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

FrenchTart said:
That's interesting. The cheapo Tesco one I have at the moment certainly lights less well than the previous one I had (which was also cheap but I can't remember the source, and probably less cheap). Perhaps I'll get a Weber replacement for this summer...
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I think it has a lot to do with the way they've designed the funnel in the base. The Weber has a conical grid in the base, so the coals in the middle are set higher than around the edge within the funnel. I think that this helps a lot with the airflow and thus allows the coals to catch alight much quicker. The cheaper one I have doesn't have such a deep conical grid.
 
Itchytrigg said:
In need of some vegetable ideas for the BBQ.
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Gem squash with an egg inside, wrapped in foil and baked in the coals!

CHokKA said:
the old South African staple which isn't a veg but has tomato and onion in. Make some cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches, squash them down (I also squash the edges a bit) to make them stick together better and put those straight onto the grill.
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Braaibroodjies - I always find they work better with one of those closed-cage things.
 
Stan_Lite said:
I've got one too. It's called a Blooma. Works OK but I have a bit of trouble with the base where the charcoal sits coming away from the body and I have to keep pushing the tabs back through the slits in the body. I'm waiting for my local B&Q to get the Weber back in stock and I'll get one of them.
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Mine hasn't come undone, yet. It works perfectly though, depsite looking worse for wear. Minor criticism is I want it to be a little bit bigger. It's not quite enough to fill half of a 47cm Weber kettle.
 
I've just ordered myself a Thermapen. I don't have faith in my Maverick ET732 set. I used it over the weekend to test the temperature of a fore rib of beef, it said over 65ºC within the kettle but when we took it inside and tested it again, it was barely over 40ºC. I think that some how it is taking on some of the temperature from the inside of the kettle, although I'm not sure how. My original metal meat thermometer was reading way under 60ºC. The whole point of the Maverick is that you're meant to keep it in the meat whilst it cooks so that you can monitor the temperature and not have to remove the lid each time, but if it is providing false readings then that's pointless.
 
CHokKA said:
I'd definitely recommend buying your Weber from Riverside Garden Centre. Their after sales service has been fantastic and their free delivery was next day when I placed my order. I'd definitely add a chimney starter to that, but I'd also say that the package isn't really worth it as you probably already have the tongs and flipper and the tool holder is useful but not as necessary as a brush and a chimney starter. If you can stretch your budget a bit I'd also go with a Premium. Having known what I know now I wish I'd have gone with the better cleaning system. Now that I have my MasterTouch I'm happy but my old Weber Kettle would have benefitted from that so much :)

This is the bundle I'd get if it's within your budget:

www.riversidegardencentre.co.uk/bbq/weber-one-touch-premium-57cm-bundle-deal-4.html

Also, what charcoal are you using, and how do you position the coals? An even layer all the way around the base, or an equal amount of coals on each side for indirect cooking? Lack of heat when lit could be down to your fuel or it could be how you're placing your fuel, but I'd be more inclined to say the charcoal you're using might be causing the issue.
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Thanks for the help Chokka. I ran that bundle past the Mrs and she said yes :D
I have concerns over this one touch cleaning system thingy, is it as good as it is marketed? I didn't find the asda kettle BBQ hard to clean...
It was only Lidls BBQ briquettes that I have been using in the asda BBQ... Weren't great like I said. :rolleyes:
 
Can I urge you to find and but Clonakilty Irish Sausages. Ocado are selling them, if they are not sold out as they often are and they are the best Sausages I've ever eaten. Clonakilty are famous for their Black and White pudding, but their sausages are just epic. Quite a salty sausage but good god the eat well.
 
CHokKA said:
I've just ordered myself a Thermapen. I don't have faith in my Maverick ET732 set. I used it over the weekend to test the temperature of a fore rib of beef, it said over 65ºC within the kettle but when we took it inside and tested it again, it was barely over 40ºC. I think that some how it is taking on some of the temperature from the inside of the kettle, although I'm not sure how. My original metal meat thermometer was reading way under 60ºC. The whole point of the Maverick is that you're meant to keep it in the meat whilst it cooks so that you can monitor the temperature and not have to remove the lid each time, but if it is providing false readings then that's pointless.
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That's unusual though I guess it could be possible that only part of the meat is at that temperature and the rest was still much lower? Normally you'd test several bits of the meat and all that.

That said, I have a thermapen and it is really really awesome. So useful in so many situations :)
 
FrenchTart said:
That's unusual though I guess it could be possible that only part of the meat is at that temperature and the rest was still much lower? Normally you'd test several bits of the meat and all that.

That said, I have a thermapen and it is really really awesome. So useful in so many situations :)
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I'm really not sure what happened tbh. Next time I may try it lengthways inserted as fully as possible. And then I'll compare with the Thermapen.
 
rhysduck said:
Thanks for the help Chokka. I ran that bundle past the Mrs and she said yes :D
I have concerns over this one touch cleaning system thingy, is it as good as it is marketed? I didn't find the asda kettle BBQ hard to clean...
It was only Lidls BBQ briquettes that I have been using in the asda BBQ... Weren't great like I said. :rolleyes:
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Hi rhysduck

Awesome :) So you're almost good to go. The OneTouch cleaning system is one thing that I always wished I had on my old Weber Bar-B-Kettle. It makes cleaning very simple. The little ash catcher on the bottom is very simple to remove and empty in the bin. I used to have to scrape out my old Bar-B-Kettle. I am looking forward to a much cleaner base now :)

Also, you should definitely get some better charcoal. I recently purchased a bulk order for around £40 from a site called Creative Garden Ideas. Delivery was free when I spent over £30 and it made each kilogram of charcoal under a £1. Delivery was quick as well, it got here two days later and the SupaGrill charcoal is meant to be very good. I haven't cooked on it yet but I've read a lot of comments saying it's good stuff. I got myself two 5kg bags of lumpwood, 2 5kg bags of briquettes, an 11kg bag of the restaurant grade lumpwood, and the 12kg bag of super briquettes.

http://www.creativegardenideas.co.uk/cgi-product-catalogue/charcoal-bbq
 
Well, it just goes to show that you definitely get what you pay for. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I've had issues with my newly purchased MasterTouch. The lid was dented by the courier, and the grid wobbles within the base. Along with that, the OneTouch cleaning system was a little stiff when I went to use it and when I got it moving, I didn't realise that it was actually catching on the welds for the leg hole, and it has managed to scratch off the enamel coating from over the little bumps. I contacted the garden centre that I bought it from and they initially said that the grid wobbling was normal and that they'd checked with a Weber expert who had confirmed this was how it was meant to be manufactured. I didn't think that this was correct so I contacted Weber yesterday and spoke with a very friendly lady. She said that it definitely isn't normal, asked me to fill out a warranty claim on the site and to supply some pictures and said they'd send out a new bowl for the unit. She asked where I'd purchased it so that she could speak with them about it. She then contacted the place I got it from and advised that it definitely isn't right. The garden centre then contacted me, apologised and said they'd been given the wrong information initially but had now been told by Weber that it is definitely a manufacturing defect, and said that instead of me raising a new claim with Weber, that they'd add it onto the claim that they'd already made for the lid that was damaged by the courier. I was told it'd take 7 - 10 days for replacements to arrive.

Keen to get to use my new Weber, I contacted the garden centre again and asked why they couldn't ship a new replacement rather than me waiting for a warranty claim, as their delivery is next day rather than 7-10 days. She then got me in touch with their contact at Weber, he said he'd expedite the claim. This morning I sent the garden centre an email expressing concern about disassembling the unit given how difficult it was initially to get the legs in, saying that I was worried that they might break when removing them. I asked if there was a simple way of sorting this.

Anyway, fast forward to this afternoon, I have just had a call from the garden centre I purchased from, she has been discussing my concerns with Weber and Weber have authorised them to send out a brand new Weber and she told told me that Weber have told me to dispose of the other one. This will go out tomorrow. What an absolutely brilliant result, you honestly couldn't ask for better service from either Weber or the garden centre I got it from. To be honest, in this day in age most companies don't want to know but Weber's customer service has been utterly brilliant. Couple this service with a 25 year warranty, it makes for an epic company. I have absolutely no qualms in spending the extra and buying a Weber vs a standard supermarket jobby or some other lesser-known brand. I shall be writing a letter of thanks to both the garden centre and also Weber for the way that they've handled my issue. They need to know that their good service is definitely appreciated :)

Thank you for your awesome service Weber :)
 
CHokKA said:
I've just ordered myself a Thermapen. I don't have faith in my Maverick ET732 set. I used it over the weekend to test the temperature of a fore rib of beef, it said over 65ºC within the kettle but when we took it inside and tested it again, it was barely over 40ºC. I think that some how it is taking on some of the temperature from the inside of the kettle, although I'm not sure how. My original metal meat thermometer was reading way under 60ºC. The whole point of the Maverick is that you're meant to keep it in the meat whilst it cooks so that you can monitor the temperature and not have to remove the lid each time, but if it is providing false readings then that's pointless.
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Which Thermapen are you looking at and from where? They are real expensive but I've heard very very accurate and high quality.
 
ManInRed said:
Which Thermapen are you looking at and from where? They are real expensive but I've heard very very accurate and high quality.
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FrenchTart said:
You can get refurb thermapens on ebay that are pretty cheap compared to brand new.
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I bought one from Amazon for £36. It's a yellow Thermapen sold by ETI, the company that makes them. I'm not sure why it was £36 and a few others were £55, but I'm happy even if the colour isn't brilliant :)
 
CHokKA said:
I bought one from Amazon for £36. It's a yellow Thermapen sold by ETI, the company that makes them. I'm not sure why it was £36 and a few others were £55, but I'm happy even if the colour isn't brilliant :)
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Nice price for brand new. As much as I'd steer clear of yellow I think the most important part is the temperature reading rather than the colour ;)

randomshenans said:
My BBQ chimney is on now, getting her ready for the day smoking.
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What're you cooking whilst I'm stuck in work? :(
 
Hey guys

I've been asked to run the BBQ for my sister-in-law's birthday in a few weeks, and for the menu I'm going to be doing the following:

Beer can chicken
2 rib beef forerib
Home cured pork loin

Now I'm sorted for the cured pork loin and the beef forerib (I have a rub picked out for this), but I need a good marinade / rub / baste combo for the chicken. I can't do anything with chilli in it because it has to be child-friendly, so does anyone here have any suggestions? I was thinking about some sort of lemon, pepper and herb mix for the marinade and then perhaps a lemon juice and olive oil based baste to brush onto the chicken part way through cooking? Most of my recipes call for chilli of some sort so I'm a bit stuck for ideas.

Does anyone have any other good suggestions for what to marinade a whole chicken with?

FrenchTart said:
Nice price for brand new. As much as I'd steer clear of yellow I think the most important part is the temperature reading rather than the colour ;)
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Yeah I thought the same thing. If it works properly then that's all that really matters for the price :)
 
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