*****Official BBQ Thread - Suns out, Buns out!*****

Just ordered myself a Callow Smoker, only £85 but having spoken to my friend who runs his own smokery; has used all kinds of different BBQs over the years and purchased one to do a review of it he was super impressed for the money. Really well built, good quality materials and he got 8 1/2 hours of stable cooking temperature without intervention from just 2kg of heatbeads. A perfect bbq for someone who doesn't want to spend out on a Weber or ProQ but wants a good smoker.
 
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valve90210 said:
Just ordered myself a Callow Smoker, only £85 but having spoken to my friend who runs his own smokery; has used all kinds of different BBQs over the years and purchased one to do a review of it he was super impressed for the money. Really well built, good quality materials and he got 8 1/2 hours of stable cooking temperature without intervention from just 2kg of heatbeads. A perfect bbq for someone who doesn't want to spend out on a Weber or ProQ but wants a good smoker.
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Where did you get it from for that price? Best Ive found id £99
 
Mark M said:
Where did you get it from for that price? Best Ive found id £99
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Out of stock at the moment sadly ( I got one of the last 4) but this company is run by the people that actually make the smoker! :)

https://www.gardengiftshop.co.uk/bbq-smokers/premium-charcoal-bbq-smoker-grill


I seasoned it over the weekend as per the instructions (probably not really necessary but I wanted to fire it up and didn't have any meat to hand anyway so figured I'd do it). I was using a mixture of Big K briquettes, some that had been stored away in a cupboard over the winter and some that had been left in the tray of my grill bbq last summer and had been out in the elements all winter and were a bit damp...lol

I got it up to 180degrees c and kept it there for about 5 hours with pretty much no intervention needed despite it being a ridiculously windy day. When the sun moved off the smoker the temperature dropped considerably but as I was only testing I didn't bother to rectify it. I decided to take the coals out after about 6 hours as I was heading out for the evening and found that there was still about 1/4 of the charcoal basket left unburnt, not bad for such a cheap smoker and crappy charcoal!
 
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Turkey wrapped in bacon cooked on the Egg - best turkey ever!


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The end result is here:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/30665076
 
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Third outing for my bbq this year, marinated pork chops and grilled halloumi. Tried to get by with minimal charcoal as you can see, was barely enough. Nice and tasty though, the smoke flavour on the halloumi was just insane, it absolutely absorbed the charcoal flavours.

On a side note, does anyone have any tips on making a barrel style bbq (as above) air tight? I've done a few low 'n slow cooks but my lack of air tightness makes it a bit of a challenge. Do I just need some high temp. resistance silicone to block up all the cracks, or is there more to it than that?
 
for some reason I thought the halloumi strips were some kind of really horrible looking sausage :eek: Now I've read your post I'm glad I was wrong :p All looks delicious btw.

Using high temp goop (I'm sure you can google the exact thing you need) is generally the way sealing of BBQs is done. Is the air leakage really that bad? I've have thought you could just close the vents more.
 
You can use fire sealer, which is like the rope version or other one you can run around the edge and stick with high temp adhesive. I did this on my smoker and then riveted some hardcore sprung latches on to the lid to pull it closed.
 
I'll be firing up my MasterTouch to cook a beef forerib this weekend. I also need to clean out my Pro Q Excel. I definitely want to smoke more this year!
 
Not sure there is a best, just some Google fu for the best current prices.

Cold smoked some cheddar and Gruyere yesterday evening for the first summers action. Cheddar is transformed from cheap mild rubber to lovely orange colour with a deep smokey flavour but I think I prefer the gruyere - it lost its real sharp tang and has become a far more subtle taste :) Salmon up next I reckon
 
GSVBagpuss said:
Not sure there is a best, just some Google fu for the best current prices.

Cold smoked some cheddar and Gruyere yesterday evening for the first summers action. Cheddar is transformed from cheap mild rubber to lovely orange colour with a deep smokey flavour but I think I prefer the gruyere - it lost its real sharp tang and has become a far more subtle taste :) Salmon up next I reckon
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Sounds interesting. I've smoked cheddar but never Gruyere. I'll have to try it (and smoking butter too - another one I've not done).

Will you be making salmon candy? :)

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GSVBagpuss said:
Cold smoked some cheddar and Gruyere yesterday evening for the first summers action. Cheddar is transformed from cheap mild rubber to lovely orange colour with a deep smokey flavour but I think I prefer the gruyere - it lost its real sharp tang and has become a far more subtle taste :) Salmon up next I reckon
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Friend of mine who runs his own smoker tells me that smoked cheddar tastes far better if you let it mature for a month or so after the smoking!

FrenchTart said:
Will you be making salmon candy? :)
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Can you point me in the right direction for a recipe, it looks amazing!!!
 
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