Meet the team behind Scotland’s biggest barbecue - a gigantic 12ft tall grill, big enough to cook a full cow.
Ayr’s Smokehouse restaurant serves up hearty barbecued delights to hungry meat eaters, including freshly ground burgers lathered with cheese, streaky bacon, tender pulled pork and smoked brisket.
Boasting some witty names including The Beastie Boy and Notorious P.I.G, their burgers and mixed meat pit plates is putting Ayr firmly on the map for grilled and smoked cooking methods, predominantly associated with the likes of Australia, the deep south in USA, and Brazil.
The Alloway Place eatery, which opened in 2020, sees barbecue bosses John Wyllie and Magdalena Gad with chief brisket smoker Paige Connolly come into the restaurant eight hours before opening to get their meats smoking and recipes perfected.
Owner John, 42, said: “I’ve always been into barbecuing. There’s nothing better than cooking on fire.
“People always say barbecue starts in America but it doesn’t- it starts everywhere in the world.
“It’s a very friendly, sociable thing- people don’t gather around a microwave, but they gather around a barbecue.
“The fact Smokehouse has an open kitchen as well, everyone can see what’s happening.”
John admitted opening a barbecue restaurant in the town was a risk, but one worth taking as the restaurant has grown in popularity and now sits as Ayr’s number one restaurant on Tripadvisor as well as earning Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice 2022 award.
“I wasn’t sure if it was going to work,” he said.
“It’s different and a bit out there.
“For the size of the place and the fact we’ve not been open that long, it feels very surreal to be Ayr’s number one on Tripadvisor.
“There’s a lot of places you would have thought would be a lot higher.
“But it is just an honest product. It’s a lot more casual, laid back atmosphere, and we’re dog friendly.”
Now Smokehouse are adding another grill to their collection with ‘Deathtrap’- a three metre wide, 12ft tall barbecue created out of an old horse box by crafty John, who also made most of the furniture in the restaurant.
Deathtrap, which can be hired for weddings, boasts a three metre wide cooking space, big enough to roast a full cow or a pig alongside other meaty favourites.
John, who has handcrafted other barbecues at home, each with their own kooky names including The Silver Coffin and Roadkill, said: “The thought behind Deathtrap was to do events and weddings.
“I was thinking ‘do I convert the horse box, or make it into a barbecue competition trailer, or just destroy it and build a big barbecue?’
“So I went down the road of BIG barbecue.
“I think it’s Scotland’s biggest- England might have a bigger one.
“The full pig is still very popular at weddings or events.
“Deathtrap would fit a full pig plus I’d have the other side to do burgers and different hot plates.
“It would fit a full cow if someone was willing to pay for that; I don’t know how much a full cow costs these days!”
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