Spec me a Barbecue

pingwing · 10 Jun 2013 at 20:44

YAY! So glad you bought the right one

Participant · 10 Jun 2013 at 20:55

Raymond Lin said:
When you smoke, do you close all the vents?

Personally yes, as I want to maximise the smoke - food transfer

. But you can open them to get more airflow across the coals if you want it hotter.

Maccapacca · 10 Jun 2013 at 21:31

Good boy

Glaucus · 10 Jun 2013 at 21:33

Raymond Lin said:
When you smoke, do you close all the vents?

No, vents are for controlling heat.
Smoke will add enough flavour any way. It's easy to over smoke with wood, especially on stuff that is cooked for 4+ hours,

Raymond Lin · 10 Jun 2013 at 21:42

Glaucus said:
No, vents are for controlling heat.
Smoke will add enough flavour any way. It's easy to over smoke with wood, especially on stuff that is cooked for 4+ hours,

How hot do you normally smoke meat at?

Maccapacca · 10 Jun 2013 at 21:43

Agree with over smoking easy to do and tastes 'orrible

Done it a few times when out of charcoal and ended up using logs, you've git to chop them up small and let them go white or just cook directly.

Glaucus · 10 Jun 2013 at 21:47

Raymond Lin said:
How hot do you normally smoke meat at?

250-275f, easier to just use f as that's what America use and well bbq recipes are more often than not American and thermometers have both on anyway.
If I use wood it's usually only for the first hour.

Raymond Lin · 10 Jun 2013 at 21:58

Glaucus said:
250-275f, easier to just use f as that's what America use and well bbq recipes are more often than not American and thermometers have both on anyway.
If I use wood it's usually only for the first hour.

Do you seal the meat with direct heat before moving it across?

How do you get rid of the wood after an hour?

Glaucus · 10 Jun 2013 at 22:01

Raymond Lin said:
Do you seal the meat with direct heat before moving it across?

How do you get rid of the wood after an hour?

It depends what you are cooking, steaks/burgers yes. Just like frying in pan then transferring to the oven in the kitchen.

Pulled pork,mains etc no

The wood burns up, just stop adding more when you are happy with the smoke amount (hard to judge when you first start)

Raymond Lin · 10 Jun 2013 at 22:08

Ta, I only got the JD one to test, didn't have a chance to find some interesting ones but it'll be a start ! If anything, to learn I guess.

FrenchTart · 10 Jun 2013 at 22:48

If you're looking to get as much smoke flavour as possible I would recommend against sealing first. Meat/etc absorbs the smoke flavour the most whilst it it cold and uncooked. Char your food up at the end for the best results.

Raymond Lin said:
Saw the B&Q one again, it'll work but I got these in the end.

Jack Daniels wood is just for fun

Very nice haul. Personally I found the JD wood chips to not be great. I got a much nicer flavour with some applewood (or whatever) chips/chunks bought from the below link:

http://www.gardenxl.com/weber-barbecue-apple-chunks-5lb

Pretty sure that they were on a better offer when I bought them but tbh even if they weren't the two bags of wood chunks I bought have lasted through at least 10 BBQs, perhaps more like 15...and there's still enough left for several more.

Raymond Lin · 10 Jun 2013 at 23:21

Thanks for the link, I sense a summer of BBQ, ice-cream, waffles and fresh coffee coming up !

All alongside the small haul of single malt, lemoncello, and ice blended drinks !

FrenchTart · 10 Jun 2013 at 23:28

Raymond Lin said:
Thanks for the link, I sense a summer of BBQ, ice-cream, waffles and fresh coffee coming up !

All alongside the small haul of single malt, lemoncello, and ice blended drinks !

There's nothing in that list that I don't like the sound of

Rojin · 10 Jun 2013 at 23:33

Smoking is fun, I went for 4 1/2 hours on Saturday at around 230F. It needed a couple more hours (I ran out of time) to be really tender. Still yummy though, the smoke ring was awesome! Getting the temp stable is a bit of a 'mare at first, but it's fun tweaking the vents.

This is what arrived for me last week

BBQ by jj_glos, on Flickr

The chimney starter is dead useful once it gets going.

BBQ by jj_glos, on Flickr

Raymond Lin · 10 Jun 2013 at 23:44

You got the 57cm one !

I got the cover for it too

Rojin · 10 Jun 2013 at 23:51

Raymond Lin said:
You got the 57cm one !

I got the cover for it too

Yeah, I plan to cook loads in this. It was £172 with the full size chimney starter and cover. I added a few extras

There are loads of accessories for the Weber stuff as well, I'll be having a look at the pizza oven sometime in the future

Raymond Lin · 10 Jun 2013 at 23:55

That's a good deal, where from ?

Rojin · 11 Jun 2013 at 00:17

Raymond Lin said:
That's a good deal, where from ?

From here: http://www.bbqworld.co.uk/weber-57cm-one-touch-premium-and-chimney-starter.asp

Really impressed with them, great communication and everything was amazingly well packed. The packaging has stocked me up on bubble wrap for quite a while!

Raymond Lin · 11 Jun 2013 at 00:35

Guess lots of us are BBQ-ing this summer !

D.P. · 11 Jun 2013 at 01:08

I tend to use a gas BBQ for convenience: walk in form work, turn on BBQ, go to fridge and grab beer + burger/Sausage/steak/chicken, walk back to BBQ and throw on the now hot grill. I BBQ about 3-4 days a week right through the year, in fact in winter I tend to BBQ more than in summer.

Nothing beats a good smoker but I just don't have time for that, work through the week and out all day most weekends.

Spec me a Barbecue

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