Donna Jones
Did you know the best chicken sausages in all of Australia can be found right here in Gympie?
Ben Brown and his team at Gympie Meat Hall hold the crown as Sausage Kings for 2022, according to the Australian Meat Industry Council.
And that’s not all.
They scooped the pool in the Regional Sausage King Competition, taking out the win for Continental and Australian Lamb/Open Class snags, and in the Small Goods Competition they got gold in Boneless Leg Ham, Jerky/Biltong, Leg Ham on the Bone, Bacon and Pre-cooked Scalded Sausage.
From the regionals, they headed to the Queensland Sausage King State Final, winning gold for their chicken snags and a bronze for the Australian Lamb/Open Class.
In the Queensland Small Goods State Finals, Gympie Meat Hall scored gold in the Boneless Leg Ham and two silvers in Bacon and Jerky/Biltong.
From there it was on to the National Finals in Adelaide in February of this year where the team won for their best chicken sausages.
It was the culmination of a huge year for the team.
First, there came the floods.
“It’d come close a few times over the years, but it had never actually got into the building before,” Ben said of the floodwaters of 27 February 2022.
But it did in February, so he and the team decided to use that to their advantage.
“After the floods got into the old shop, we decided we had a lot of work to do (to clean it up), so we decided to vacate to the new one,” he said.
They moved into the Mary Street premises, which are a whole lot bigger, in November last year and it was a chance for the team to build something fit for purpose.
“It was a gutted shop so we did the whole lot,” Ben said.
“It allowed us, in the new building, to put in a bigger oven,” which Ben says works well for the team with the wide range of small goods they make all on site.
Because of the additional space, Ben’s planning on increasing their already impressive range of small goods and accoutrements at a perfect time because this year marks the 10th anniversary they’ve been in business.
As for his sausages (of which the business can pump out 7200 sausages (or 800kg) an hour), what does he feel is the best way to cook them?
“I’d rather a barbecue any day of the week,” he said.
“Keep ’em moving or else they tend to split and cook ’em until they’re a nice golden colour all the way around,” he said.
And make sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t end up as charcoal.
“I’m not a fan of that burnt sausage flavour,” Ben laughed.
With National Barbecue Day coming up on 4 July, what could be better than winning a brand new Weber BBQ valued at $450 from Sunshine Mitre 10 and throwing on some of the country’s best chicken sausages?
Fill in the entry form on Page 5 for your chance to win!