OV9

Simon wrote: Sat Apr 25, 2020 3:43 pm Well I've bought some 'restaurant grade charcoal' from our local butchers whilst getting some steaks - £15 for 15kg. Will see how it stacks up tomorrow.

That's a decent price. I could do with some more at some point. I've a load of supermarket lumpwood and briquettes in the shed to dispose of as it's smokey horrible tat!! Still got decent stuff and some Australian heat nuts too so no get panic

Going to have Indian spice chicken wings tonight. That is if I don't get arrested for throttling my daughter!! Ramping up the annoyance and cheek something rotten today

Well my old Outback Flamer is looking a little worse for wear. Years of shit covers has taken it's still on the side tables and ash pan. And the ceramic coated bars have started to corrode. I might tidy it up. I might buy a new toy. Not sure yet



Still works though which is the main thing. I lined the holy ash pan with foil and then lined the coal basket. It's a very open basket thats suspended and it gets fackin hot. So hot it can get difficult to get near it. As we were doing a spatchcocked chicken (1st time I've ever done one) I wanted to keep the heat more mellow which lining the basket achieves.

Loaded up the chimney with Weber briquettes amd that lasted about 1hr 30. Chicken was on for 45mins and then a dew extras. It was still hot enough as we were eating to crisp up any bits of skin that hadn't fully crisped.

Used olive oil and a salt, pepper and chilli flake mix to season amd it was bang on. Ate with some homemade mojo verde, ranch dressing, and some Frank's hot sauce. It was blummin lovely and me and the wife polished off the whole thing

McSwede wrote: Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:19 pm

Simon wrote: Sat Apr 25, 2020 3:43 pm Well I've bought some 'restaurant grade charcoal' from our local butchers whilst getting some steaks - £15 for 15kg. Will see how it stacks up tomorrow.

That's a decent price. I could do with some more at some point. I've a load of supermarket lumpwood and briquettes in the shed to dispose of as it's smokey horrible tat!! Still got decent stuff and some Australian heat nuts too so no get panic

Going to have Indian spice chicken wings tonight. That is if I don't get arrested for throttling my daughter!! Ramping up the annoyance and cheek something rotten today

Well, what a difference decent charcoal made. I've gone from "15 minutes of smoking out the neighbourhood whilst the Tesco briquettes slowly get up to temperature" to "flames out the top of the chimney within 3 minutes of lighting and barely any smoke at all". Wow. It's even better than the Weber stuff we bought a couple of years back.

Makes me think we don't 100% need a gas ignition one anymore.

The chimneys have really made be doubt needing a Gas one.

I’ve 2 and they never fail. 20 mins from light to cook means it’s so easy to time all the accoutrements you’re making.

Need more charcoal though to start roasting this summer...

Simon wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:29 pm

McSwede wrote: Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:19 pm

Simon wrote: Sat Apr 25, 2020 3:43 pm Well I've bought some 'restaurant grade charcoal' from our local butchers whilst getting some steaks - £15 for 15kg. Will see how it stacks up tomorrow.

That's a decent price. I could do with some more at some point. I've a load of supermarket lumpwood and briquettes in the shed to dispose of as it's smokey horrible tat!! Still got decent stuff and some Australian heat nuts too so no get panic

Going to have Indian spice chicken wings tonight. That is if I don't get arrested for throttling my daughter!! Ramping up the annoyance and cheek something rotten today

Well, what a difference decent charcoal made. I've gone from "15 minutes of smoking out the neighbourhood whilst the Tesco briquettes slowly get up to temperature" to "flames out the top of the chimney within 3 minutes of lighting and barely any smoke at all". Wow. It's even better than the Weber stuff we bought a couple of years back.

Makes me think we don't 100% need a gas ignition one anymore.

It's an incredible difference over what you buy in the supermarkets. Glad you like it!

Anyone know where the restaurant grade stuff actually comes from?

Is it just proper charcoal from decent producers rather than the commercial guff? I'd like to buy locally produced ideally but getting hold of it's sporadic so I might give this a go as well

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:40 am Anyone know where the restaurant grade stuff actually comes from?

Is it just proper charcoal from decent producers rather than the commercial guff? I'd like to buy locally produced ideally but getting hold of it's sporadic so I might give this a go as well

Not sure if it would be classed as restaurant grade but if you have a Wildlife Trust close to you, they might make their own like ours does. £5 for a big bag around here.

I’m tempted to try making my own, it’s just logs in an airtight container heated over fire right? Just need to find a suitable container

Mito Man wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:06 pm I’m tempted to try making my own, it’s just logs in an airtight container heated over fire right? Just need to find a suitable container

Tupperware box.

Just bought 2 more bags and 2 left online. Superb stuff!!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alderline-Rest ... est&sr=8-6

I bought these at Aldi for £2 the weekend and found them really efficient in the chimney with pretty much zero smoke so worth a try over newspaper as someone earlier mentioned excessive smoke on lighting the chimney.

https://www.homefire.co.uk/homefire-twi ... hters.html

Carlos wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 5:05 pm I bought these at Aldi for £2 the weekend and found them really efficient in the chimney with pretty much zero smoke so worth a try over newspaper as someone earlier mentioned excessive smoke on lighting the chimney.

https://www.homefire.co.uk/homefire-twi ... hters.html

Nice. Duly noted for next visit.

I soak small cubes of wood in meths to act as firefighters.

A single 1 cm cube lights the chimney.

dinny_g wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 5:51 pm I soak small cubes of wood in meths to act as firefighters.

A single 1 cm cube lights the chimney.

A fantastic idea

Don’t ask me why I have Methylated Spirits...

#BecauseIrish...

dinny_g wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:17 pm Don’t ask me why I have Methylated Spirits...

#BecauseIrish...

Sipping Liquor on the West Coast

unzippy wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 2:16 am

Orange Cola wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:33 pm It looks like I’m christening my rotisserie tomorrow with a whole chicken. I’ll also be attempting home made BBQ sauce.

May as well do two
Once you've gone to the effort to set it all up, stick another one on for lunches/curry etc.

This is my usual bbq sauce, comes out quite runny but very tasty.

250ml (8 fl oz) apple juice
137ml (4.5fl oz) ketchup
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons molasses (i used black treacle)
1/2 teaspoon pure chili powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix the sauce ingredients and
let simmer for about 5 minutes. Then remove the saucepan from the
heat. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired.

Swapped apple juice for Diet Coke. Reduced it down. Was tasty on a burger.

Pics from phone are sideways. Oh well.

Glad you liked it [mention]JonMad[/mention]

Newspaper as a starter is crap, the ash gets everywhere.

Also with your Chimneys, take out the food grate and rest it on the coal grate to light. Definitely don't light it on a concrete floor..

https://www.google.com/search?q=charcoa ... =937&dpr=1

unzippy wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2020 2:31 am Also with your Chimneys, take out the food grate and rest it on the coal grate to light. Definitely don't light it on a concrete floor..

https://www.google.com/search?q=charcoa ... =937&dpr=1

yes, I did expect doing that would be a bad idea.
I use my old gas bbq (which does still work tbh) as a stand to light the chimney on.

My Weber arrived yesterday, just built it in time for a barbecue tonight for my stepson's 21st birthday (only with household members, of course).

Already been rained on in the few minutes since I moved it to the patio. Think I might repurpose the garage



Took about 90 minutes to put together, most of which was finding the right bits because it's all very well packaged and protected. The protective cardboard corner and edge pieces in the box are incredibly solid. The whole things feels incredibly well made. My old bbq is an Outback Spectrum 3-burner, looks very much like Mike's above. The cast body of this Weber and the ease of fitting it together really makes you feel where your money has gone. I'm glad I had to build it; I appreciate it more! Of course, I found my gas bottle is getting low so I hope it lasts tonight