Mike Oxley is like a proud uncle showing off his favourite nephew, in the kitchen of his new Wanaka restaurant.
"This is my baby," he says and plonks his hand down on Southern Pride.
Southern Pride is the massive American barbecue cooker, which Oxley imported from Illinois, in the United States, for his new restaurant - Uncle Mike's BBQ - in Wanaka.
Capable of smoking up to 300kg of meat at once, the Southern Pride isn't your normal Kiwi backyard barbecue.
Mike's barbecue is one big baby. It weighs in at about 800kg and is full of rotisserie tray after tray.
If you think your average Kiwi bloke likes to bond around the barbecue with a couple of beers, well, the Americans aren't too different - they just want to do it bigger than anyone else.
Barbecuing is big business in the States. And, they just can't help getting competitive about it, either.
In Oxley's home town of Kansas City, Missouri, they host the annual American Royal Barbecue contest, which attracts up to 10,000 people.
First held in 1980, the "Royal" is the largest barbecue contest in the world and the final event on the American barbecue circuit.
The competition features up to 500 teams competing in four culinary contests, and spreads across 8ha at Kansas City's historic stockyards.
While Oxley has never entered the "Royal", the self-described born-and-bred Kansas City boy has a lifelong love affair with the American style of barbecuing.
He moved to Wanaka from Wellington about three months ago on the advice of his sister and brother-in-law and the group became business partners and opened the new restaurant.
Oxley has more than 25 years' experience in the hospitality business and before emigrating to Wellington three years ago, ran the "Kansas City BBQ" restaurant in Los Angeles.
"Low and slow" is the key to barbecuing American style, Oxley drawls in his Midwestern twang. "You need to have a low heat for a long time," he says.
He explains how the low heat smoker-style ovens break down the meat fibres as wood smoke flavours permeate into the meat and produce a moist, "mouth-watering" tender finish.
The cooking style differs greatly from your traditional New Zealand barbecue. Oxley says the Kiwi barbie is more akin to grilling, with meat and food cooked quickly on hotplates.
The American-style smoker ovens take their time, with a heat of 212-250degF, which equates to between 100degC and 121degC.
However, while the slow and low mantra is followed by all American BBQ cooks, it is the different sauces and rubs which enhance the food with regional flavours.
Oxley says many of the sauces used by US barbecue cooks are developed from secret recipes and vary from the personalised to the traditional.
Meat and chicken "rubs" also help add to the distinctive smoky-style flavour. "It all starts with the rub of the meat before it is slow-smoked," he says.
Cooking times can vary between six to 12 hours depending on the size and cut of meat. During this process the meat absorbs the smoke flavour of the wood.
Uncle Mike's BBQ uses locally grown apple-tree wood, sourced from Cromwell orchards. He confesses it is his second choice of wood, but his first pick is not available in New Zealand.
"Hickory [wood] is the king of smoking woods - you just can't get it anywhere here. Believe me, I've tried," he says.
Uncle Mike's crowning touch, he says, is the home-made BBQ sauce produced on the premises. The sweet, smoky sauce packs a spicy punch to finish off the flavour.
However, Oxley admits the spicy kick to his sauce has proven a little hot to handle for some Kiwi customers. He has developed a milder sauce to cater for some of the "more delicate" local tastes.
It is a case of "different cultures, different tastes" he says. "Here a little kick is considered a whole lotta kick."
The "Kansas-style" sauce he makes is developed from a tomato base, which differs from other regional barbecue tastes, such as the Tennessee and Texan-style sauces, with their bases of either mustard or vinegar.
The Kansas-style sauce gives a sweeter finish compared with the tangy kick of the Texan and Tennessee concoctions, he says.
The regional variances also extend to the different types of wood used to smoke the meat, with Texans opting for mesquite wood over the traditional Midwest favourite, hickory.
Uncle Mike's Classic BBQ grill rub
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp black pepper
2 Tbsp cumin
Mix together, then rub into chicken, beef, or pork before cooking on barbecue.
American barbecue sauces and rubs are used for meat cooked on a low and slow heat in a smoker.
This differs from New Zealand barbecue methods, which typically involve fast cooking on a hotplate or grill.
