Community & Business
17 April, 2026
Vegas, here we come!
Local barbecue team Smooth and SmOakey Salad Dodgers were proclaimed the 2026 Meatstock Grand Champions on Saturday. Their next step - heading to the inaugural BBQ World Cup in Las Vegas next April.
The three-person team of Justin Caldwell, Jessica Barnes and Mitchell Barnes won Toowoomba’s flagship barbecuing event at the Showgrounds on Saturday.
Smooth and SmOakey Salad Dodgers topped the podium ahead of Sydney team Butterbeard BBQ and the Toowoomba-based Big GC’s BBQ, scoring 1758 points, in a performance headlined by strong results in taste and texture categories.
Across the meats, The Salad Dodgers won Pork, and finished second in the Lamb competition.
This win now qualifies them for the inaugural BBQ World Cup, to be held in Las Vegas in April next year.
Jess Barnes said the team was overwhelmed by the achievement and the support from family and friends.
“Competing against the best in the country and being at the biggest festival in our region, it’s very special,” she said.
“We couldn’t do any of this without the promoters, our incredible sponsors, and everyone backing us all the way - we appreciate you more than you know.”
Their Meatstock win followed a triumph at Roma Easter in the Country.
Smooth and SmOakey Salad Dodgers began in 2021 as an idea from then Oakey Beef Exports General Manager Grant Coleman who had been competing in barbecuing events around the world.
Mr Coleman kick-started a team from Oakey Beef, the Salad Dodgers, which won their first competition at Hervey Bay about five years ago.
“We have had a drought of four years without winning Grand Champion however, we have won different protein categories across competitions,” Jess Barnes said.
For those who don’t know about how competitive barbecuing works in Australia, the rules are relatively simple.
All meat must be cooked from a raw state, on site, and wholly within a defined cooking window period.
The approved barbecuing cooking units are smokers/pits/barbecues/grills where the heat source comes from wood or wood products such as briquettes and pellets.
Once cooked, there must be at least six clear portions in each hand-in box, totalling 50g or the equivalent of a small handful per portion.
Sauces in each entry are to be contained wholly or predominantly on, or mixed in with the protein. In other words no pools of sauce sitting underneath the meat.
Following their win, Smooth and SmOakey now have their sights set on the bright lights of Las Vegas.
The inaugural 2027 BBQ World Cup, should it get off the ground, is set to be a four-day event with around 100 teams from different countries including Brazil, the United Kingdom Canada, Lithuania, Croatia, France and New Zealand expected to compete.
The competition is being sanctioned by a group calling itself ‘BBQ United’, led by American sporting entrepreneurs Scott Erdmann, Shannon Pruitt and Chris Brown.
Details are still few, but what is known so far is that the tournament will operate in a golf-style ‘cut’ format with the competition field narrowing each day from 100 on Day 1, to 50 on Day 2 to 25 on Day 3.
The 100 teams will compete for a total prize amount of $1 million.
Whatever the details, Smooth & SmOakey are committed to being there.
“A one in 100 chance to win (from a prize pool of) a million dollars and to cook with the best in the world is an amazing opportunity!” Jess Barnes said.
