The one mistake ruining your BBQ snags, according to an award-winning butcher
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Max Sovechles and his team make up to 200kg of sausages at their award-winning butcher shop Emilio's of Rozelle in Sydney each week.
These are no ordinary sausages, Sovechles tells nine.com.au ahead of his appearance at the Vivid Fire Kitchen 2026 which kicks off this week.
Sovechles will be serving up a maple, bacon pork sausage, but he won't be frying them up over high heat like a typical Aussie barbeque.
Max Sovechles and his team make up to 200kg of sausages each week. Supplied
Sovechless will cook his sausages using a smoker, to help develop the unique flavours in the sausages, a technique he says anyone can use to create unforgettable barbeque snags.
"I landed on sausages because I'm a butcher. I eat sausages every week. But also, because sausages are pretty important for a barbecue," he said.
"I'll be making these sausages by hand the day before Vivid, and then taking them out there to cook on the smoker."
Sovechles learned much of his trade during his travels through barbeque heartland Texas in the US, and he utilises these skills at Emilio's .
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When he first landed in Texas several years ago, he certainly paid his dues. Supplied
And while nobody can argue that Aussies love their barbeques, Texans have perfected it.
When he first landed in Texas several years ago, he certainly paid his dues, lending a hand at some of the best barbeque places in the state to learn as much as he could.
"It's pretty common in the food industry where you go and work at a place for free essentially," Sovechles has told nine.com.au.
"I was working there for two weeks at different barbeque places, Michelin star restaurants."
Michelin stars weren't always synonymous with barbeque restaurants but they certainly are today.
"In Texas, it's two states of mind when it comes to barbeque," he explained. "There's the classic Texas barbeque where it's salt and pepper rub on a brisket, really traditional. Sides are beans and mac and cheese.
"Then there's some newer places that are opening up that are putting their own spin on it.
"Barbeque is evolving into something really nice were people are putting their own spin on creating a different version of barbeque."
A brisket is challenging to cook, and takes hours on a barbeque to do it right.
"What I love is that all the really affordable cuts of meat do well with all of these techniques.
"For me, my favourite way to cook them is using two barrels. One is a cooking barrel and with another barrel off to the side. You light a fire and then draw that heat across the meat, then set up a chimney or stack as they call it.
Barbecue cuisine has come a long way over the years. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Max Sovechles will appear at Vivid Fire Kitchen 2026 which kicks off this week. Supplied
"It helps flavour the meat. You use coal or different types of wood like American cherry woods, things like that.
"Flavour depends on what you use to cook it."
He's also been using an offset smoker to help flavour his meat. These days briskets are one of his favourite meats to cook on a barbeque, owing to the careful techniques needed to perfect it.
His go-to flavours for a barbeque brisket are salt and pepper and the smoker and then cooking it for 12 hours.
The most affordable cuts of meat are cooked using barbecue techniques. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Brisket and sausages are among his favourite cuts of meat to barbeque. Supplied
"You can go for longer, but if its a small one you might go shorter."
Briskets and sausages go hand-in-hand, Sovechles explained.
"When you're trying to cut these briskets the way you want them, you're left with a lot of trim. And so, what do you do with that trim? You can make burgers, you can make sausages.
"At every Texas barbecue place that you visit, they'll have their own sausage and they might have a few different types."
Max Sovechles will appear at Vivid Fire Kitchen 2026 at Barangaroo which kicks off this week at its new waterfront home in Barangaroo Reserve. This year Vivid Fire Kitchen will bring together more than 45 culinary voices and marks the arrival of two new focal points, The Vivid Fire Pit and the Food for Thought stage. Visitors can watch live demonstrations and enjoy delicious foods among the extraordinary Vivid Sydney lights.
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