Butchers score win in Sydney Toowoomba-rich team takes top gong

A QUEENSLAND butchery side brimming with Toowoomba talent has taken out a national prize in aid of drought charity Buy-A-Bale.

The side, featuring Toowoomba region butchers Tony Morgan, Codey Emes, Christan Nicholls and Byron Allsopp, won first place at the State Butchery Challenge, a feature event of the BBQ Baleout at Moore Park in Sydney on Sunday.

As part of the competition, teams were given a whole carcass and told to break it down by sections, with specific guidelines in place.

“We were breaking down a whole lamb and then turning it into different valued-added ready-to-eat items with all the specifications of the comp,” Mr Nicholls said.

“Products included a rolled loin of lamb, a rolled sirloin roast and cutting them to certain sizes.

“For example, we had to cut a 2kg piece exactly, from looking at a piece we didn’t know the weight of.

“They’d bring the whole TBone out, and you had to slice 2kg off.”

Teams were also given the chance to create decorative displays, with the Queenslanders borrowing heavily from the state’s staple products, like pineapples, prawns and XXXX beer.

Mr Nicholls said Toowoomba’s strong presence in the side, which was picked by the state’s meat governing body, showed the breadth of talent across the region.

“To have so many of us from one area is great for Toowoomba and the region,” he said.

All displays were auctioned off as meat trays, and teams altogether raised more than $11,000 for Buy-A-Bale.

Photos: Contributed WINNERS: The Queensland butchery team, made up of (from left) Christian Nicholls (Highfields), Tony Morgan (Toowoomba), Byron Allsopp (Toowoomba), Gary Thompson (Brisbane) and Codey Emes (Toowoomba), took first place in the State Butchery Challenge in Sydney at the weekend.

Some of the meat creations from the Queensland team at the State Butchery Challenge.