BEEVILLE, Texas — A Coastal Bend fourth-grader will be competing in the Nationwide American Royal Kids Barbecue competition coming up on Saturday.
Nathaniel Archer, 9, is a student at Saint Mary's Academy Charter School in Beevile. He is competing against 74 other kids ages 6 to 10 in the hamburger cooking category at the American Royal Kids Barbecue in Kansas City.
Archer said he has been in other competitions before, but the American Royal Kids Barbecue will be the first time he will compete on such a big stage.
“I’m really excited but a little bit nervous because there is just going to be a lot of kids cooking and the best of the best are going to be there," he said.
Nathaniel said he found his love for barbecuing four years ago while helping his dad compete in cook-offs.
“Then once in a while they would host a kids barbecue cook-off. Then my dad signed me up, and I just started cooking," Archer said.
He said he loves to barbecue burgers because he can experiment with the seasonings and toppings to make a good old fashion American burger.
But wait. there's a twist, Archer said he has two secret ingredients.
"I put Chick-Fil-A sauce on the top of your bun," Archer said. "And the second one is to add bacon into your ground beef because, bacon makes everything taste better.”
He said he came up with the idea with the help of his dad who also taught him the art of making a great burger and things like, “how to make the patties, to put the burger in the right order from the top to the bottom."
And he has some an idea on how to allow other kids to following in his cooking footsteps.
“The best thing to do when you are cooking is to just cook, have fun, learn from your mistakes," said Archer.
