Turning Up the Heat with Nat: A BBQ Exploration

Owen: 0:00

Today's episode is brought to you by AOS Kitchens, the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists.

Dan: 0:18

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Meet and Greet BBQ podcast. Today we're talking to Nat, which is at Northern Grillers Now. You can find her on Instagram. She has a fantastic feed. There's so many different things that she's cooking on there. All the colours are wonderful and there's so much to learn, so that much further ado, here's Nat.

Owen: 0:36

Hi Nat. Welcome to the Meet and Greet BBQ podcast. Thanks so much for joining us. Please start by introducing yourself and telling our listeners who you are.

Nat: 0:45

OK, thanks for having me. I'm Nat. I run the Northern Grillers Instagram account Started I don't know how long ago it was Probably about four or five years ago now and it's been a slow build, but we're getting there now and, yeah, that's me.

Owen: 1:01

Great, I said it's been a bit of a pleasure. We've been in contact for a little while now, sort of trying to try to arrange to get you on, so it's really good to speak with you. I'm going to start straight away. And you said obviously you've been starting that Instagram page four or five years ago, interested to know what got you into barbecue in and where did that journey start?

Nat: 1:26

In the pub, I think.

Owen: 1:29

We're all good stories.

Nat: 1:31

Start. Every good story starts. Every good story starts with the pub. And as one of our friends he not only for a while and he mentioned that he'd gone into barbecue and he was saying I would cook to this on the barbecue and you know, slow cooked. And I was just like what, how can you do that on a barbecue? And I wasn't that interested at this point. My fellow was. So he got a chance and he was like I need to try this. So we bought like a 40 pound test score kettle but one of them had a do with it. And then he started getting into it a bit more. And I'm like, well, I've always been, it's cooking anyway, Like I love cooking indoors. So I was like, well, I want to have a do. And then he had a do. We weren't able to do all the temp control and everything. And then it just went from there, Really Started getting more and more into it. And then he had to persuade me to buy a web of kettle. I'm like, oh, you know, this phase is just a fad, it won't last. And then the web is mine now. And then I've got like seven no, I'm not got seven others now, because I've just got rid of you and I got up to seven or eight barbecues. So yeah, that's how I got into it.

Owen: 2:35

Safe to say it was an addiction then yeah, I think you were just cooking outdoors.

Nat: 2:39

It's just, it's better, isn't it? And it's not that it's the challenge. And so, like I know, I can cook lasagna indoors, but then I'll try and kind of cook one outdoors, because really you buy a few, just another, and so you can cook anything on it. But I just keep checking that I can still cook things on it that I can normally cook in the oven. And yeah, that's that's how it started and that's that's where it's gone.

Dan: 3:01

To See the thing that I love about your page is all of the color. Everything stands out on pops and is different. So you know, photography comes into it, of course, but also the variety of bits and pieces you're doing. You know you've got some baking in there where you've got cookies and things, and then you're going across to like tacos. Then you've got the steaks and you've got the more kind of low and slow, traditional bits and pieces. Is that a deliberate choice?

Nat: 3:24

Do you like mixing it up or Well, tacos are always going to be there, because I love tacos. Everything should be a taco. I don't really do so much low and slow anymore just because I can't afford your brisket every week and all that and plus I don't have the time for it. Really it's an all day of a job and I just I've just kind of just gone in, I've just kind of moved out of the kitchen. Obviously, the barbecue, anything I cook indoors, I cook out. Well, I cook outdoors when I can, when weather's right. Obviously, we live in north, so it's not the best, but yeah it's. I don't mean to cook, I don't plan what I cook, it just kind of happens. I do a lot of fusion food as well. That spurs me on a bit. I like just mixing it up like, well, you know, you'll do an Indian dish, that way Can I make it a Mexican dish, but the Indian style, and just things like that.

Owen: 4:24

And where did you get your inspiration from?

Nat: 4:27

I don't know, my head works in really weird ways. So I think like oh, like I want to do some. I want to try my onion rings. And I'll be like oh, can I make that out of potato? And I'll be like oh, but what about a potato bargey ring? It just goes weird. It just goes from one thing to another and then it actually gets to like a ridiculous point and I'm like no, you've gone too far, you can't do that. But yeah, it just. I don't know. They just pop in mid like oh, I wonder if anyone's tried that before. Now look into it. Ever the other, the other, and then I'll still give it a go and it it works or it fails.

Owen: 5:05

And do you write these down. So do they become? Do you like what, once you've got these ideas, that they kind of written down? Right, that's a recipe, this is you know that's a yeah or a no.

Nat: 5:14

No, I freehand everything and then when I tried to do the measurements and write them down, I ended up freehanding after it anyway, like, oh, that wasn't enough. There's a few, I've got a few recipes which have wrote down, which are just, every single time you do them, the bang on. Like I've got my own tandoori marinade now which I've been told Phenomenal, so I'll stick with that. I've got a lamb cough to one, but generally everything's just freehanded and I'll try, and afterwards I think I'll write that down, but I don't know if the measurements are quite what I've done. That makes sense.

Owen: 5:45

Totally.

Nat: 5:45

I'm exactly.

Owen: 5:46

I'm exactly the same. I I find it very hard that. I think that's why I struggle with baking, where it has to be so precise, and I don't enjoy that. I just like chucking stuff in and just taste. Yeah, that tastes right.

Nat: 6:00

And then you know, kind of crack up. You can't do that with baking. It's like a science, isn't it?

Owen: 6:05

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Dan: 6:08

So do you, do you go and get out and a number of like rubs and things like that, or is almost everything you do just your own mixes, your own blends and things?

Nat: 6:20

I have a few, Not if it's more Her cactus kitchen I use a lot just because it's just the perfect blend of all Mexican spices. And I've obviously got a few other ones. I've got like just random sachets of things. You know, things you pick up in supermarket, but I don't purposely go out and buy that brand and that brand. I think I've had about three angus the night in all my life and actually I'm still in cupboard. It's about three years old. A minute, it's good, but I just I just tend to want to do my own, if that makes sense, and Just trying to get any of us. Oh, there's another one. There's another one. I used it tonight. Actually she's a local woman near to me. She's like an Indian marinated and you mix it with yogurt and stuff and that's just fantastic. So I use that just for like quick and easy. But generally it's just what's in the cupboard. I'll just mix it together and see what works.

Dan: 7:20

You mentioned, like seven different barbecues that you've got at the moment and you're cooking on. Can you run us through kind of each of them and what your preferences on how you use them, like if you use one thing for this or another for that?

Nat: 7:35

Yeah, I mean I've got, so we're moving to Australia. So I actually started getting rid of a few now. But at one point we had the Weber, which that's that's my favourite. That's always going to be my favourite. It's what I learned on Well, not learned on, but that's when it started getting serious. You can do everything on it, can't you? So I had the Weber, and then I got the pro queue to go camping with, and then I had the Weber go anywhere. And then I have the Auspik, which that's just a funky bit of curl of it, and I had a gas George Foreman grill and didn't use that that much Ooni. I'm a little bit of a barbecue. Ooni is kind of I do.

Owen: 8:19

That's one I'd class in my collection.

Nat: 8:22

Yeah that. And then I had a Do you remember then Pete's Rubens that Alvi brought out, where it was like a big tower stand up thing, which we did actually do a belting Sunday roast on it one time, but then we just didn't follow it after that. How many of that was? They might have been more. I've got the black stone now, so as I'm getting rid of the barbecues, I'm also gaining them as well. It's just an addiction.

Owen: 8:58

Yeah, I totally agree. Sorry, just going back to that. So you cooked a full roast on a wood-fired oven.

Nat: 9:06

Yeah, on the Aldi one, yeah, it was all right, but everything tasted the same. So, like your potatoes tasted the same as the chicken, the same as the carrots and the parsnips, but we did manage to get one out of it. So I think that's a bit of a win, because it was a really it was quite a terrible barbecue. You needed to get some is it fire-oat or fire-seat Some to seal it, because it just leaps everywhere. Yeah, that was bad at the very beginning. We only got rid of it about a month ago. You just did that there rotting, and was it big enough that?

Owen: 9:46

you managed to cook the chicken, the potatoes, the veg all at once. I can't remember. I can't remember what it was, isn't?

Nat: 9:55

it. It might have been. I don't know if there were two shells in it or not. I can't remember. It was literally about five or six years ago. It was right at the very start. That's impressive.

Owen: 10:11

I was going to say as well, the move to Australia is that just so?

Dan: 10:14

you've got another excuse to kick on the habit, if you've got to get rid of loads of stuff, to then rebuy it over there and change up. I've already got a shocking list.

Nat: 10:24

So I've said to him, said to my fella, I don't care if we're in an Airbnb or a hotel. Well, maybe not in a hotel, but the first week that we're living in a house and I'm going to say I'm going to live in a house, I'm going to the BBQ shop and buying a new weather Nice. There's no debate.

Owen: 10:46

I'm doing it. Where about some Australia?

Nat: 10:49

going.

Owen: 10:50

West East.

Nat: 10:52

South Melbourne. I'm a northerner at the minute, but I'm going to be a southerner when I go over there.

Owen: 10:57

How long is it before you leave for Australia?

Nat: 11:00

We're not sure yet. It's looking July, August, September, but it's more slightly August. It could possibly so. We're waiting for the house to complete at the minute, but we just went to the searches to come back. I think it might be July, but we won't go until August.

Owen: 11:17

Wow, so by the time this episode goes out, then you actually might be in Australia. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, You're going to keep your name the same on Instagram even though you're going to be down under.

Nat: 11:32

Well, I might be the northern grillers down under. Yeah, because obviously we're going to be sub. I don't know, I'm going to be something as over there, so can I really be the northern grillers? But I don't want to change my name.

Owen: 11:45

You should be the northern southerners.

Nat: 11:48

Yeah. The northerners upside down.

Dan: 11:53

Or like completely rebrand and go for a place in the bun, like a place in the sun.

Nat: 11:59

Terrible yeah.

Dan: 12:05

That's the normal reaction that I expect. Good, how long live in down south? Do you think it'll take before you start being anti-social? I call southerners and stop talking to people. How long will that take?

Nat: 12:18

I've already answered.

Owen: 12:22

I'm all right in saying that. My brother-in-law lives in Australia, near Brisbane, and I'm pretty sure he's only allowed to use gas. They're not allowed to use charcoal.

Nat: 12:36

What. I don't know if that's a thing or not, I think you might be calling you like that. Yeah, I wondered I don't know If it's a really hot place because obviously I've got a lot of bushfires, don't I?

Owen: 12:50

No yeah exactly.

Dan: 12:52

I am going to be so excited if I Google this now. If I Google this now.

Nat: 12:56

I'm not going. I've got the blackstone, that's gas, but it's not. I'm not cooking with gas, I'm not cooking all the gas Do you know what I mean. I'm not like char grilling all the gas or anything like that. You've got to have the char if you're doing it that way. I was interested to talk to you about the blackstone, actually because it was something I was talking to Dan about. I was talking to Dan about the blackstone.

Owen: 13:20

I was talking to Dan about the blackstone. I was talking to Dan about the blackstone. I was talking to Dan about potentially getting. I've decided to. I bought something else quite recently, so I won't go for it for a little while anyway, but how are you getting on with the blackstone?

Nat: 13:39

I'm loving it.

Owen: 13:40

Oh yeah.

Nat: 13:41

Yeah. So since before I got it obviously weather's changed, so that might have been a bit of a thing I wasn't really bbqing as much as I used to do. I was just like, oh, I better go out and get on it and stuff like that. And then since it came, I literally bbqed outside for like a whole two weeks, just firing up. You know what I mean, just fire it up. It's not, I know, like with a charcoal bbq you can just set your chimney and stuff, but you're always checking it, you're always watching, and then once you put it in, you've got to get it to the temperature that you want to before you put your food on. Whereas I was just like, yeah, light it, go inside, prep everything, come out, cook it like, clean it. And then I was like, oh, really easy, but at the minute, because I still I do still want the bbq element of it, you know, like you smoked bits and things like that. So what I'm doing is I'll batch cook. So I did some chuckly over there, like like Burea chuck, and I did some Indian spiced pulled lamb and I've just frozen them in like little packets. So when I want to, I'm just across them and then I can do it on the black, so when I'm still getting the best of both worlds, I've got quick, but I've got my smokiness. It is actually a really impressive bit of kit. I'm quite liking it and there's still not even used it. It's like the full potential. Yet I'm just still just trying bits and backs out just to see what we can do.

Owen: 15:02

You mentioned you love tacos right at the beginning and it seems everywhere at social media at the minute they're doing the cheeseburger tacos that you just put. You know you put the meat on top of the and flip it over and cook it that way, but I suppose for doing things like tacos that Blackstone must be super ideal to be, able to do.

Nat: 15:21

Yeah, tacos, smash, burgers, pancakes third of those three things, that just, and then I'll roll them. So that's good.

Owen: 15:28

Did you get the breakfast kit? Isn't it like a jug or something? Just press a button in it.

Nat: 15:34

Yeah, I've got it. I actually won it before I got the Blackstone. I won it through Saul Callan, Sizzle Fest, them guys. I didn't even know I'd entered a competition. I think it was just because I liked a certain post and he messaged me to say you've won this. Now I was like what? And I went that's weird, because I know I'm getting a Blackstone. I can't tell you that I'm getting a Blackstone yet. But, yeah, just won it with that. So that's been super handy. But I did it with it and I don't know if it was just the temperature of the grill, the seasoning or the dispenser, but I flipped the pancake over and I was like what? It was just that perfect looking pancake. It was amazing. So, yeah, it could have been a dispenser, so I recommend getting one of any one.

Owen: 16:21

And then what's the next thing on the wish list in terms of cooking on the Blackstone? What's the kind of challenge you want to do to push yourself and it to the limit?

Nat: 16:31

Oh, I've got a list there on my phone of all sorts I want to do. On it there's I want to do some Thai red mussels on it, like mussels in a Thai red curry, and I want to do some like onion bodgy hash browns on it. None of these go together, by the way. It's just random things All at once.

Dan: 16:55

All at once on there.

Owen: 16:57

Is that called a smorgasbord? Is it just all these random things at once put on a smorgasbord?

Nat: 17:04

Well, the other thing we've been talking about. We want to do fish fingers on it like fried fish fingers. But then my head's gone into a what if we did like a hot national chicken but do a hot national fish finger? But it?

Owen: 17:23

nice, nice birds eye yeah.

Nat: 17:26

Yeah, I know there's just made goes everywhere, so there's a lot wrote down. I don't know how much I'm gonna get to do before we ship over there, but yeah, well are you gonna get it? you're gonna get it shipped over to Australia yeah, so I'm only taking two barbecues and taking the Os pig, taking it back home, because that's where it originated from and Blackstone, I think everything else I might take the web a go anyway, but I'm not sure because I look through the other day how much they were over there and the same price and they have handles on the side, which I think's pretty handy. So I might just sell that and get a new one over there.

Owen: 18:12

I mean, I don't think I don't envy your position in the.

Nat: 18:16

It'd be like trying to choose a child to take with you yeah, I sold my procu and I was quite sad for that, yeah. And then this week and I'm just thinking why did I sell it? I could like just don't move it this weekend, because I've got so much barbecuing going on and I really could have done with it. But it is what it is, it's gone. I'll buy another one of them over there as well yeah so I've got.

Dan: 18:40

I've got some Australian news if you want. I've been doing a little quick Google as you asked. So two things first and foremost. It says here that when temperatures get to a certain point over there and the humidity, there's something called a total fire ban and it can be across the whole country or can be in certain areas. When that happens, you can't have open flame and if you want to light bits and pieces up, you've got to get permission effectively and you've got to make sure there's nothing within two meters, etc. Etc. That's when they have a lot of the fires and things like that. Now the other thing I've read on here is it says that you can use any type of fuel, whether it be charcoal, gas, whatever, unless it says you're from the north of England. But apart from when there's a total fire ban, you can do whatever you want to be.

Nat: 19:43

I think it's where Melbourne, and it's literally it's it.

Dan: 19:47

It rains as much as it does here and it's pretty cold, so I think might be alright, the stuff I've been reading said it happens quite a bit around Sydney, but it could be other areas are fine.

Nat: 19:58

I think that's where bushfires were.

Dan: 20:01

Five and a half grand. If you light a fire during a total fire ban, five and a half grand it's with it. I think right depends what you're cooking.

Nat: 20:10

It depends what you're cooking. If it's a charcoal, then yeah.

Owen: 20:15

I think some brisket costs about that, doesn't it? To be fair, we interviewed a chap from Australia, didn't we? In season one, and he was talking about having offset smokers and doing all the stuff. So yeah, obviously I was having my leg pulled at the time, but yeah.

Dan: 20:32

I thought you were deliberately trying to wind that up, so I've been deliberately eating out. We know that you can use charcoal because we talked to someone about it for two hours.

Owen: 20:49

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Owen: 21:52

Visit aoskitchenscouk. So if you could only cook one type of meat for the rest of your life now, what would it be?

Nat: 22:11

Oh my god. So just like chicken, beef or lamb, because you can have it in different forms, can't you?

Owen: 22:19

Yeah, absolutely.

Nat: 22:20

Beef.

Owen: 22:23

Beef Interesting. What should go to pizza beef.

Nat: 22:28

So it was hanger steak. It's good. It is really good, because obviously you can have it super rare or you can braise it and it just falls apart. You can do anything with it. But no, so hanger will be. But I did try some feather blade a few weeks back and I braised it and it was. It was amazing. It just fell apart but it still had a texture, if you know what I mean. So yeah, it's a plus.

Owen: 23:03

Second, hanger I think feather blade has got such a lot going for it. It's well documented. We've talked about it loads on the podcast, about we had some at sizzle fest last year. It was terrific and I'm having it at least once a month at the minute. And also, I don't know from a cost point of view. You know, obviously brisket is fairly pricey, as we all know, but my local butcher does it the same price as chuck steak. So I get a nice decent piece of feather blade and it's like 10, 11 quid or whatever it is and it feeds six people and you think you just can't grumble with that.

Nat: 23:47

Yeah, it's brilliant. So do you? Do you raise it or do you? I've not tried cooking it as an actual steak yet, because it was so good braised.

Owen: 23:57

I treat it like a brisket.

Nat: 23:59

All right yeah.

Owen: 24:01

And low and slow, it smoke it as a obviously no, nowhere near for the length of time.

Nat: 24:09

Because she's very clingy.

Owen: 24:11

That's all right, I'm just waiting for her to jump in on the conversation. I'm not sure if she's a tuna or anyway. Yeah, I probably cook it for I know three or four hours, something like, depending on, obviously, each piece. It would take a little bit, but yeah, I treat it almost like a piece of brisket.

Nat: 24:33

Yeah, no, I think that's nice. Like I said, I braised it.

Owen: 24:36

But and what did you? What did you braise it in? Was it like a red wine type thing or beef stock?

Nat: 24:43

I put some Muld wine in it because I didn't have any red wine or anything, so I just thought it's not a work. And it does. Yeah, just like an oniony beefy stock and some Muld wine.

Dan: 24:56

And yeah, I think it's like a cinnamon works so well with beef as well, like, if you haven't used it much, I bet that Muld wine really did. Yeah, never considered using Muld wine like that. I'm definitely going to this year when it comes to Christmas.

Nat: 25:09

Yeah, just get a few bottles, yeah exactly.

Owen: 25:13

I don't think I've ever bought a bottle of Muld wine, oh in.

Nat: 25:16

You've got to when you put your Christmas tree up?

Owen: 25:20

No, and what is Muld wine? Isn't it just spiced wine? What did you just?

Dan: 25:27

ask Did you just ask what Muld wine is? I don't think I've ever had it.

Nat: 25:34

So is it like cinnamon star anise? Yep, yeah, cloves Orange yeah, I know this puts orange peel in it. I think when she does it she makes it herself, I just buy it from the spot.

Dan: 25:47

So you like to simmer it down in a pan, for I'm not sure how long I've. Well, I think it probably depends how long and how strong you want it to be. But you simmer it down in a pan and then you can have it hot, you can have it cold, you can braise stuff in it. So it's like Christmas in a couple in.

Nat: 26:04

Yeah.

Dan: 26:05

I like Muld Cider. I prefer Muld Cider personally.

Nat: 26:08

I tried some last year and it was really nice. It surprised me.

Dan: 26:12

Well, I'm now thinking what you could do with that with pork as well would be. I've never considered using it for cooking, I don't know why. There you go.

Owen: 26:21

Do you like cider normally now?

Nat: 26:23

Yeah, I was on it earlier. I finished work at about half two. I went and did a bit of shopping. I come back out of that. I've got the podcast later, but I can't go on wine now, so that's a bit of a side.

Owen: 26:40

To be fair, I had the day off today prepping for this party, with doing for my wife tomorrow, and I thought about you know, have a few beers, why not? So shining. So I'm not doing, I have only been having a beer once.

Dan: 26:55

We've been talking on here because I too am preparing for the party tomorrow by not getting drunk tonight, so I can fully enjoy it tomorrow. I don't blame you. What are you?

Owen: 27:06

cooking tomorrow, Well after after we finish recording this, I'm going to go prepare the biggest piece of brisket I've bought to date. It's nine kilos, so I put it up. I measured it against my son and it's almost half the size of my son, who's eight years old. What else am I doing? Sausages, I'm doing a shawarma. I've made some homemade burgers. I've done some cream cheese stuffed peppers. I've made some homemade garlic butter today yeah, it's like garlic bread and getting the pizza oven and that up. So yeah, quite a few things really. So cooking through the night. So I'm going to go ahead and get the pizza. I'm going to get the pizza. I'm going to get the pizza. I'm going to get the pizza. I'm going to get the pizza. I'm really so cooking through the night.

Nat: 27:58

Cooking through the night tonight. Oh, you're doing an overnight.

Dan: 28:01

I'm like too scared to do one of them. I can't do it. I want sleep.

Nat: 28:07

He's got a meter. It's not a real overnighter.

Owen: 28:11

I've got a meter but I can't work it. I took it, yeah, I even think, even with something like a meter, I'm sure, when you've used it before you, still, you're just still conscious, right, you're still nervous that.

Nat: 28:26

Yeah.

Owen: 28:27

What happens if it malfunctions or it disconnects from the internet or whatever it is. And then yeah, so I'll be probably awake.

Nat: 28:34

What are you overnighting it on? Is it a Comma or a Weber?

Owen: 28:38

Yeah, I've got a. I've got a smokey mountain, so I haven't. I haven't fired it up for about a year actually, so that's going to be interesting. I'm going to use my thermometer on its bust, in that it's currently reading 75 degrees. I can't, can't, get it to recalibrate. So yeah, that'll be interesting.

Nat: 28:59

I mean, it does feel like 75 degrees out there.

Owen: 29:02

It definitely does. Yeah, and for anyone in America. We're talking about centigrade, not Fahrenheit.

Dan: 29:09

I'm surprised you're not using the broil King cake. I assumed you'd be doing that.

Owen: 29:12

Oh, it's too small, honestly.

Dan: 29:14

Yeah.

Owen: 29:17

And I don't. I don't particularly like doing brisket in the Traeger. I don't find it forms the bark as nicely as when it does over over charcoal. Have you ever, have you ever, used a pellet grill?

Nat: 29:30

No, that obviously can get some fantastic cooks off it, but I don't know. It just didn't appeal to me. I'm not at that stage yet where I just want to like press a button and go. I don't know if that's going to offend anyone.

Dan: 29:48

No, I agree. The reason that I would consider a pellet grill in the future would be if I thought I know I'm working today or I've got to go into the office I'd get one to do that, so when you come home you can just pull it off and let whatever's on their rest. But I enjoy the fire too much, like when I do overnight cooks. I'm just using a thermo pen and I've got six months old, so that helps with waking you up regularly. Do you know what I mean? But otherwise, once I've put it on, I'll put an hour an alarm on for three hours, go out and check it then, and then I'll be checking once an hour until I'm awake or I need wrapping or whatever. If it gets to the point that needs wrapping, then I can wrap it, and I know I've probably got at least two hours. But yeah, I just I don't want to just be pushing a button. I enjoy the fire and the process too much.

Nat: 30:41

The challenge. I like messing up too much yeah yeah, it's fine.

Dan: 30:45

It's a good story, isn't it? It's fine.

Nat: 30:47

Yeah, that's how I've got so many fails.

Owen: 30:49

I was going to say you've perfectly segred into. Why don't we talk about some barbecue fails?

Nat: 30:54

Let me get my list. I actually have a list, just because I knew we were going to talk about this. I don't know if you want to mention first, so so, because we were going to talk about the momentous, I've got one, two, three related thermometer incidents. So a few times it must be the thermometer has just been in wrong place, it must be like in a pocket of fat or something. So I think that happened with my thighs hammer. So you know, the first time I come out, when you had all these videos, they were just like oh, look at it, you're like a sense piece and it just pulled apart. So like I invited people round oh God Like thinking it would be amazing. Like I'm a niece and nephew, I'm like watch this like a fellow with video in it and it just kind of went and it just didn't go anywhere.

Owen: 31:44

I was like oh shit.

Dan: 31:44

Stop crying, it was terrible.

Nat: 31:48

I managed to the day after. I think I put it in a lasagna or something like that, I don't know, but yeah, that that weren't a good day. I've also done it where the thermometer was reading in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. So it was like I think I was in a pork shoulder and like after about two hours it would done, and I'm like this isn't right and I was like, no, so what the thermometer says? Anyway, it wasn't done. Oh, and then I melted my thermometer as well and it wasn't. Well, this isn't barbecue related. It was just on the side in my kitchen and it was magnetic and I had like an oven tray and I went and put the oven tray in the oven and then when I got my food out I was like what's all this plastic melted and it was just like just disintegrated in the oven. It was like it's plastic mix. Yeah, that's my three thermometer related ones.

Owen: 32:41

Oh well, I've got a thermometer related one actually, oh golly. So I bought three. I mentioned earlier I bought a new barbecue since the last time that we were recording. But I decided to buy the master built portable charcoal barbecue. You know the one that comes on the pop up trolley and you can literally weed it and take it. It's a bit like a Web of Go anywhere but on a trolley. Basically I was put as I was putting the lid and all that kind of stuff on Long and short I had. I had a little bit of a problem. I got sent a new lid so I took out the thermometer to run, went to put it in the new lid. What I accidentally did is stood on it, snapped it in half. So I had this brand new barbecue and no thermometer to kind of plug the hole. So I had to then also then go and buy a new thermometer to be able to have my first first yeah, first burn on this new barbecue.

Dan: 33:38

So I know how much that would have annoyed you as well.

Owen: 33:46

I think it was added to the fact that it turned up and there was a fault With it. So I had to wait for a week to get the new part and all that kind of stuff, and then our bloody stood on it. So I still couldn't use it for a little while until I got the new part for that as well.

Dan: 33:59

So please, please, please tell me, because I know what you're like. Did you do? Did you do a walk away in a little pout, a little angry pout to yourself for like half an hour? I know what you're like. Please tell me. It happened Well you won't sit.

Owen: 34:11

I did. I decided to do an unboxing video for this. I thought it's the it's the first time in quite a while I have bought barbecue. So I decided to do an unboxing video for YouTube. And another fail happened whilst I was doing it. I've got a decking area just out the back here and I decided to do it on the deck in and as I went to screw, one of the wheels in the washer fell and, well, fell through the deck in. So I had to take a whole part of my deck in a part just to get this washer from underneath the deck in. And there was a bit in the video, obviously, where I just put hands on hips to the half and just went back, back, back and sure, shake him ahead and nodding at myself.

Dan: 34:57

So yeah, anyway is that what you asked me to? Take a look at the edit.

Nat: 35:06

I've just realized we always build our barbecue on the deck in and we always like, oh, it's going to go through. I don't know why we don't just move it to the grass. I don't know, I can't fall through anything.

Owen: 35:16

Yeah, my wife just said exactly the same. She's like why are you doing it on the deck in? I don't know, I don't know it's closer.

Nat: 35:24

It makes sense to not do it on there.

Owen: 35:29

But anyway, what else have you got for us now?

Nat: 35:32

No, I've got smoked ragamuffin. Have you ever had it?

Owen: 35:38

No.

Nat: 35:39

If you buy it, don't think you can take a lid off and smell it. You can't.

Owen: 35:45

Okay.

Nat: 35:47

I ordered some and then it came and I think I nicked home from work on my dinner and I was like oh really excited. I put a lid off and like took a big smell and then I think I struggled driving back to work and I was literally sneezing for about three hours and even now, even if I just use like half a teaspoon, I mask up for it.

Owen: 36:10

Wow, what is it? I've not heard of that, rob.

Nat: 36:13

It's a jerk seasoning but she's got, like she's got your Scotch bonnet and like I think it must have quite a lot of Scotch bonnet in it and it just it just gets you. It were horrendous and I'm still I use it, but I'm still scared of that, rob, like it's traumatised me a little bit.

Owen: 36:33

Are you like COVID mask type?

Nat: 36:35

Literally yeah, Because I'll be like, I'll be like, I'll be like that and then I'll still set off sneezing. So last time I did actually mask up. I think she asked to mask up when she's actually making them.

Dan: 36:50

You basically did a line of Scotch bonnet yeah.

Nat: 36:53

And then when I told her I did say like I do to get someone to do a line of it, but they probably would die Generally, generally.

Owen: 37:06

God.

Nat: 37:07

I mean that's that's.

Owen: 37:08

That's good advertising for the strength right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't think she should put that on the the level bar. Yeah, I'm a fish and a fish.

Nat: 37:21

I like that. Yeah, oh God, I don't know what else is on my list. Oh so when we first started out with well, this, this isn't even my fail, that's, this is my fellas fail. So when you first started off on the 40 pound kettle barbecue, he spent all day doing this brisket. It wasn't like a full packer or anything, I think. I think it was just like a test scores rolled one or something. So he was like I just didn't feel like I was doing anything. We, we all went on a trip. We left it once the pub got drunk, came back and he knocked the whole barbecue over and it landed like, like, like literally an amount of gravel cause it was like in a terrorist house with just like a really shitty backyard at the time, and he was like it's fine, I'm like it's it's caught it in gravel.

Owen: 38:10

It's not like you mean. I am absolutely. It's absolutely fine.

Nat: 38:13

That's literally what he tried saying. But I was like I would have done it this, I'll glued up on barbecuing, I'll get in there at the time. So I was like that is not a bike, it's crunchy and it's gritty in your teeth. I don't know. I don't know which ones they have. I've got rotisserie wrought down, but I don't know why I've got that wrought down. And pizza. I did use to be terrible at pizza, but I've nailed that now.

Owen: 38:40

What should you go to pizza?

Nat: 38:43

I want to say Enduya. Is it Enduya?

Dan: 38:46

Yeah.

Nat: 38:47

Enduya and spicy chilies and JD's hot honey on it. I like to just make like a proper spicy one and then I'll have like one bite and then cry because it's too hot for me.

Owen: 39:00

But there's a running theme through this conversation, so they're taking you like spies. No.

Nat: 39:10

You simply do. I do Like, if I have a curry, I have them addressed, but I can't go ridiculously hot. It's got to be like tasty, but hot, not just where it's just pure burn. I don't like that.

Dan: 39:25

Yeah, that reminds me of like Owen used to go for like slightly like more mild or medium curries. I spent ages convincing him once to get a salon, which is kind of like a. It's in the hot category, but it's like a coma, so effectively it's a hot coma, as these would describe it, and I can't feel out or deliver, though, but it came and we both tried it, and as I try to pull, this is much hotter than normally how this comes out, and your head blew off.

Owen: 39:58

Yeah no, we were in a curry house in Brighton the only the curry house for it was hilarious and decided to give us a free shot of whiskey, just for apologizing. I was laughing at me.

Nat: 40:14

I do, I do. I do like seeing other people struggling with spice. I just don't like it to be me, yeah, yeah. So my brother-in-law, he went to somewhere it might have been a food festival or something and then it's a daddy cool sauce and it's called nil, by mouth it's. I think it's about six million score below something, I think. Anyway, he got me a bottle of it for my birthday. I don't know why, because I'm not touching it, but we went to a flame is it flame flame food festival at Preston last month and I took this bottle with me because someone couldn't get in the hot wing challenge and I said well, I'll do one for you. I've got this sauce. So all day I was going around saying, try this, try this. I was loving seeing people cry and sweat, but I've never had it myself because I won't. I'm not that stupid.

Owen: 41:12

Oh, that is quite that's very funny.

Nat: 41:15

I didn't like seeing people struggle.

Owen: 41:18

I mean, it's always funny when other people are in pain. Is it's fact, isn't it?

Nat: 41:21

Yeah, I've just realised how sadistic that sounded, but it's just spice.

Owen: 41:28

Oh no, that's all good. I suppose you're about to embark on a whole new chapter, so normally we kind of ask what's next? What's next in barbecue? So I suppose for you then it's navigating a whole new country right, A whole new way of living. And it's very outdoorsy, so you must be, excited.

Nat: 41:52

It's just like having to find a new charcoal that I get on with, a new butcher that I get on with. It's all that because, finally, like here, I know I'm a go-to charcoal, I know my butcher, I know what spices and rubs are like, and it's just like starting it all over again. So that's scary, but we'll see. I just call it. Wait for the first barbecue, though, because obviously they're all normal like being barbecues, aren't they? But she's British, she wouldn't have to barbecue, and I'm hoping to just go around and just smash it out, quite like here's some of this With your six million Scoville sauce. Yeah try some of that. Yeah, just let's do that. Let's have a wing roulette.

Owen: 42:41

I think like yeah, as.

Dan: 42:42

I was trying to say that that leads really nicely on to barbecue bingo.

Owen: 42:46

Barbecue bingo is brought to you by Lumberjack Food Company. Your ticket to Flavortown.

Dan: 42:53

I would like you to do something for me, owen, if you don't mind. So Owen's going to load up the screen and you'll see how much money that we've invested in this wonderful website, that no one could possibly look at the URL and make up their own will at all. But I'd like you to add something for me, owen, because I've had a bit of a brainwave. So now, if you're going to be going down to Australia and potentially you're going to be there by the time this comes out, then I thought it might be nice to put a bit of Australian flair in there. Can you add kangaroo in?

Nat: 43:26

I'm all over that.

Dan: 43:31

Now, if it does land on kangaroo when we do this, it's not fixed. We've got no way of doing it, but I couldn't let it go without putting it on there. I also know you can source it in this country. So if it doesn't land on it for you, I know other people will be able to get it in the future. So that works nicely, right.

Nat: 43:52

There's a few dishes on here I don't want. I'm just looking at it going around like oh God.

Owen: 44:01

Which are the ones that you don't want?

Nat: 44:04

Duck because I don't eat. I refuse to eat ducks. I like them alive and I like to feed them bread. I love ducks so I can't eat them. Possibly beef tongue, just because I don't want to put an animal tongue on my tongue.

Dan: 44:26

We've all been 20, we've all done it.

Owen: 44:32

The ocean yeah.

Dan: 44:36

What's happening, right mate.

Nat: 44:39

Some people have been brutal here, haven't they?

Dan: 44:43

Yeah, yeah, people have been. I always thought we don't want to be too harsh on people because people don't like it. And as soon as you give people the choice of putting something on there for someone else, people go mad.

Nat: 44:56

I've just thought of one that's going on, oh great.

Owen: 44:58

So we've had chicken arts and all sorts on this recently, Anyway. So there's one called my Signature Dish, which would be your signature dish. So if it lands on that, we'd like you to cook what you're best known for. But what would that be?

Nat: 45:15

It depends who you ask. If you ask the people at work, it's tandoori sausage rolls and I don't even barbecue them. So I can barbecue them, but I don't generally. Or my baria tacos, which, yeah, they're quite good.

Owen: 45:33

So which would you choose if it landed on the tacos?

Nat: 45:36

Tacos, that was a stupid question. Yeah, evidently I've only ever talked about tacos for the past hour.

Owen: 45:47

I thought it was going to be tacos, but you never know, right. Ok, so let's give it a spin and see what you get.

Nat: 45:53

I'm as nervous.

Owen: 45:55

I'm on duck. I'm on duck.

Dan: 46:00

Polish smoked sausage.

Nat: 46:02

Is that just like a Frank converter?

Dan: 46:08

Oh no, you get lots of different types. But if you go down to your supermarket and go to like the world section, there's a number of different ones on there so you can get some that are quite heavily spiced and like garlicky and stuff. There's loads of stuff you can do with them. They're really good.

Nat: 46:22

May I? It's already gone to tacos Straight away there, you go?

Owen: 46:28

What are you going to leave?

Nat: 46:30

A trap.

Owen: 46:33

Oh yeah. Wow, I feel sorry for who gets that.

Nat: 46:38

Yeah.

Owen: 46:40

Do you like tripe?

Nat: 46:42

Not dry yet. I don't want to. I'm actually thinking it might be one of the worst ones on there.

Owen: 46:51

I reckon so it's got to be yeah it is Sorry. I reckon, given the choice, most people would rather have a beef tongue than tripe.

Nat: 47:00

Yeah.

Dan: 47:01

I would See I wouldn't mind giving tripe a go, that wouldn't bother me.

Nat: 47:05

So it's a northern delicacy, especially from, like, the town that I'm at. I think they've been on Harry by because I've been tripe up here and I think my mum and stepdad love it, but oh God no.

Owen: 47:16

Yeah, no, not for me.

Dan: 47:18

I love awful. We recently went for a meal at a Brazilian place near here. It's one of the ones where you get the traffic light system, where you get like a there's a bit of wood that's on your table and you put it to green and they keep bringing your food and turn it over to red when you want to stop. I didn't turn it over to red until we were told that we should probably leave Because other people are getting bored. But one thing is you can request the chicken hearts and, yeah, we've had a few drinks and, as we've talked about on here before, like I can eat a lot when I'm in the right mood, but I had about six or seven of them and I quite like them, but the texture is really strange.

Nat: 47:58

Yeah.

Dan: 47:59

But when my friends will meet them like, oh, they look really nice, can I try one? And his mouth chewed it, spat it out and then went to the toilet to be sick, because if you're not ready for it, it's very distinctive taste and it's a very weird flavour. And he was saying the problem he had was, as soon as it felt weird, his brain went, I mean, in the heart of a chicken and that was it Game over, particularly after a few drinks.

Nat: 48:23

Yeah, see, my fellow is very he's very weird with textures. So I like beef cheeks. He can't eat them even though they fall apart, because they're still a bit gelatinous. And I tried them twice, thinking no, I must have done it wrong first time. But I think no matter how much you cook them, there's still always going to have that like bit of jelly-ness about them. But then as soon as he said he put me off them as well. So I don't like beef cheeks anymore. They put it in my head yeah, texture is a big thing. I think A lot of foods.

Owen: 48:56

Yeah, absolutely Okay. So is there anything that we haven't discussed yet that you would like to yeah, almost start the conversation about?

Nat: 49:13

I can't think of anything.

Owen: 49:15

That's fine.

Nat: 49:16

I'll think of something as soon as this is finished. I don't know if I should talk about that.

Dan: 49:22

So how did you originally get into being like an ambassador for Blackstone?

Nat: 49:27

So what Jules did was he searched for ambassadors and he didn't just do your big people. Obviously, you've got the markets bound and you've got Iced and all that because they're fantastic and they will do brilliant things on it. But he's also chosen the smaller accounts and it just looks past your numbers and the Blackstone thing isn't going to be about numbers, it's just going to be what it is, what you can do on it, and then obviously, it's going to come off sale shortly, probably off sale once this podcast is out, actually, and genuinely think it's going to be a great addition to someone's BBQ isinal and it's going to take off.

Dan: 50:05

I think Great for breakfast as well.

Nat: 50:08

Great for breakfast. Yeah, pancakes bacon. Full English tacos.

Owen: 50:17

Breakfast tacos.

Nat: 50:18

Yes, literally I was on the mass griller and the theme come up breakfast and straight away I was like breakfast tacos and I'm like I can't. Everyone's going to go for breakfast tacos and I stayed away from it. But I still wish this day I did breakfast tacos, because tacos would win everything.

Owen: 50:39

Did anyone else do breakfast tacos?

Nat: 50:42

I think one person, but in my head everyone was doing breakfast tacos. No, I think they just wanted one or two people maybe, but yeah, what?

Owen: 50:52

did you do?

Nat: 50:53

then what did I do? Yeah, I think I lost the plot. That's what I did. I literally lost the plot. It got fucking strange. It was in the first year, and the first year I did things but all you get is a photo and if you can't tell what it is from that photo, it doesn't matter what you've done. There's no description. If you can't tell what you've done, you're not a bought in it, because you don't even know what that is, but to do something that was familiar and that they knew what I'd done. So in the first one I did like an Indian Sunday roast and no one actually knew that I'd done an Indian Sunday roast when it was Indian week. Anyhow, first one was a Masculine 2 breakfast. So I did like a fully lody quatting thing. It was like stacked and egg dripping and it was wonderful. I didn't eat any of it. I took a photo. We were camping at the time and I took a photo and give it to what Lodz I like. Crack on. I remember other weeks but I know I did. I ended up doing a Perfittoral Brownie burger and Dorn Oath rise. That was dessert week. There was surf and turf and I really wanted to just do a really good steak and prawns, but I thought everyone was going to do that. So I did a steak and prawn pasta dish and I made fish shaped bread. It was actually really pretty. If you go down my gram, you'll see it.

Dan: 52:33

So that has been great speaking to you. If anyone who wants to find you and see what you're doing, where's the best place to find you? How can they find you on social media?

Nat: 52:43

About South Australia then. Just the country At the Northern Grillers.

Dan: 52:54

There you go and they can find. You Stick that into Google.

Nat: 52:57

I can just say it used to be two of us. It used to be my father as well, but he weren't doing anything, so I just knocked him off.

Dan: 53:04

That is the way in the Northern.

Nat: 53:05

Grillers now, but I'm just not going to change it.

Dan: 53:10

Unless you change it when you go to Australia, like we talked earlier.

Nat: 53:13

Yeah, northern Griller down under.

Owen: 53:19

Sounds good. Honestly, it's been absolutely amazing meeting you and, as I said, this is probably for well. Most of the people weren't here All the giggles that we've had, but it's genuinely been one of the funniest episodes that we've had the pleasure of recording. So, yeah, thanks ever so much for coming on and all the best in Australia and keep in touch.

Nat: 53:44

Yeah, we'll catch up when I'm in Australia, and they all hate me.

Owen: 53:54

I thought you could only cook on gas there, but there were some damn good tacos. They were worth it. Thanks ever so much, nat. That's it for another episode of the Meet and Greet barbecue podcast. Thanks so much, nat, for coming on. Truly was a very, very funny episode and it was great to hear about your story. Good luck in Australia. As ever, we want to hear from you. Please get in contact with us via social media or our website, meetandgreetbarbecuepodcastcom, and until next time, keep on grilling.

Dan: 54:45

Today's episode of the Meet and Greet barbecue podcast is brought to you by AOS Outdoor Kitchens. They are the sales leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists.