TWO thousand kilograms of sausages – that’s how many Rob Ashton makes each week at his Pittsworth and Dalby butcheries.
It’s an amount that gives the perennial Sausage Kings competition winner plenty of opportunity to practice and perfect his recipe, and it stood him in good stead again last month when his special mix was judged the best beef sausage at the Queensland Food and Wine Show.
Another feather was added to Rob’s hat when he collected third place in the lamb class, and his beetroot flavoured Aussie sausage was a finalist in the gourmet section.
The win was also a special thrill for Rob’s son Craig, who made the sausages for the Australian Meat Industry Council organised competition.
By far the biggest seller commercially is the beef sausage, made from top quality British-bred meat from the Ashtons own farms.
Rob said he couldn’t go wrong with the yield and taste offered by European breeds.
Peter Hood’s Pittsworth Texels are the foundation for the lamb sausages, boned out specially.
“I wanted to give the nod to the region we’re in,” Rob explained.
“Peter feeds them well and they’re big and tender, as good as any lamb in Australia."
Ashton’s Butchery gourmet entry, containing tomato, onion and cheese as well as beef and beetroot, was another acknowledgement of the great product grown in Australia.
It’s the quality and innovation the Sausage Kings competition encourages that helps independent butchers remain favourably in the public eye, according to Rob, himself a butcher for 43 years.
“As well as quality, we offer a great service,” he said.
“We can cut to requirements – thinner T bones for example – people know they can ask us.
“You should see how this works at Christmas or when someone has a special function – you can’t always source things in a supermarket and we can answer questions about how much you’ll need to feed certain numbers.
“That’s where we really shine – we can help people plan.”
Other butchers shining in the 16th annual Sausage Kings competition were: Cliff Dahtler, CQ Quality Meats, Biloela – best lamb sausage; Phil Smith, Standard Meat Co, Newstead – best traditional pork sausage and best gourmet sausage (venison and dark chocolate); Paul Purcell, Jack Purcell Meats, Virginia – best poultry sausage; and Don Cameron, Master Butchers Whitsunday, Airlie Beach – best continental sausage (casalinga).
The first ever burger class competition was won by Tim Duggan, Mundubbera Butchery Co, featuring lamb mince.
Winners will now compete in the Australian final in South Australia in February 2015.
Sally Cripps
Journalist
Journalist
