope to go one better this time around.
Dylan Gaul, Tim Ross and Brendan Croft will join Mr Ford in the team.
They've had plenty of practice, getting together once a month to work on their menu.
Eighty-eight teams will come from as far as Tasmania, Victoria, Sydney and Brisbane to compete.
The biggest smoker in the country will be on the Town Green. It belongs to Sydney-based company Smokin' Grill.