The BBQ Thread.

ThePrettyDamned

My partner cooked a slow cooked brisket the other week, in Mexican style spices. Everything ground fresh, cooked in a Dutch oven, for about 8-10 hours. Absolutely divine.

I guess the tricky bit about bbq slow cooking is temperature management, making sure it doesn't get too hot (or lose heat). 

MagicPigDetective

First go with the Weber: mission succesfull. did direct cooking of steaks, sausages, chicken fillets and veg skewers. After lighting with the chimney and getting it up to 500 centigrade, I was slightly worried initially when cooking the veg and corn with the dramatic drop in temperature, it didn’t seem to be hot enough. I need’nt have worried, everything cooked beautifully given enough time with the lid on. It’s still going stong after more than two hours: one chimney full of weber briquettes. Seriously impressed with the Weber system. 

WiresDreamDisasters

fretmeister said:

Beautifully.

https://www.facebook.com/748233725/posts/10158878027738726/

dano

MagicPigDetective said:

First go with the Weber: mission succesfull. did direct cooking of steaks, sausages, chicken fillets and veg skewers. After lighting with the chimney and getting it up to 500 centigrade, I was slightly worried initially when cooking the veg and corn with the dramatic drop in temperature, it didn’t seem to be hot enough. I need’nt have worried, everything cooked beautifully given enough time with the lid on. It’s still going stong after more than two hours: one chimney full of weber briquettes. Seriously impressed with the Weber system. 

You mean 500F ? As 500C would be mental hot,approaching tandoor oven levels of cooking.

Great news you enjoyed the weber, I find the chimney a great tool. I quite often do a chicken or pork and towards the end put an extra handful of coals in the chimney to top it up for direct cooking of sausages, meat, kebabs etc at eating time.

MagicPigDetective

dano said:

MagicPigDetective said:

First go with the Weber: mission succesfull. did direct cooking of steaks, sausages, chicken fillets and veg skewers. After lighting with the chimney and getting it up to 500 centigrade, I was slightly worried initially when cooking the veg and corn with the dramatic drop in temperature, it didn’t seem to be hot enough. I need’nt have worried, everything cooked beautifully given enough time with the lid on. It’s still going stong after more than two hours: one chimney full of weber briquettes. Seriously impressed with the Weber system. 

You mean 500F ? As 500C would be mental hot,approaching tandoor oven levels of cooking.

Great news you enjoyed the weber, I find the chimney a great tool. I quite often do a chicken or pork and towards the end put an extra handful of coals in the chimney to top it up for direct cooking of sausages, meat, kebabs etc at eating time.

Umm yeah, F! I was faced with a slightly chilly wind which didn’t help. I think my point is that it was deceptively hot, despite the charcoal and the thermometer not exactly looking like it was roasting hot. I’m a total beginner at this though! 

fretmeister

WiresDreamDisasters said:

fretmeister said:

Beautifully.

https://www.facebook.com/748233725/posts/10158878027738726/

It was perfect!

The black is a crust - not burnt!

shaunyshaun1234

Where are you guys getting you pork shoulders from for pulled pork and how much are you paying?

fretmeister

shaunyshaun1234 said:

Where are you guys getting you pork shoulders from for pulled pork and how much are you paying?

Sainsbury's.

I only get briskets and beef ribs from a butcher (Turner & George)

springhead

shaunyshaun1234 said:

Where are you guys getting you pork shoulders from for pulled pork and how much are you paying?

Local butcher, I try and use him when possible rather than supermarket.  I ask him for skin and most of the fat off.  I  usually go for just over 2Kg which I think comes in under £20.  I'll pay more attention to the price next time!

Reverend

What's a decent cheap bbq to get? 
I finally have a garden so would be nice to get something for chicken, steaks and burgers.  

Maybe also for finally touches.to briskets as well.

fretmeister

Reverend said:

What's a decent cheap bbq to get? 
I finally have a garden so would be nice to get something for chicken, steaks and burgers.  

Maybe also for finally touches.to briskets as well.

99% can be done on a good old Weber Kettle. Always get one with the ash collector bucket though - it's a nightmare without.
Your burgers, steaks etc will be great and for some relatively short low and slow like a pork shoulder it is also very good.

For a full pack brisket that might take 15 hours to cook the kettle is the wrong choice really as you'll be forever filling the damn thing up with fresh coal and trying to remove some of the spent stuff. Weber Smokey Mountain is a good buy for that sort of thing - but that's not great for grilling steaks and burgers. It can be done (like putting the grill right on the fuel ring) but it's not designed for it.

If you're only going to have one, go for the kettle - the biggest one - 57cm - that will allow space for indirect cooking.

Have a look on ebay - nothing wrong with a used Weber. They last a long time and a good burn in will kill anything the last owners left on it. You can get replacement grates if you really want to.

Alterlifeson

Can't recommend a Weber, particularly the 57cm enough. I bought a used Mastertouch (in green!) for £110 inc chimney last summer and we used it a couple of times each week from April til October. Keep an eye on Gumtree as they can be a bit of a fad for some people. hey get used once of twice then chucked in the back of the shed.

I really want to try a low and slow on mine, but being the only meat eater in my house means I don't get many opportunities. I did a marinaded rack of lamb last weekend which was one of the best meals I've done on it. Your standard burgers/sausages will taste the best they can too.

Longtallronnie

FWIW, my Weber doesn’t have the ash catcher and I’ve not found it to be an issue when grilling or smoking. The plate thing it comes with instead is useless though, I usually wait til morning, stick a bin liner underneath and brush the ashes into that. 

strumjoughlamps

Reverend said:

What's a decent cheap bbq to get? 
I finally have a garden so would be nice to get something for chicken, steaks and burgers.  

Maybe also for finally touches.to briskets as well.

You anywhere near Leicester? Got one of these you can wheel away for £40

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.riversidegardencentre.co.uk/weber-one-touch-original-57cm.html?amp=1

DoctorX

shaunyshaun1234 said:

Where are you guys getting you pork shoulders from for pulled pork and how much are you paying?

I did pulled pork a couple of weeks ago, got it from Farmison’s: https://www.farmison.com/products/7-day-dry-aged-boston-butt
It was very nice. I tend to buy most of my meat online from John Davidsons, but their Boston butt’s start at twice the size of the Farmison’s one.

Longtallronnie

Here’s a question...

What do you do to get a nice bark on your pulled pork? 

First time I tried, it came out with a lovely dark, smoky bark but every attempt since hasn’t been so great. Obviously just got lucky!

No idea what I did differently - I tried leaving it longer before wrapping but it stalled around 70°C and wouldn’t budge til I’d covered it in foil. 

MagicPigDetective

Beginners question: Ok I've done two bbq's just direct cooking. Two full chimneys and my 8kg bag of weber briquetts is almost gone, perhaps enough for one more chimney. 

The briquettes burnt much longer than the half an hour it took to cook my meat n veg direct. So, next time, should I use less briquettes? Or can I get away with getting cheaper briquettes, if just doing a quick cook? I can see the benefits of the weber briquettes for longer indirect stuff, but for shorter, direct? 

shaunyshaun1234

MagicPigDetective said:

Beginners question: Ok I've done two bbq's just direct cooking. Two full chimneys and my 8kg bag of weber briquetts is almost gone, perhaps enough for one more chimney. 

The briquettes burnt much longer than the half an hour it took to cook my meat n veg direct. So, next time, should I use less briquettes? Or can I get away with getting cheaper briquettes, if just doing a quick cook? I can see the benefits of the weber briquettes for longer indirect stuff, but for shorter, direct? 

You can close the cents on the BBQ when you're finished and the briquettes will extinguish themselves. 

You can then knock the ash of and put them back in the chimney for another cook

fretmeister

shaunyshaun1234 said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Beginners question: Ok I've done two bbq's just direct cooking. Two full chimneys and my 8kg bag of weber briquetts is almost gone, perhaps enough for one more chimney. 

The briquettes burnt much longer than the half an hour it took to cook my meat n veg direct. So, next time, should I use less briquettes? Or can I get away with getting cheaper briquettes, if just doing a quick cook? I can see the benefits of the weber briquettes for longer indirect stuff, but for shorter, direct? 

You can close the cents on the BBQ when you're finished and the briquettes will extinguish themselves. 

You can then knock the ash of and put them back in the chimney for another cook

Learning to use the right amount is part of the process. 

Even with direct cooking get used to putting the lid on. Even for only a few minutes in between flipping it makes the cook more efficient. Then it's like an oven with some fire.

I can get my kettle to almost 600F using a fuel dome / vortex and 1 chimney worth and it still lasts for a long time with that heat (perfect for high heat chicken wings).

Fewer briquettes is always good - you can easily add a few more if needed.

Sometimes I buy cheaper ones for just doing burgers but they can be a bit dusty and take longer to get rid of any start up smoke. Not sure it saves me much money. 

HerbieTheRadDorklift

Just bought a Naploeon 22 kettle. Yet to assemble but should be great.