Spec me a BBQ

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 12:02

Myself and my fiance are just going through the last stages of buying our first house and now we've got all the rest of the furniture sorted out it's time to get a BBQ sorted out for the summer.

We need a decent amount of cooking space as BBQ's are usually a party/entertaining type deal for us.

Is it worth going for side burners for sauces etc?
Is it worth getting a rotisserie?
Any features to look out for/worth paying more for?
Any brands you'd go for over another?

I guess there's always the age old question of Gas or Charcoal (I'm leaning towards gas for the convenience factor and less mess afterwards) aswell.

Price limit is a £1000 absolute max but less is always good with buying the house.

Any help or advice would be most appreciated.

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 12:14

Admiral Huddy said:
You have a max budget of £1000 on a BBQ.

LOL, that's what I said when I asked her how much we were allowed to spend.

I suppose getting a charcoal BBQ would let me cross over fuels with a fire pit/chimnea if we get one.

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 13:10

sormicoft said:
tesco m8

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-2851.aspx

Dunno if I fancy cooking for 20 on that one

It would appear the general concensus is to charcoal though. Been a while since I did a charcoal one, should be interesting.

So with charcoal, build one or just buy one?

Anyone got any favourite tricks with them? (Special types of wood for different flavours etc)

Cheers for the help so far

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 13:18

Spie said:
I user a Weber and it's the best BBQ I've ever owned. Would never have gas. Food tastes best over charcoal.

A reply from the man himself

Thinking about it a moveable BBQ is probably best as we have a 6 year old who'll no doubt want to be playing football etc over the summer. At least that way I can put it into the HUGE shed the previous owners are leaving.

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 14:06

Zip said:
http://www.barbequesgalore.com.au/products/productdisplay.aspx?productid=17365

Think that might be a bit much for the garden, lol.

http://www.flamingbarbecues.co.uk/6-Burner/BillyOh-6-Burner-Hooded

Was looking at this one before I posted this thread, purely as I've been used to using gas lately.

From what i've read with steak you can really tell the difference between charcoal and gas but burgers/sausages you can't (probably because they're either highly flavoured or processed to death anyway). I've never noticed a huge difference in flavour but then again we swapped from one year to the next so it wasn't like I could compare them easily.

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 14:34

Should have realised there'd be a heated debate about the gas vs charcoal issue on here

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 15:00

Psypher5 said:
Pansies.

cook it over a log camp fire, like real men.

edit, typo D:

Can't see that going down too well, burning a great big whole in the lawn

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 15:14

Don't think i'd have the patience for a roast at the moment, too lazy.

Think i'll go have a look at a few garden centres tonight if I get chance and see if anything catches my eye.

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 15:44

Tru said:
Homebase usually have a lot of charcoal or gas bbq's, £500 will get you top of the range.

With your budget you should consider decking, tables, chairs, patio heater etc.

Might have to swing past homebase again, had a very brief look over the weekend but we were mainly patio furniture/paint sample hunting at the time.

Got a table, chairs, parasol sorted yesterday

http://www.trueshopping.co.uk/images/products/38612_image.jpg (Don't think they're a competitor)

chimponarope · 8 May 2007 at 16:12

Rich_L said:
Snip...

Hmm that sounds good, maybe something I should try before hand though!

Denz, thanks. Sounds promising. Where did you get your smoke box if you don't mind me asking?

chimponarope · 9 May 2007 at 08:59

Well I went to Homebase and B&Q last night and wasn't overwhelmed by any of them. Came home with a firepit though (20% off at B&Q :cool:

).

That Weber looks promising Spie, thanks for that. All the charcoal ones I looked at last night were somewhat small or flimsy.

So far i'm leaning towards gas (purely for ease of use since we both work full time and have a six year old to look after too) but what I think I might do is get out the old gas one and a disposable charcoal (hardly a decent charcoal BBQ I know

)and see which I prefer cooking the same things on the same day.

chimponarope · 9 May 2007 at 09:51

Yeah they had one and B&Q had two (different sizes). The problem I had with them was they're quite low and I wondered how long I could use them before my lower back started to ache (I dislocated my pelvis from my spine when I hit a tree on my mountain bike a few years ago so too much bending isn't so good for me).

The thing that also put me off the Webers was there was no shelves on the side (although that's obviously not an issue on the one Spie uses).

chimponarope · 9 May 2007 at 13:31

Wicksta said:
expensive outdoor George Forman.

LOL

I like my George Foreman grill (think it's the bodybuilding!)