Meet The Founder Of This Very Cool Biz Heating Up The Way We Cook, Create + Catch Up

A love of cooking with fire, getting the most flavour out of his food and a slight obsession with building things, pulling them apart and building them again – oh and some spare time in the pandemic – were the ingredients Charlie needed to start Pig & Pilgrim. 

Designing, creating and building artisan charcoal barbecues for top chefs and foodies who just really love to cook was never on the career cards for Charlie. 

“It all happened pretty organically and accidentally which is kind of how I approach life,”says Charlie. 

Hey, if it ain’t broke, right?? 

We caught up with Charlie at his factory in Mittagong – you’ve probably driven past it and seen the Pig & Pilgrim classic ute parked out the front – to chat about all things barbecue, business and flavour bombs.

1 :: Pig & Pilgrim is still a young business…..how did it all start for you?

I’ve always loved cooking and the Argentinian Parrilla style of cooking over coals. 

I was looking for a barbecue and was pretty specific about what I wanted. 

It had to have the wheel on it so I could adjust the height of the grill over the fire, which helps you control the heat and ultimately, the cook. 

But the only one I could find that was suitable was around the $5000-$6000k mark so I thought bugger it, I’ll make one myself. 

The pandemic hit around that time in March 2020, life changed and even though I was still working, I had a bit more spare time on my hands. 

We started sharing what I was doing on the barbecue in the backyard online and people obviously had plenty of time and were interested in new ways of cooking. 

We started getting some interest and people were asking me to build ones for them and by about September, I’d sold about ten of them.

2 :: But you were still working full time, right?

That’s right.

Actually, in September 2020 I had just taken on a new job but we also made the decision to work with a social media company to start getting Pig & Pilgrim out there a little more. 

That same week, I leased a warehouse in Sydney and thought I’ll give this a go, not realising what was about to happen. 

By the end of October, we had 30 orders and I quit my job.

3 :: So, a bit of a career change for you then!

Yeah, I’ve always loved making stuff, though. 

When I was a kid, I’d take myself off to the hardware store and buy stuff with no real plan around what I was going to create, then I’d go home and make something. I’d do that for hours. 

And that’s what I’ve done with the Pig & Pilgrim barbecues.

I started with a bit of an idea of what I wanted to do but not really sure about how I was going to do it. 

I just wanted the hand wheel and found one on a building site I was working on – it was getting chucked out so I grabbed it and that’s what started the whole process for me, really.

I had the wheel so then I had to make the barbecue to go around it. 

The original P&P barbecue is still here, out the back of the factory actually.

It’s pretty rustic but it’s what started it all off.

4 :: How did the business grow and what is it looking like these days?

Because lots of people were at home and cooking during the pandemic, the lockdowns were actually really busy periods for us. 

Cooking with and over fire is also a bit of a food trend that’s taken off in recent years with a number of top restaurants and top chefs doing it, so people wanted to try that out themselves at home. 

We thought it would get quieter in the winter months and while July is traditionally a quiet month for us, because the barbecue is using coals and pumping out a whole lot of heat, we found that people were still using them and barbecuing in the cooler months with their friends. 

Everyone would gather around the Pig & Pilgrim chatting, cooking and staying warm. 

So, that helped with keeping us busy all year round. Human nature does a lot of our marketing for us – everyone gravitates to food and heat. 

As for what the business looks like now, we ended up moving the factory to the Southern Highlands. 

I took on a couple of local welders to help me out, we’ve moved across from MIG welding to laser welding now, a foundry in Sydney makes all our pans and handwheels and here we are, three years later.

5 :: So, what’s it like cooking over coals?

It’s actually quite easy.

People think it’s laborious but it’s not. 

When you think about it, so many cultures work with this way of cooking.

The Argentinians obviously, the Kiwi’s have their hangi, the South Africans have their braai and Australians have always barbecued too but mainly using gas or wood. 

Cooking over coals is a bit different and really allows you to get those flavour bombs you’re after. 

It creates a level of flavour you can’t get cooking on gas and there’s something a bit more organic about cooking over charcoal – you’re more connected to the food, what the heat is doing and then the final flavour.

6 :: What would you say to someone who is thinking about swapping over to a Pig & Pilgrim barbecue?

People say it takes longer but it’s the way you approach it, really. 

I set my charcoal alight then go inside and prep all the food while it’s warming up.

20 minutes or so later, you’re ready to cook.

If I need to speed that up a bit, I’ll set the leaf blower on it. 

If you think about putting an oven on and waiting for that to heat up, it’s not that much different. 

But the difference in the finished product and the flavour is second to none – the taste, the texture, the flavours – it really is so good. 

And if it does take a little bit longer then that’s a good thing – the pandemic really taught us all to slow down, connect in other ways and Pig & Pilgrim is all about that. 

The cooking, the feasting, the gathering of friends, the connection to each other and nature…..it all links together with the Pig & Pilgrim parrilla at the centre.

7 :: Are you lovin’ being back in the Highlands?

Yeah, I was born here.

My parents were the caretakers of Golden Vale Homestead at Sutton Forest when I was born, so I started life there.

We moved out to Joadja and my grandparents lived in Woodlands. 

We moved around a fair bit so as I kid, I spent a lot of my school holidays back with them at Woodlands and I loved it.

I’ve got a lot of fond memories of following my grandfather around and hanging out with him. 

I was living in Marrickville and working in Petersham – it was pretty noisy and busy so when the opportunity came up to make a bit of a lifestyle change, I moved here with the business. 

I live out at Avoca now on about four or five acres with my partner, Elise.

We’ve got three dogs and a horse and chickens and we love it.

8 :: So, what’s next for Pig & Pilgrim?

I’d like to get some sort of shop front happening for people in the Highlands.

At the moment, you can come and see us by appointment.

We’ve got barbecues in the factory you can have a look at. 

We’re also adding to the range all the time, and that includes the tools and accessories you need to make the most out of cooking over charcoal.

Things like pans, warmer racks, toaster racks, pizza paddles, tongs and we’ve just launched our new pizza oven. 

We’re building barbecues for people all over Australia, shipping to places as far away as Tasmania – they’re actually really popular in Tassie.

They have a similar climate to us in the Highlands and love getting outdoors like we do here. 

So, we want to keep building on that and getting Pig & Pilgrim parrilla barbecues into as many homes or backyards as we can, so more people can enjoy hanging out with their friends and family, and cooking up a bloody good feast for them.

You had us at bloody good feast, mate!

Pig & Pilgrim design and build solid steel barbecues for people who love cooking, working with heat, and bringing out the best possible flavour in the food they’re serving up.

You can check out their range of barbecues and accessories online or give Charlie a call to make an appointment to see them in the flesh at the factory in the centre of Mittagong.

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