***** Official 2016 BBQ Thread - Chucking it Down: Proper British BBQ Weather *****

Glad to hear you're dipping into the world of BBQ :)

I'd really recommend checking out http://amazingribs.com/ for some tips. There's tons of ideas on there and a lot of reasoning behind why certain techniques yield better results over others.

Boiling your ribs first is generally not the most optimal way to go (at least in regards to what BBQ snobs think :p) but it sounds like you got some great results. Personally I'm more a fan of "smoke for a few hours" then "cover (in foil) for a few hours" then add BBQ sauce and cook over high heat for 30-60 minutes. This works really well with both pork and beef ribs, though the former takes a lot less time than the latter.

If you want to spend less time having to watch a BBQ then another option is to combine BBQ with sous-vide. BBQ at low heat to smoke (and get the kind of pointless but nice-looking smoke ring), vacuum seal and sous-vide for a good few hours, then again BBQ over high heat at the end. The advantage of this method is that although the sous-vide step can take a long time (12-48 hours, depending on the cut :eek:) you can do that without having to baby-sit, meaning you can get amazing results with minimal effort.

As I'm incredibly lazy my method tends to involve smoking for a while, then taking completely off the BBQ and sticking in the oven at a low heat overnight. Food generally takes more than enough smoke flavour in 2-3 hours of cooking and the advantage of moving to the oven after is that you can control the temperature much more easily.

Anyhow..enough spam :)
 
I think I'm going to do it! Bought a nice side of salmon from Ocado thats arriving today and I think it would be great on the bbq.
Any tips on cooking it? Im thinking of putting it in a tray and then on the bbq and closing the lid. Or is this wrong?
 
pinkowl said:
I think I'm going to do it! Bought a nice side of salmon from Ocado thats arriving today and I think it would be great on the bbq.
Any tips on cooking it? Im thinking of putting it in a tray and then on the bbq and closing the lid. Or is this wrong?
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Awesome :)

There are tons of ways to do it. If you have any kind of wood chips for smoking and some maple syrup you could do worse than salmon candy (pic below, posted earlier in the thread).

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=29327506&postcount=128
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Whatever you do, I recommend you lightly dust the salmon with salt and sugar and leave it in the fridge for a few hours before you cook it. This will firm it up and stop it leaking white albumen whilst it's on being cooked.

Personally I really like the combination of sweet/salt and smoke with BBQ salmon so I nearly always do something like the above, or perhaps make a teriyaki sauce and cook it with that. As it's not a white fish you can get away without covering the salmon but I would cook it indirectly for the most part. To summarise the info in that link, you basically just put all the coals on one side of the BBQ and then stick the thing you want to cook indirectly on the other. Put the lid on (with the vents open) and you get an oven-like effect but with the smoky flavour you expect from BBQ. At the very end, quickly transfer the salmon (or steak, or whatever) over to the side with the coals and give it a short blast of heat to brown it.
 
Thanks! I will add the salt + sugar but for flavours I like good old traditional dill + lemon so going to go with that this time to "play it safe" as its my fist try. I might see if I can find some wood chip for smoked flavour though as I need to have a quick stop at the shop today anyways.

I do want to try the salmon candy at some point, looks so good! Maybe if next weekend is nice and sunny...

I have missed having a real bbq. My other halfs family always has shop bought burgers and sausages as their bbq. Need to invite them over so they can realise that they have been doing it wrong their whole life :D
 
Sounds good - get some pics up once you're done :)

I'm off to a BBQ myself in a bit. I've got a bit of tri-tip that I've salted and dusted with a mocha, chipotle and black pepper rub. I'll be cooking it hot and fast then resting it for a decent while. It'll be served with a home made chimichurri. Hoping to impress some new friends with decent cooking...

Your BF's family sound fairly typically British (in terms of BBQ) :p People always seem shocked by the fact you can cook stuff other than burgers and sausages.
 
Shimmyhill said:
Aldi ones aren't readily available unfortunately - I bought a bag when I saw them in there and when I went back for more a week or so later nowhere to be seen, they are only back now as part of last Thursdays deal.

What have you done on the slow n sear out of interest, shoulder of lamb will likely be my first but not sure what briquettes I will use as have a bag of Weber, Heatbeads & Big K open - not sure if any of them have a full chimneys worth!!
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I haven't had a chance to try it out yet as I have been away, busy and then the weather has been rubbish here. I think I am going to try something relatively quick though like spatchcocked chicken (or pieces), cheeks or similar. I really want to do a reverse sear steak as well but my wife is pregnant so I feel a little guilty making steak the first time and then her having to watch me eat it. :p
 
FrenchTart said:
Isn't steak okay for pregnant women? I didn't think it was on the list of foods that are banned (often for questionable reasons) :)
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There is a risk of toxoplasmosis and although it is probably very small with muscles being sterile it could be contaminated when the meat is cut up at the butchers.
She isn't happy with it either, especially as she has had to host about 6 work dinners in the last few months at restaurants that are known for their steaks and sea food; she has been through everything else but steak and shellfish on the menu!
 
FrenchTart said:
Isn't steak okay for pregnant women? I didn't think it was on the list of foods that are banned (often for questionable reasons) :)
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only if you burn it.
however its all a bit over the top. the risks are absolutely minuscule. how often do people actually get sick from any of these things.

however most people rightly or wrongly go well why risk it. thankfully something us men don't have to decide.
 
Fired up the Asda kettle bbq last night for the first time. Only for me and the gf, just a few burgers and some salmon, so didn't exactly need much coal on the massive surface :p Worked just fine though.

Only qualm was that the bottom grate seems quite widely spaced, I was using lumpwood (this may be the part I get slated for!?) and many a nicely burning small chunk fell through the bottom.

First time using a chimney starter though, what a time and effort saver! Don't think I quite left them in the chimney long enough as it had a bit of a lull once I poured them out but still very easy to get going.

Looking forward to trying bigger and better things :)
 
Skillmister said:
Fired up the Asda kettle bbq last night for the first time. Only for me and the gf, just a few burgers and some salmon, so didn't exactly need much coal on the massive surface :p Worked just fine though.

Only qualm was that the bottom grate seems quite widely spaced, I was using lumpwood (this may be the part I get slated for!?) and many a nicely burning small chunk fell through the bottom.

First time using a chimney starter though, what a time and effort saver! Don't think I quite left them in the chimney long enough as it had a bit of a lull once I poured them out but still very easy to get going.

Looking forward to trying bigger and better things :)
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Might be worth getting some charcoal baskets, seem to hold smaller bits better and you can move them around to adjust how the bbq is setup.

Having said that I had some Big K charcoal and an awful lot of it fell through the chimney let alone the baskets so could be just rubbish charcoal you have.
 
I used the slow n sear today, 6ish hours cook of a lamb shoulder and it worked a treat - once you get the temp settled it holds it really well - looks like an easy 8hours on the Weber briquettes as this is what was left after more than 6 hours..

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Lamb was cracking, the thinner parts came apart like pulled pork and the bone pulled out - never done a bone in shoulder before so was satisfying!

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The thicker bit could be carved but equally pulled easily, looks dry in the pic but its not at all - just raided the fridge and its bloomin nice cold too - good job as loads left, wife isn't a huge Lamb fan but loved this!

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Horrible weather today with rain and wind but the BBQ worked a treat, I did cover it with parasol and put the Maverick in a zip lock bag for extra protection - I think the slow n sear helped as there is an extra barrier to the wind so didn't seem to affect it as much as the snake method I've used before.

I also think the barrier between the coals and the indirect zone helped preventing the meat drying out - you could obv achieve the barrier much cheaper with foil/fire bricks etc but all in all I'm pleased with it on the first outing.
 
See i'm debating whether or not just a big kettle BBQ would be sufficient to dip my toe into the world of smoking as you can still smoke in them as opposed to buying a specific smoker like the ProQ Frontier.

The other downside to the ProQ Frontier is that if I wanted to use it solely as a BBQ rather than a smoker it would sit pretty low on the floor, whereas normal BBQ's tend to be a lot higher - a minor issue but a factor none the less.
I've seen people get some excellent results smoking things with a normal kettle BBQ.

I can't make my mind up with what I want!
 
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