Hectors Smokehouse to Arteflame Australia

We are Dave, Karen and Caleb, we are Hectors Smoke House Championship Winning Low Slow BBQ Team from Melbourne, Australia. We cook in KCBS and ABBQA competitions. Below is the story about how we became interested in BBQ and ended up importing the Arteflame Australia.

Dave first got into low and slow BBQ in 2013. Early in 2013 he had just ordered a new Weber Summit from the USA and out of the blue, on one of the Aussie BBQ Forums, he got an invite from GrillPro to attend a low and slow cooking demo from Andy Groneman (US Pitmaster). That was it, he was sold. So within a few weeks, he was the proud owner of a Yoder YS640 Pellet Grill. 

So began our love of low and slow. Over the next year, a lot of time went into research and practicing recipes. The hardest part was then to find suppliers of great cuts of meat, this part hasn’t been too easy, as it is very hard to get hold of the American cuts. Dave started talking to farmers and anyone else he could think of to get us great produce.Dave actually enjoyed this part, as much as he did BBQing. From this, he formed a great relationship with Sher Wagyu, Peter Bouchier and a few others, this has helped him a lot to get the right produce.

Dave was enjoying BBQ so much he then bought a Komodo Kamado. He wanted to use real fire and the Komodo looked incredible, like a work of art. Then in the middle of 2014 he thought that he might enter some BBQ Competitions, He realised that he needed to change the Yoder to one with a Competition Cart and he also needed another BBQ for Comps, so bought a Primo XL Kamado. BBQs Plus were fantastic at supplying the best BBQ equipment in Melbourne and they decided they also wanted to sponsor the BBQ Team.

In early 2015 Dave decided to add a pure cabinet smoker to the collection but he wanted something that would be easy to use but would produce great smoke flavour. He also wanted something different so he bought a Stumps Classic Gravity Fed Smoker. We have enjoyed the Stumps Smoker so much that we will have another for Competitions from September 2017.

So Hectors Smoke House BBQ Team has developed during the past couple of years and Daves wife Karen and his son Caleb have now joined the team and share his passion. Dave does have a full time ‘normal’ job but he is still deciding whether he want to do some catering in the future or even hold some classes, in the minutes between doing his real work. Maybe in 4-5 years time, it might become more than a hobby?

The first attempt for Dave and Karen to turn HSH from a hobby into a business is the Arteflame Australia. Dave heard about the Arteflame on the BBQ Central Radio Podcast. He looked into it and was blown away by its looks and the practicality of grilling on a large surface with real wood. Dave and Karen were about to move house and wanted a focal point for the new garden and the Arteflame really fit the bill. Dave was so impressed with the Arteflame, that he talked to Denver Cavins in the USA and they discussed the possibility of exclusively importing them into Australia. The first container is due to arrive around September 2017 and Hectors Smokehouse is extremely excited to share this exciting cooking style with the rest of Australia.

Before you ask, Hector was Dave’s nickname from 16, so that’s where the team name comes from. He was supposed to look like the dog on a UK kids show called Hectors House, you will see him on the logo, he doesn’t think he looks too much like him but doesn’t mind the nickname. If you want to know anything or just want to chat about BBQ, drop us a line. We are not  experts but we are more than willing to pass on anything we’ve learned over the past few years.