BBQs

[Carlos]

Yes chimney starters are great and they're an Aldi special buy this week at £4.99. The Weber one is 3x that and they do the same job.

The Weber briquettes are well worth the extra they burn hot and will last hours (3 hrs+) grilling.

Actually, on the chimney thing, the bit I got wrong with them is that for them to work well, you need to fill them with coals.

I tried to use it half full, and the heat from the firelighters just escaped around the coals without getting them going.

So pack the coals in, shake them about a bit (to close up the gaps) and then they'll soak up the heat from the firelighters and spread it to the other coals.

Sounds daft, I know, but I got this wrong a couple of times

You don't need firelighters with a chimney starter, 3 or 4 sheet's of scrunched up newspaper will do it.

[duncs500]

I want a gas bbq, but when I think about having had one in the past it was probably less convenient due to being a PITA to clean.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I want a gas bbq, but when I think about having had one in the past it was probably less convenient due to being a PITA to clean.

*sigh* All the years of hard work being correct destroyed in 4 words

[NotoriousREV]

I want a gas bbq, but when I think about having had one in the past it was probably less convenient due to being a PITA to clean.

Gas BBQs are very easy to clean. Light gas, let it get hot, use wire brush/scraper thingy on grates, cook.

[ZedLeg]

I want a gas bbq, but when I think about having had one in the past it was probably less convenient due to being a PITA to clean.

*sigh* All the years of hard work being correct destroyed in 4 words

What he said . If you want a barbeque get a barbeque, not a gas cooker for your patio.

[Richard]

I want a gas bbq, but when I think about having had one in the past it was probably less convenient due to being a PITA to clean.

I have a technique here, and it’s BRILLIANT

After serving the last of the food, I turn the gas off, and spray the grill with the garden hose (cone setting), whilst brushing the grill area with a metal brush (with long handle for BBQs). No soap, no hard work, perfectly clean every time, in like 20-30seconds

It’s a bit loud and steamy, and it’ll probably induce much tutting from wives/GFs/BFs/etc

[DaveE]

Yes chimney starters are great and they're an Aldi special buy this week at £4.99. The Weber one is 3x that and they do the same job.

The Weber briquettes are well worth the extra they burn hot and will last hours (3 hrs+) grilling.

Actually, on the chimney thing, the bit I got wrong with them is that for them to work well, you need to fill them with coals.

I tried to use it half full, and the heat from the firelighters just escaped around the coals without getting them going.

So pack the coals in, shake them about a bit (to close up the gaps) and then they'll soak up the heat from the firelighters and spread it to the other coals.

Sounds daft, I know, but I got this wrong a couple of times

You don't need firelighters with a chimney starter, 3 or 4 sheet's of scrunched up newspaper will do it.

I tried that, but because I'd not packed the chimney with coals, the newspaper was quite "lose" and kind of fell out. While on fire. They kind of blew around the garden quite a bit. And then over into a neighbour's garden.

So much fire.

And none of it in the right place.

[DaveE]

The whole gas vs charcoal BBQ IMO comes down to this:

A good friend has a gas one and cooks on it all the time - often for lunch (he works at home). It's immediate and quick and so he gets far more use out of it than I do. It's instant coffee.

A charcoal BBQ is more of a "process" (it's making fresh coffee*) and I quite like that - it becomes a thing to do, not just a means to getting some food (or a cup of coffee)

* For me, it's actually quite a habit/routine, making coffee. I'm not some coffee snob btw. I just like that it takes a bit of time...

[Richard]

If you want to smoke properly, as in chuck a slab of meat in for many hours you need a tall vertical smoker if cooking over actual coals.

I own such a thing, but space is of a premium, and it’s a bit of a one trick pony

If you want the new one for grilling, why not get a gas BBQ? You already have the smoker side covered it seems.

This is a good point, however I do own such a thing already

(Maybe should have said that)

And I do like it, it’s quick and easy, but it’s not exactly BBQing, so much as al fresco cooking.

[Jobbo]

Like DaveE's mate, I use my gas bbq far more than I ever would a charcoal one because it's convenient. I can't get the same flamed/seared effect on my domestic hob so it's not quite the same as using a griddle outside.

The new Everdure range has some charcoal bbqs with a gas starter - that avoids the taint of lighter fluid and gets it going quickly according to the blurb but I've no idea how good it is in reality. Worth investigating if a quick-starting charcoal bbq is your ideal though.

[Carlos]

2 Questions. Food cooked on gas BBQs don't taste like BBQ food do they? Or do the 'briquets' add flavour?

Also, with the Weber Kettles, you can't lower and raise the grill? I thought that was important?

1. The charcoal adds flavour even to a sausage.

2. You can't raise or lower the grill with a Weber, you set up zones for direct and indirect cooking.

Zips put some links up to cooking guides and tips on the old site.

It's addictive though, once you start you'll be out there regardless of what's going on around you

[hoyleyboyley]

sales Lady at the garden centre did a course on the everdure and reckons its as good as the webers.

But holy shit they're expensive.
Also, electric ignition to start real coal.

Gas grills are great as mentioned they are super convenient, in the summer we do breakfast lunch and dinner on it - you can make it more like a real bbq by doing smoke bouches, and rubs etc but you're never going to get that coal taste. but it is bloody convenient.

Coal - I currently use and old brinkmann smoker my missus imported from the US - low and slow and great results - also doubles as a real coal BBQ. Like everything though, coal is an investment in time.

buy a weber. enjoy.

[Mito Man]

Like DaveE's mate, I use my gas bbq far more than I ever would a charcoal one because it's convenient. I can't get the same flamed/seared effect on my domestic hob so it's not quite the same as using a griddle outside.

The new Everdure range has some charcoal bbqs with a gas starter - that avoids the taint of lighter fluid and gets it going quickly according to the blurb but I've no idea how good it is in reality. Worth investigating if a quick-starting charcoal bbq is your ideal though.

Likewise, I’ve never used gas but I use the electric BBQ 9 times out of 10 because I’m lazy.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I have no issue with outdoor gas cookers, and totally get how usable they are, but they aren't BBQ, they're an outdoor gas grill.

As for cleaning, my BBQ gets cleaned once a year before its first outing, to wash the snails and their cr4p off. Otherwise no need to clean something that gets so raging hot - it cleans itself.

[ZedLeg]

Due to the unique Scottish climate we don't get to barbeque a lot so the extra effort of a charcoal grill is worth it .

I liked Dave's coffee analogy, it makes sense to me having gone from ground coffee in a cafetiere to whole beans and an espresso machine over the last couple of years.

Saying that, our dream kitchen design would have a gas fired grill built in as we grill a lot.

[duncs500]

I knew mentioning gas bbqs would get a few of you all excited.

TBH I'll probably flog my POS charcoal bbq until it disintegrates. The problem with the Weber ones in my situation is that I have to try and keep segregation between meat and veg for the missus. Might be difficult on a circular one.

[Mito Man]

You segregate your meat and two veg?

[GG.]

2 Questions. Food cooked on gas BBQs don't taste like BBQ food do they? Or do the 'briquets' add flavour?

Also, with the Weber Kettles, you can't lower and raise the grill? I thought that was important?

2. You can't raise or lower the grill with a Weber, you set up zones for direct and indirect cooking.

This is only true for the basic Webers. I bought one of the Mastertouch ones recently and they've changed the design of the grill to have a detachable centre section which you can flip up on two prongs to raise or have flush with the rest of the bars. You can obviously still just have the charcoal to one side and zone cook though (which is actually what I've tended to do as you inevitably don't have enough charcoal to spread it across the entire bottom of the BBQ if you're using a chimney to start it).

Oh and briquets are full of nasty crap. You want lumpwood charcoal - HTH.

p.s. nice floral trousers, Carlos.

[unzippy]

Yes chimney starters are great and they're an Aldi special buy this week at £4.99. The Weber one is 3x that and they do the same job.

The Weber briquettes are well worth the extra they burn hot and will last hours (3 hrs+) grilling.

Actually, on the chimney thing, the bit I got wrong with them is that for them to work well, you need to fill them with coals.

I tried to use it half full, and the heat from the firelighters just escaped around the coals without getting them going.

So pack the coals in, shake them about a bit (to close up the gaps) and then they'll soak up the heat from the firelighters and spread it to the other coals.

Sounds daft, I know, but I got this wrong a couple of times

Are you using a Weber chimney with the wire cone inside? If so turn it upside down if you only want to light off a few briquettes...

[unzippy]

2 Questions. Food cooked on gas BBQs don't taste like BBQ food do they? Or do the 'briquets' add flavour?

Also, with the Weber Kettles, you can't lower and raise the grill? I thought that was important?

If you can taste the "charcoal" you are doing it wrong - usually caused by lighter fluid or the easy light bags. You should be able to taste the smoke if using wood but the rest of the taste should be the meat juices and fat burning off.

With a kettle I usually have the coals over to one side - 2 zone cooking. Move the food over to the hotter part if you want to cook faster, same as raising/lowering the grill.