Crossed Bones first British team to reach Barbecue World Cup in Las Vegas
The Crossed Bones team from Weston-Super-Mare and Wiltshire will compete at the Barbecue World Cup in Las Vegas next April after winning the Beef Stock Festival.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Crossed Bones has become the first British team to reach the Barbecue World Cup in Las Vegas.
The team, which has members in Weston-Super-Mare and Wiltshire, will compete in America next April after winning the Beef Stock Festival earlier this year. They are the only British team in the field, and the top prize is $1 million.
Chefs Matt and Lee first entered a barbecue contest four years ago for fun. They came second overall on their first attempt, met other cooks, and enjoyed the food and atmosphere so much that they were hooked. Since then they have become known on the competition circuit for barbecue with a South West flavour. Their dishes include scallops with charcoal butter still in the shell, a twist on classic pork belly burnt ends, and monkfish burnt ends with a ponzu glaze.
A third member, Ryan, was recruited to do a key job during competitions. He sits up all night maintaining the temperature on the meat while the others sleep. The team says charcoal and wood work like another ingredient, and that barbecue takes more work than a professional kitchen because the temperature and smoke flavours are harder to control.
Before the Beef Stock Festival, the team did not talk about the golden ticket to Vegas. They wanted to have a great time and do well. When their names were read out as Grand Champions, they felt shock and disbelief for two or three hours. One member said the smile did not leave his face for about four days.
The team will cook in the parking lot of Caesars Palace. They know they will face professional teams with large financial backing, but they want to show the West Country can barbecue with the best. Doing it in Las Vegas sunshine will be a novelty after practising in Weston-Super-Mare drizzle. During the report, a taste test of shotgun shells, beef wrapped in pasta and bacon drew strong praise, with the reporter calling it the single best thing he had tasted from a barbecue.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Crossed Bones is reported as the first and only British team to reach the Barbecue World Cup in Las Vegas. | |
| The Barbecue World Cup has $1 million in prize money. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC ONE West treats the story as a local West Country success. It follows the Crossed Bones team in Weston-Super-Mare drizzle and gives airtime to the cooks, their dishes, and their all-night temperature watcher. The tone is warm and celebratory, with a light taste test, and it frames the Las Vegas trip as a chance to prove the region can barbecue with better-funded rivals.
- “We're going to be cooking barbecue in the parking lot of Caesars Palace.”
- “I think it was just shock and disbelief for about two or three hours.”
- “They're the only British team, and the prize money is $1 million.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.