The Texan barbecue reputation has been smoked at the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest by a meat processing executive from Wingham on the New South Wales mid north coast.

The event which was held last weekend as part of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in Texas, attracted barbecue fans from around the United States and the world.

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The Australian entry, Manning Valley Natural Smokers, fell short of taking first place by just half a point in the coveted Brisket Division of the championships.

Grant Coleman, along with his wife Fiona, daughter Grace and team mates Stephen Cooke, Mark Bateman, and Ash Turner were beaten by hometown team Buckshot BBQ.

Grand Champion Overall was Buns-N-Roses Cook Team from Friendswood, Texas.

"A big percentage of [competitors and spectators] are really happy for you, but there are them old stalwarts that you can tell don't like it," Mr Coleman explained the morning after the team's surprise showing.

"The majority of them were so happy."

Bragging rights

When he is not running an export processed meat operation, Mr Coleman pursues his passion for slow barbecuing.

Brisket — from the forequarter of the beast, between its legs — takes about six hours to cook using the smoking technique.

Because this cut of meat is quite tough, it needs to be cooked slowly and Mr Coleman rubs in a seasoning composed of ... Well, he is quite coy about revealing its composition.

Smiles all around for the brisket experts from Wingham who showed Texans how to barbecue. ( Supplied )

Having being bitten by the slow smoking barbecue bug several years ago, Mr Coleman's performance at a recent event at Port Macquarie qualified his team to travel to the Houston event.

This meant three days of competition with more than 200,000 spectators.

"The prize is the bragging rights; no prize money at all," Mr Coleman said.

"Mate, it's the biggest thing I have ever seen. It is unbelievable this barbecue contest!"

BYO Angus beef

Not only was the Australian team the first from outside the USA to finish in the top 10, they did it without using local beef from the Lone Star state — or from anywhere in the country for that matter.

"Their first reaction is 'You're an Aussie and you are here with 28 Texans or other parts of the USA and you are up on the stage," Mr Coleman said.

"Then when you tell them we brought our own [Angus] beef, they don't believe it."

This slow-cooked barbecue Angus beef brought from Australia carved up the opposition in Texas. ( Supplied )

The team arrived in Texas a week prior to competition and took the opportunity to taste test a lot of barbecue.

"Texans, what they want is the taste of the meat," Mr Coleman said.

"You have to make sure the taste is right and that is what we really worked on. It's about texture, taste, presentation and smell.

"Presentation here is probably not as big as in Australian barbecue competitions [but] smell, texture, taste are their three big ones here."

Swedes win BBQ dessert category

Being unable to stake their claim as world champions by just one half of a point may have been due to their performance with the chicken and the pork ribs.

While confident in the beef category, the team was ill-prepared for the different way American chooks were cooked in the competition compared to how Mr Coleman prepares them in Australia.

He said the Texans' amazement at almost losing to an Australian barbecue team was amplified by the Swedish winners of the Dutch Oven Dessert category.

"We put our stories together and talking to the Texans, they couldn't believe people from 5,000-sized [residents] towns came over and knocked them off," Mr Coleman said.

Potential for Angus

While it was the Australian-produced Angus that had the Texans salivating, it was the Wagyu breed which the American locals base their dishes upon.

Mr Coleman believes this is something Australian producers can capitalise upon.

"I definitely believe our Wagyu is getting better and better all the time [and] all the companies in Australia are producing some great Wagyu," he said.

"I also believe there is a market for the high-end range of the Angus brisket in the States.

"They are always looking for something different [and] our Angus brings that difference."

As for celebrating their achievements upon their return to Australia, while a vegetarian dish is unlikely, so is slow-cooked brisket.

"Barbecues are off the menu," said Mr Coleman.

"I said to the boys 'no more barbecues for the rest of the week!'"