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

R.O.S.S.I said:
Right I know I am probably doing people's heads in asking about different BBQ's and smokers but would something like this be a good compromise to a Weber?

Mrs is putting her foot firmly down on BBQ expenditure as we've got some big ticket things to spend on soon so need to find something in this price range ideally! Dreams of a Weber are well and truly gone.

http://direct.asda.com/george/george-home/round-kettle-family-bbq-66cm/001686993,default,pd.html

Looks OK to me but my only concern is that it doesn't mention a lower air vent which I believe you ideally want if you want to do some smoking? Everything else looks good enough and reviews are positive. Think the brand name is Grill King which are sold on Ebay, Argos and a few other places!
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I got the 57cm one (iirc - it was 40 quid or so) and it's been fine so far although not smoked with it yet. It's got vents on the ash catcher so I assume that one will be the same. Even my one seems big so that one must be massive :p

Feels sturdy enough and I'll be keeping it under a cover until winter when it may go in the shed so I'm sure it will last longer than the 10 mins most people here said it will ;)
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Right I know I am probably doing people's heads in asking about different BBQ's and smokers but would something like this be a good compromise to a Weber?

Mrs is putting her foot firmly down on BBQ expenditure as we've got some big ticket things to spend on soon so need to find something in this price range ideally! Dreams of a Weber are well and truly gone.

http://direct.asda.com/george/george-home/round-kettle-family-bbq-66cm/001686993,default,pd.html

Looks OK to me but my only concern is that it doesn't mention a lower air vent which I believe you ideally want if you want to do some smoking? Everything else looks good enough and reviews are positive. Think the brand name is Grill King which are sold on Ebay, Argos and a few other places!
Click to expand...

What's wrong with one of these:

http://www.riversidegardencentre.co.uk/weber-compact-57cm.html

For £30 more you get the Weber name which is backed up by one of the best warranties you'll ever get. They never ask questions, they just replace what is giving you trouble, if that ever happens. My MasterTouch was fully replaced after I took delivery of the first one and it had a small dent in the lid and some enamel that had been scraped off of the bottom inside by the cleaning blades. I called them up and they replaced the entire unit and then told me to dispose of the other however I liked. I straightened out the dent and gave it to my Dad. The dented bit has some enamel off of it so it might be prone to rust if left outside but it's covered so it should be absolutely fine.

I know you're losing the ash catcher but it really isn't a deal breaker. That one is the ideal starter BBQ. You can then see how you go and upgrade it in a few years time.
 
Stroke of luck for me, just been offered a free place on a two day bbq course which covers hot and cold smoking, low and slow, making sides, etc etc, all food and everything included! :)
 
Burgers for dinner this evening, 4 burgers is still worth firing up the bbq obv but thinking I could get more use from the coals I made a chicken kebab thing that ideally you put on a rotisserie over the BBQ - I was the human turner but my god its nice and will be in my work salads for a while!!

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A final blast over the coals to crisp up the middle!

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As you can prolly see its basically lots of marinated chicken things on skewered :)
 
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Bluecube said:
"Chicken things" - hah! Looks great. How long did that take to cook?
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Good old autocorrect, chicken thighs obv...

It was around 2 hours indirect at around 200c - would have been less but I also did the burgers on it so had the lid off and on more than needed to really!

The crispy bits are awesome, the recipe says 1.8kg chicken and I bought 1.7kg that the butcher deboned so after taking the skins off I'm going to guess around 1.2kg got cooked - just put 450g in the fridge as the family have picked off the rest!!
 
Quick measure this morning shows it just barely fits into one of my roasting trays right now so I'll leave it tied - don't want it falling apart. Yet :p

(The roasting tray is just for applying the rub - don't worry! :p)
 
If you can balance the roasting tray on top of your water pan and below your pork then do that and fill it with sliced onions and a bit of cider or even water for a tray of utterly delicious roast/smoked onions and drippings at the end :)

I often untie but it does create issues with uneven cooking as above. If you can be bothered though it's worth untying just to add a little salt and sugar to the inner bits of pork (and then retying).
 
Didn't bother untying in the end but did discover the fat goes much further round than I thought! All rubbed now though and sitting in the fridge!

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As for the roasting tray in the BBQ idea - I might give that a go since I've not planned anything for the second level of the smoker....
 
3 hours in and it's sitting right around 250F. Having some trouble with ash blocking the air inlets though so need to keep on top of it. Also with the rain I don't really want to use my shiny new wireless thermometer as I've no way to keep it dry :(
 
Psymonkee said:
3 hours in and it's sitting right around 250F. Having some trouble with ash blocking the air inlets though so need to keep on top of it. Also with the rain I don't really want to use my shiny new wireless thermometer as I've no way to keep it dry :(
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Is it a Maverick as I'm told they are waterproof - I still put mine in a ziplock bag!
 
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