Armed with a passion for American cuisine and a lifetime of knowledge of his native country’s food and flavours, Rick Palesh set about opening the authentic American smoked BBQ house aptly named Twelve Boar.

Located in Brisbane’s Bayside suburb of Cleveland, Rick passionately slow smokes all his meat and ribs in house. The Twelve Boar menu is stacked to the brim with mouth-watering smoked dishes including pork ribs, buffalo wings, and beef brisket burgers.

“I’ve been in Australia for over 10 years now and over this time whenever my Aussie friends would come over for a BBQ they would get really excited about what I was cooking.  I noticed that there was an opportunity in the market for real authentic American flavours, and here we are,” said Rick.

“Sourcing the right equipment was really important. We were looking for an electric smoker oven as it minimises labour. Wood burning ovens are labour intensive and we just don’t have the time for that not to mention that duplicating the setup becomes really hard.

“We were introduced to the Alto-Shaam and we attended a demonstration. We cooked a few things and knew that we could make it work,” explains Rick.

“Our most popular menu item is the pork ribs. We cut them up, rub them with our special house rub and put them in the Alto-Shaam. We can do 35 -40 kilos at once. I load up the smoker box and then leave them in the oven for about 4 hours,” said Rick.

The Hold Function on the Alto-Shaam Smoker Oven also plays a big part in the kitchen at Twelve Boar.

“We cook our brisket overnight so that it is ready in the morning,” says Rick. “We can easily hold it in the Alto-Shaam for 12 hours right through to evening service. We don’t have to worry about losing yield; it (the brisket) maintains a good size, stays warms, soft and moist.”

Twelve Boar has now been operating for over 12 months. The business has been setup with the intention to expand to multiple sites and potentially franchising. Through hard work and persistence and some Southern hospitality, Twelve Boar will undoubtedly continue to grow.