Any keen barbecue-ers?

Dare I say I have a Gas ! BBQ. Three burner Outback, great BBQ love the flat griddle. Simple to clean, I put the pressure hose over it at the start of the season, after use in the season I turn it on full and burn off anything and then use a good stiff brush. I put cat litter, (fresh) in the drip tray and empty it every so often.
 
Don't forget the chimney starter, (not you Saint).

There are some good Weber deals on atm, friend bought a full blown Weber premium (ash bucket) from B&Q for something like £70 or £80 when the RRP is near £150.

I recently bought a foldaway/travel BBQ from Lidl, it's actually okay. Won't win any design prizes but for £12 and half a chimney full of coal you can still cook a few steaks and the odd burger when the Weber is too much trouble.
 
antdad said:
Don't forget the chimney starter, (not you Saint).

There are some good Weber deals on atm, friend bought a full blown Weber premium (ash bucket) from B&Q for something like £70 or £80 when the RRP is near £150.

I recently bought a foldaway/travel BBQ from Lidl, it's actually okay. Won't win any design prizes but for £12 and half a chimney full of coal you can still cook a few steaks and the odd burger when the Weber is too much trouble.
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I have seen a chimney starter in use, good bit of kit that.
 
Used my Weber Performer and Rotisserie attachment to spit-roast a Beef brisket joint for Sunday lunch for four family members, lovely to dine alfresco with a Sunday Roast with family, a few beers on top = :icon_cheesygrin:
 
In the end I decided to buy a Napoleon Pro 22k. It's very similar to a Weber, but had a couple of features I fancied - notably, it has a cast iron grill (which may or may not be your thing) which is also height adjustable. Having had an adjustable height grill in the past and having missed it since, it was the clincher.

In terms of quality, there is nothing to split it and the Weber - both are excellent, well made bits of kit and I'm very happy with it.

Antdad - I took your advice and got the chimney starter, which is an absolute revelation. It's brilliant to have coals hot enough to cook on in ten minutes!

So far I've done one simple run, cooking steaks and some very nice fennel sausages from the local Italian deli and then today I've been slightly more adventurous, cooking spatchcock chicken for about 50 minutes at a nice and steady 210 degrees. It's coped admirably with both and the chicken especially earned rave reviews.

Looking forwards to trialling some longer cooks in the near future!
 
mand said:
Enjoy it, any chance of pics of food and new barbecue to get me motivated for summer?
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Here's a review I put on a different forum:

Napoleon Pro22k - Part 1 said:
Hi all, I've been mulling over what barbecue to buy for a little while. I've had an Outback Cookdome for 18 months and never really been happy with it - in fact my barbecuing had regressed to only things that could stand being close to the coals. Anything slower was done on my Cobb.

In truth, I really wanted to buy a Kamado Joe but had been entertaining the notion of cheaper cookers (hence my request for info on the Hacienda). However, my wife pointed out that we still have to pay for our summer holiday, need to redecorate the front room, buy the kids shoes, etc. and put the kybosh on the idea. My budget was set at £250.

So, I returned to kettle barbecues and settled on a short list of Weber OTP, OutdoorChef Easy 570 and the Napoleon Pro22k. All have 57 cm grills and, the reviews I've seen (lots for the Weber, fewer for the others) are equally positive all around. In the end, I decided to plump for the Napoleon. I used to have an adjustable height grill and found it useful when doing the typical burger and sausage party (sorry!) and this was the only BBQ to feature that. I also think it's probably going to help when cooking something large - there's a good 3 inches between lowest and highest settings and that will probably help out if I ever decide to roast a turkey in it!

There are a couple of other useful features in its arsenal - firstly, it comes with a cast iron grill (hinged for easy adding of charcoal during cooking) and it also has a removable air diffuser that you can place above the bottom vents but below the charcoal. The theory is that it diverts incoming air out and round, preventing the hot spot you sometimes get over the bottom vents. I'll see how that works out in due course.

Assembly went pretty smoothly - the instructions are really clear. Sadly I managed to drop a nut and can't find it, so I'll have to have a trip to the local hardware store to get a replacement. Fortunately it's non-essential and doesn't affect the structure at all. The finished barbecue is very sturdy - no rattles at all when I give it a good shake.

I thought I'd include a couple of pictures to show what it looks like. As always, having taken the snaps I now realise that I really need to pull up the weeds between my paving slabs! Here's the completed unit:

photo%201.JPG


And this is a close up of the grill (you can see the air diffuser at the bottom) - it's hinged on either side, where the lines go wavy:

photo%202.JPG


I haven't had chance to put it to the test yet - I'll update with first impressions tomorrow. However, I'm happy with it so far and really looking forward to giving it a go.

One final point for now is that I couldn't be more pleased with the supplier, BBQWorld. I ordered on Wednesday, received lots of progress emails and had the item delivered on Thursday - even the estimated delivery time was spot on. I bought a couple of accessories, including a pizza stone and, unfortunately, the stone was cracked in transit. I phoned the company today and was treated very courteously and have already received notification that the replacement is scheduled for delivery on Tuesday. Absolutely brilliant.
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Napoleon Pro22k - Part 2 said:
So after yesterday's assembly, today presented the first opportunity to try the barbecue out. Nothing at all adventurous - just some fennel sausages from the local Italian delicatessen and a rib-eye steak.

I set the grill up for indirect cooking, with a charcoal basket on either side and a clear space in the middle. The fuel was Big K lumpwood charcoal, which I got off to a good start using a Weber chimney starter.

As the unit is new, I left it to burn unattended for approximately 45 minutes with the lid down. I tried to gauge the accuracy of the built in thermometer (handily named 'Accu-Temp') with a Thermapen through the top vents, but I was concerned about damaging the Thermapen in the end, so will have to test it another time. During the burnoff it was reading about 280 degrees centigrade and that probably wasn't too far from the mark.

The sausages went on first, cooked indirectly over the clear centre with the lid down. The conductivity of the cast iron grill was noticeable as I still ended up with some striping on the sausages despite not being directly over the coals. They cooked nicely - actually slightly quicker than I had expected - and I ended up popping them directly over the charcoals for the last couple of minutes to give them some extra colour.

For the steak, I flipped up the grill and added some extra charcoal to rev the heat up a little (the coals had been on for some time) and, once they had caught, I dropped the grill to its lowest position to see how it did at searing. Very well is the basic answer - the steak was cooked to medium rare in just a few minutes and had very attractive sear marks from the griddle.

I gave the grill a brush off and a light coating of oil to prevent any rust from attacking whilst the meat was resting.

So - the things I found today:
  • The finish on the porcelain is really glass like. It's a very well finished barbecue[/*]
  • The vents are solid and I was able to adjust the temperature fairly well - still need to experiment to improve accuracy[/*]
  • I like the cast iron grill. It worked very well for me[/*]

I've now got a decent feel for the barbecue and I'm looking forwards to trying something a bit more interesting over the weekend. I think a shoulder of lamb with a greek marinade is looking favourite. This is a recipe from the Cobb cook book and I'll be interested to see how it does on this grill.
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In terms of food, I haven't taken any pictures - too busy eating! But so far, I've done steak and sausages, Spatchcock Chicken and tonight's tea was Greek Lamb (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2220672/barbecued-greek-lamb-with-tzatziki) which was absolutely stellar (although choose a better tzatziki recipe - I can recommend Simon Hopkinson's one from his book, "The Good Cook").

I love the height adjustable, cast iron grill. I can get really good sear marks without needing the rest of the grill to be too hot. So tonight's cook was very low temperature - 150 degrees centigrade - but the cast iron meant that it still ended up nicely coloured and with a tasty exterior.

Very happy indeed!
 
There are two grips that stand up from the grill - you basically grab those (using oven gloves!) and lift and twist. The slots you can see around the edge can then be aligned with the stays to allow it to drop over them and down to the next level. I've done it during cooking and it worked really well; after I'd cooked a chicken with the lid down, I made a last minute decision to do some burgers whilst the chicken rested - drop the grill to the lowest setting to allow it to get some proper heat, stick on the burgers, flip them once and job's a good 'un!

I am a happy barbecuer!
 
That Napolean loogs great.
I had an Outback gas BBQ for years, and regretted it every day after I bought it.
Gas bottle finally ran out so last winter I splashed out on a (discounted) Weber Premium in green.
Love it, so much more than the gas one.
Chimney starter is a must.
I have plans over the next few weeks to do some spatchcock and beer can chicken.
Then will try some low and slow joints.
I am going to get my laser cutter at work to make some bits to make my own internal smoker.
I have a spare kettle lid that I am going to cut a slot out of and mount a pizza stone to it so I can convert it into a pizza oven.

Now I just need the time....
 
That sounds like a nice few projects :D I've just picked up a copy of the Barbecue Bible, as recommended by Wazzer, and I'm going to spend the next few days deciding what to aim for. A long low'n'slow pork shoulder is the prime candidate but I want decent weather for it as, first round, I will need to keep a close eye on the temperatures throughout the day.
 
Weber do a pizza stone so no need to mash up your spare lid!:s Great to see that Pork shoulder being BBQ'd. I did the Pulled Pork last year it was out of this World on burger buns with BBQ sauce and coleslaw & chips on the side, and of course bottled beer on ice to accompany! :icon_razz:
 
You better believe it. We have a Weber and use it at least twice a week every week of the year when we're at home. I have it positioned on the back patio just outside the kitchen door so that it's convenient. In the winter I keep a snow shovel next to it to get rid of the snow. Rain, shine, cold, snow and sleet are no impediments. In the winter I regularly use it when it 's well below 0C and there's several inches of new snow. Weber and Napoleon make excellent BBQs, and I think Napoleon is a Canadian company. As for cast iron grates, I wouldn't use anything else.
 
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