Spec me a Barbecue

[Rojin]

Just light some paper under it and it will light the coal first time? its that easy ?!

Not that I've found. Lump wood usually lights OK like this, but I can't ever get Heat Beads to light just using paper. I have to use a couple of lighter cubes.

 

[monkeyspank]

Not that I've found. Lump wood usually lights OK like this, but I can't ever get Heat Beads to light just using paper. I have to use a couple of lighter cubes.

Same. I need to put them on a little tinfoil tray too

 

[Raymond Lin]

Reading the reviews on that oil drum one has put me off a little.

There are some good reviews but almost as many bad ones and the common faults includes

1 - missing screws
2 - warmer rack is unuseable due to thin metal and the way it is design with no 3rd point anchor it just spins around
3 - coal rack is too low/gaps too wide (guess one can raise it by adding another mesh/rack to raise it)
4 - thin metal, prone to rust
5 - uneven legs
6 - metal bend under the weight of the food when cooking
7 - lid doesn't close properly, probably due to poor alignment
8 - dents

Hmmm, might end up with a Weber at this rate lol

On the other hand, I've ordered a smoke thermometer, 2 pit thermometer and a meat thermometer.

 

[Cosimo]

Tongues ?

You mean tongs?

We use this set "Weber Style 3 Piece Stainless Steel Tool Set by Weber" (rainforest) and it's lasted for years.

The tongs, "S/Steel Locking Tongs" can be had for £14.99.

 

[FrenchTart]

Reading the reviews on that oil drum one has put me off a little.

There are some good reviews but almost as many bad ones and the common faults includes

1 - missing screws
2 - warmer rack is unuseable due to thin metal and the way it is design with no 3rd point anchor it just spins around
3 - coal rack is too low/gaps too wide (guess one can raise it by adding another mesh/rack to raise it)
4 - thin metal, prone to rust
5 - uneven legs
6 - metal bend under the weight of the food when cooking
7 - lid doesn't close properly, probably due to poor alignment
8 - dents

Hmmm, might end up with a Weber at this rate lol

On the other hand, I've ordered a smoke thermometer, 2 pit thermometer and a meat thermometer.

I've seen/used a few of them and those are mostly valid points. But you shouldn't expect much from a cheap BBQ. The lids have always closed well enough and the main grill works okay even if it bends a little.

The Weber One Touch-style B&Q's own brand BBQ is very good for the money (and is only about £45 iirc) so I'd go for that if you want something cheap. You can get a feel for how bendy the grill is if you visit the store and look at the pre-constructed BBQs.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I've seen/used a few of them and those are mostly valid points. But you shouldn't expect much from a cheap BBQ. The lids have always closed well enough and the main grill works okay even if it bends a little.

The Weber One Touch-style B&Q's own brand BBQ is very good for the money (and is only about £45 iirc) so I'd go for that if you want something cheap. You can get a feel for how bendy the grill is if you visit the store and look at the pre-constructed BBQs.

I did seem them last week and I think the Weber 47cm still most suitable for cost/size/quality. The B&Q £45 one looked okay but when I saw it something put me off, I forgot what it was, it could be the weight (heavier) or the feel of it.

I can live with the possibility of rust, I can live with no warmer rack, I can live with having to clean the ash out but I just can't live with it bending and buckling under the heat/weight of a chicken.

 

[physichull]

Yup. It's that easy. Make sure you use a fair bit of paper. I tend to use the top 1/3rd of the thick paper that makes up a bag of charcoal briquettes. If you are concerned about it not working then simply try with a small batch. The first ten minutes you won't see much action once the flames go out but as long as there's a bit of residual heat the bottom coals are lit and within 20 mins it should have lit most of the bucket.



Lol, yeah. I've got some pretty decent ones at the moment and I've found myself using them more and more for cooking even outside of the BBQ. Bacon is so much easier with them

As Frenchy said, the chimney starters are excellent. I half filled one with briquettes on the weekend, put about 4 scrunched up sheets of newspaper underneath the chimney starter, lit a small corner of the paper with a lighter and walked off for 15 minutes. When I came back the coals were glowing and ready to go.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Will get the chimney starter tonight, just a B&Q one would do, don't think the Weber one is worth double the price tbh. It's small enough to store away so no reason it'll rust.

 

[randomshenans]

Yea, don't be a mug like me and get the weber starter. I paid like 40 euros when you can get them for like 15. Sure they all do the same. Hard not to be the same!

 

[Raymond Lin]

Yea, don't be a mug like me and get the weber starter. I paid like 40 euros when you can get them for like 15. Sure they all do the same. Hard not to be the same!

The principle is exactly the same, the difference i can see is size and the materials.

The main material is metal, I guess the weber one less prone to rust but it's £10...I can buy 2 B&Q one for 1 Weber. If I store it after its been used then it'll always be dry so it shouldn't rust.

Size, it is about 1cm smaller in diameter. I guess it could be useful being bigger but I could get two B&Q one if I am that desperate ! lol

The handle is different, Weber is plastic, B&Q is wood, which I actually prefer.

The inner grill is different, Weber has a circular grill inside that rises as it gets closer to the center where as the B&Q one is a flat piece of metal with circular holes in. The Weber would let in more flames due to the grill I guess.

 

[Maccapacca]

You've really over thought this one now.

My Webber has been sat outside for 4 years and it looks exactly the same as it did when I bought it, my last one which my Dad gave me after he bought a new one sat outside for 10 years until I splashed out on a new one.

The B&Q one will be in pieces next spring I watch many a friend buying cheap BBQ's yearly or bi yearly when they fall apart in a cloud of ash.

Can you wait til Homebase / B&Q do their 20% off weekends?

Charcoal chimney, the Homebase one I got I feel ripped off for £10 as it looks like a bit of ductwork I have on site with some hole drilled in, but I wouldn't pay out for the Webber one.

I have a Webber and a pair of tongs, anything else is not required, I don't have a meat themometer, I use a knife and my bottom lip or for pulled meat just jab a big carving fork in vertically and if it won't pick up the meat it's done, WTF is a smoke thermometer? do you really need one? WTF is a two pit thermometer? you are seriously turning something fun into something boring.

Check out my 40 person BBQ thread, had three BBQs on the go and one set of tongs, that was it.

 

[Raymond Lin]

The smoke one because I don't plan on getting the Weber 57cm one. So will just stick it in the hole on the lid of the 47cm one.
2 pit thermometer so I can see heat distribution

They are like £5 so hardly expensive. I saw your BBQ for 40 people, where was the pics where it was all cooking ! I only saw loads of food in bags and some meat on trays

You clearly brought in some cook and did it all for you (kidding!)

 

[tom_e]

The most high tech piece of kit I have when I bbq is a bamboo stick (yes I do have to put the end out every now and then ) to poke the coals round and some tongs.
Job done, extra money has been spent on meat and beer.

 

[randomshenans]

I have a lovely off cut of oak, which I use for my pokey tool. That, and you can pretty much use it for most things BBQ related.

 

[Raymond Lin]

The truth is that I can and have been using chopsticks as a tool to flip meat for yearssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

There is not much i can't pick up or turn with a pair of chopsticks, including a whole chicken.

So I am not bothered so much about tongs.

 

[tom_e]

I'm a master at stabbing things with chopsticks, actually using them not so much

 

[Stan_Lite]

The Weber One Touch-style B&Q's own brand BBQ is very good for the money (and is only about £45 iirc) so I'd go for that if you want something cheap. You can get a feel for how bendy the grill is if you visit the store and look at the pre-constructed BBQs.

Got one of them last year. Like Raymond, I live alone and don't need a huge BBQ. The B&Q one works fine for me - big enough to have 50:50 direct/indirect heat.

Will get the chimney starter tonight, just a B&Q one would do, don't think the Weber one is worth double the price tbh. It's small enough to store away so no reason it'll rust.

Again, I got that one last year and it's fine. The bottom bit started to warp and the little tongues would slip out of the slots. This is easily remedied by bending the tongues over with a pair of pliers - stops it from slipping.

The B&Q one will be in pieces next spring I watch many a friend buying cheap BBQ's yearly or bi yearly when they fall apart in a cloud of ash.

No it won't. I bought mine last year and used it quite often. It's been sat out in the back yard all winter with no cover and is absolutely fine.

Raymond, get the B&Q BBQ and starter and you'll be fine

 

[Raymond Lin]

Saw the B&Q one again, it'll work but I got these in the end.

Jack Daniels wood is just for fun

 

[Participant]

We use this set "Weber Style 3 Piece Stainless Steel Tool Set by Weber" (rainforest) and it's lasted for years.

We also have that set from way back, must be 7 years now and still going strong. Still look fantastic and are seriously good. They were cheaper back in them days . Hardly ever use the burger flipper though and I use the fork only to move the coals around.

Here they are sitting on the side of my proper 57cm BBQ . The tool holder on the side is good. Was around £7 from Homebase so a huge rip-off, but hey.

Smoky hickory chips doing their thing.

 

[Raymond Lin]

When you smoke, do you close all the vents?