Looking for a new BBQ!!

[slicendice]

So I've just moved into my first house so obviously one of the most important things that needs to be bought is a BBQ! 

 

Now I'm sure it's the same with BBQs as it is with just about anything, i.e. you get what you pay for...but considering BBQs range from a few quid up to £hundreds, I'm not quite sure what the benefits of the more expensive ones are.

 

I want a charcoal one (not into gas ones) and I'd like to get one with a lid so I can cook larger lumps of meat in there. Other than that...I'm not really sure! It looks like the cream of the crop are Weber, but yikes they're expensive! Has anyone got any experience of decent BBQs? Any advice or pointers? Are the more expensive ones really worth it?

[camelspyyder]

Gas is the way ahead.  Mate lived in Oz for 4 years and brought his gas one all the way back - fed 10 of us last Sunday and virtually no mess.

[JohnRS]

I've got a BBQ smoker, you can use it like a traditional BBQ but you can't get much better than smoking a pork shoulder. It takes all day so I usually get it in first thing,  then by the time it's ready (10 hours min usually) I use the BBQ normally for an evening BBQ. 

We had a gas BBQ which was the predecessor to the smoker, yes they're faster, more consistent and cleaner but smoking is way more satisfying. 

[Bignij]

Charcoal feeds straight into the caveman gene; gas just seems to circumvent that. 

[skomaz]

Gas BBQ???   Why bother...   May as well use the grill

 

Otherwise I go cheap and cheerful, never pay more than about £30, have only had three in the last 17 years and they've all Li Ed outside all year round.  Take a look at the Range...   Same as elsewhere but cheaper.

Edited 6 July, 2017 by skomaz

[Aspman]

I got a big Weber charcoal bbq. It's very good but expensive and needs a good pile of coal to work.

 

Don't buy unless they're on sale.

[JohnRS]

Say no more!

 

[Titanium_Man]

Gas BBQ = outdoor cooker, NOT a BBQ! 

[Kenny R]

I've got an outback excel BBQ, it's gas but with lava rocks, best of both worlds really, all the convenience of gas but the lava rocks act like charcoal so you get the authentic B&Q flavour.

[slicendice]

2 hours ago, JohnRS said:

Say no more!

 

 

The world's first BBQ wardrobe! 

Edited 7 July, 2017 by slicendice

[slicendice]

4 hours ago, Aspman said:

I got a big Weber charcoal bbq. It's very good but expensive and needs a good pile of coal to work.

 

Don't buy unless they're on sale.

 

Yeh I'm sure they're good but £230 for a BBQ is a bit steep. Plus it doesn't look like you can even raise/lower the charcoal on the Weber kettle BBQs? I'm sure purist BBQ'ers would call me a heathen for wanting such a feature, but it is kinda useful...

 

Maybe something like this - still not cheap but cheaper and looks pretty bombproof, with lid, temp gauge, height adjustable charcoal, etc

 

[camelspyyder]

Why get a crap cooker for your garden when you have a proper one 5 yards away in the kitchen? Why not buy more comfy patio furniture for dining and do the cooking indoors? *

 

However, when out and about, I always use disposable charcoal ones.  You get the taste of burnt wood (with a hint of burger or sausage), they light up so easily, and you chuck em out when they're cooled off.

 

 

 

* I do understand the appeal of char-blacked food in the garden but with a big cooker and a trained chef in the house it doesn't really make sense right now.

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

I'm in the market for a new BBQ too! I'm after gas though, I find it still tastes as good, just less faff, cleaning and waiting. Also I used it far more because I would fire it up to cook a couple of burgers for me and the mrs, whereas I wouldn't do that with charcoal. I you want it a bit more authentic you can just burn it and it tastes more or less the same as charcoal. I'm liking the Weber Q series at the moment. 

[Titanium_Man]

1 hour ago, camelspyyder said:

Why get a crap cooker for your garden when you have a proper one 5 yards away in the kitchen? Why not buy more comfy patio furniture for dining and do the cooking indoors? *

 

However, when out and about, I always use disposable charcoal ones.  You get the taste of burnt wood (with a hint of burger or sausage), they light up so easily, and you chuck em out when they're cooled off.

 

 

 

* I do understand the appeal of char-blacked food in the garden but with a big cooker and a trained chef in the house it doesn't really make sense right now.

 

Because on a nice day I want to be outside in the garden cooking where all my guests will be

 

As for blackened food, I would blame the chef. Doesn't have to be like that!

[LHVRS]

I've got this one, http://www.bbqworld.co.uk/weber-barbecues/charcoal/weber-original-kettle-premium-57cm-charcoal-bbq-black.asp

 

Worth the cash, I can cook 10 burgers, 4 steaks, a loads of skewers on one lot of charcoal and still its red hot. thats just for me, wife and 4 kids. 

 

It does seem a bit waste full sometimes as I could cook the same amount again on the same coal but considering how often we get to use it with UK weather I don't mind and having a big grill it great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[@Lee]

I love BBQ'd food and for me it's got to be proper charcoal. Gas, even with lava rocks, just doesn't give you that authentic BBQ 'outdoors' flavour.

Points for me would be

height adjustable grill

hood

upper 'warming area'

removable ash tray to make disposing of the ash easier

at least one work surface (two's better) for keeping plates and food on.

Blooma (B&Q) 'Westpoint'. Four years old and nowt bad to say about it. Can't recall the price but it was under £70

[Rustynuts]

If you're not into smoking or doing large joints then any cheap bbq (proper charcoal one, not gas) is great. It's the quality of the food and the way it's cooked which matters. All you need to make sure of is it's big enough, has an adjustable cooking height, and away you go.

 

[Titanium_Man]

17 hours ago, camelspyyder said:

Why get a crap cooker for your garden when you have a proper one 5 yards away in the kitchen? Why not buy more comfy patio furniture for dining and do the cooking indoors? *

 

However, when out and about, I always use disposable charcoal ones.  You get the taste of burnt wood (with a hint of burger or sausage), they light up so easily, and you chuck em out when they're cooled off.

 

 

 

* I do understand the appeal of char-blacked food in the garden but with a big cooker and a trained chef in the house it doesn't really make sense right now.

 

I also wouldn't want this ugly lot in my kitchen, would you?!!?

 

 

Edited 8 July, 2017 by jars

[camelspyyder]

I hope he's not trying to feed all thirteen of them, on a "Micro-Grille-4-1" (TM).

 

It'll take all day.

[@Lee]

9 minutes ago, camelspyyder said:

I hope he's not trying to feed all thirteen of them, on a "Micro-Grille-4-1" (TM).

 

It'll take all day.

I did and it didn't.

[camelspyyder]

White...

[Titanium_Man]

We did alright as it happens, although the second one would have made it easier I will admit

[camelspyyder]

[VWD]

BBQ- I haven't seen one to qualify. My intro to BBQ ,was in Rhodesia, where a BBQ was known as a Brai - my set up was several blocks high, by a few blocks long and a fewer blocks wide. ( something like 4ft high x six foot long x three foot wide. On top was set a nest of fence wire , brazed into a cover. For fire- we used Mopani wood. Every week, on a set day, I and my assistants would head out into the bush and return with a truck full of this stuff- two loads for  them, one for me.

I got a fire with zest- they got cooking wood( in a third world country that professes to look after the native population) to cook/heat with.Where ,my lads got hold of ancient car batteries to run their lights  and radios.

[Bud]

Webber all the way.  They might seem expensive but I've had one for 20 years without problems.  Secret for me is it not just about cooking as fast as you can but more about the social occasion.

 

Light it quickly using the chimney and let the coals get hot, then put food on and lid on, drink beer  and chat while it cooks.  Often cooked large joint for hot roast beef sandwiches to start and can keep cooking for a few hours without problems.  Cannot do that with an open grill as the fat will drip and burn everything to a cinder even if very closely monitored.