***** Official 2014 BBQ Thread - Sun is out, time to grill!! *****

well just ditched the conventional bbq for a gas char broil american brand bbq.

Finding a good charcoal was painful, even using a chimney starter etc it was just hard work and sometimes really struggled to take.

I like the idea of being able to wack it on and away. I have bought some lava rock and am going to invest in some wood smoke chips. First bbq will be later this week i suppose. cant wait.
 
So I managed to get hold of the boston butt, just under 4kg. Started at 6am yesterday came off at 5pm, 11 hours and it didn't reach the pull stage! :(. I would've gone longer but guests were waiting.

It was still very nice however.
 
Just pulled the trigger on a Traeger Junior Elite as a birthday present for my housemate/landlord guy. Totally going to end up using it more than he will but it's something he requested as a group present so.... awesome :D
 
Is there a brand as quality as Webber but cheaper. Fed up if my triangular round thing. And heed a bigger grill. But Webber is dilly money and feel like paying far to much for the name. Especially in larger ones.
 
Glaucus said:
Is there a brand as quality as Webber but cheaper. Fed up if my triangular round thing. And heed a bigger grill. But Webber is dilly money and feel like paying far to much for the name. Especially in larger ones.
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I presume you're looking for a grill rather than a smoker (as otherwise I'd suggest ProQ)?

edit: Just re-read your post and you even said the word "grill" :rolleyes: I'm tired, clearly :p

There are some Weber clones that you can pick up from B&Q and the like. The ~£100 One Touch clones seem to be reasonable from what I've heard but they're obviously not as good as the real deal.
 
I have two that I can use as a grill, I want a better smoker. So a proq what ever they are called (bullet?)probably have more space? That indirect grilling on a kettle. Be nice to be able to slow cook like 4 full racks of ribs + a pork butt or brisket, if not more. Would lve a proper Texas style smoker, but they're like 600+
 
ProQ Frontier is cheaper and smaller but still great. ProQ Excel is pretty big and you could easily fit a lot of food in there. Sadly the Excel seems to be out of stock everywhere until July though :/

edit: Don't bother with the ProQ Amigo. From what I've heard it's substantially worse than the Frontier or Excel (and a lot smaller, as is obvious from any pics you see online).
 
First BBQ of the year (that I’ve done) planned tonight. Had a ton of work to get done in the garden before I could justify cracking out the Webber again.

After my trip to Mostar late last year I kept intending to make Ćevapčići (mixed-meat sausage) which was unbelievably good. I decided to make some yesterday using lamb and pork mince, plus some ajvar (roast peppers and roast aubergine relish) which I haven’t had before but looks pretty good.

Will get some pics up once cooked. Just a shame I can’t get Karlovacko beer over here :/
 
Glaucus said:
Is there a brand as quality as Webber but cheaper. Fed up if my triangular round thing. And heed a bigger grill. But Webber is dilly money and feel like paying far to much for the name. Especially in larger ones.
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The weber's really do last though, and they have very good warranties. If you buy one you shouldn't need to replace it for a long time. I keep mine outside most of the time (As I use it all year round) it is under a cover but it still looks as good as new 6 years on.
 
Glaucus said:
Is there a brand as quality as Webber but cheaper. Fed up if my triangular round thing. And heed a bigger grill. But Webber is dilly money and feel like paying far to much for the name. Especially in larger ones.
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If you want Weber quality then you have to pay the price I'm afraid. Lots of people use the proQ range and have good success, but in terms of build quality and warranty the weber is miles ahead. You get a 10 year warranty against rust on the main sections of the wsm, 2 years on the handle and 1 year for the grates. Compared to I believe just 1 year overall for the proQs. Weber products really are built to last and the customer service is excellent.

I may sound like a brand snob, but I speak from experience of using my wsm for the past year (and have since purchased a weber OTP) and having dealt with customer services.
 
Webber are far more expensive than they should be(good quality but basic design), and the design is not good for large cooking, as you waste so much apace by indirect grilling. And their massive one is well over £1k

And guarantees are next to useless. It's enamelled or protected metal. the chance of it rusting out is pretty much zero. Even a cheap BBQ will last 4+ years.

A vertical smoker , is much better. Webber vs proQ, proQ is £110 cheaper and a damn site better design and again more usable space.
Ideally I would want to make my own horizontal Texas style smoker. But that would also cost to much atm, not sure how much as I would need a cad and CFD person to do the fine detailing. Before working out build cost. And that design work maybe expensive to begin with.

Oh man just seen the proQ excel you can get a rotisserie for it as well.
 
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ganesh said:
If you want Weber quality then you have to pay the price I'm afraid. Lots of people use the proQ range and have good success, but in terms of build quality and warranty the weber is miles ahead. You get a 10 year warranty against rust on the main sections of the wsm, 2 years on the handle and 1 year for the grates. Compared to I believe just 1 year overall for the proQs. Weber products really are built to last and the customer service is excellent.

I may sound like a brand snob, but I speak from experience of using my wsm for the past year (and have since purchased a weber OTP) and having dealt with customer services.
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I'm not saying that the WSM isn't better but you'd have much more credibility if you had owned and used both brands extensively. I don't mean to sound harsh.

Weber do have a reputation for good CS but I'm not sure that justifies the 50% price hike personally.
 
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