The BBQ Thread.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

fretmeister said:

Beautifully.

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

dano · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

WiresDreamDisasters said:

fretmeister said:

Beautifully.

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

It was perfect!

The black is a crust - not burnt!

shaunyshaun1234 · May 2021

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

fretmeister · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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 · May 2021

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

Reverend · May 2021

strumjoughlamps said:

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

Sadly im in london otherwise id definitely take that off your hands

DoctorX · May 2021

I had a go at beef ribs today, they were an absolute triumph. Highly recommended if you haven’t tried them.

oaf · May 2021

Not strictly a BBQ but we made some tasty pizza over the weekend

Image: https://images2.imgbox.com/94/75/WztWyLsj_o.jpg

shaunm · May 2021

Evening all,

I am new to this BBQ lark. Last week I got myself a Weber Smokey Mountain and a 57” Kettle.

My first cook on Friday was a set of pork ribs on the WSM. A bit of a learning curve in that the cut of ribs wasn’t quite right, the were not uniformed so the smaller ribs were over but the thicker ribs just right. I put on too much sauce and I didn’t score the membrane well enough. They looked like this..

https://www.instagram.com/p/COlQOW6s4rE/?igshid=18uvxsd46gvgy

Yesterday I tried a Beer butt Chicken. This I feel went very well indeed. It tasted wonderful. My wife was a little perturbed by the smoked pink chicken but I feel it tasted great.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COqQMTHMgIs/?igshid=1d99756du91ew

Tomorrow I am trying a Rump Roast on the Kettle to see how that goes.

This new found hobby could work out more expensive than tone chasing!

fretmeister · May 2021

For pork ribs get rid of the membrane. Top tip - when you get a bit lifted up grab it with kitchen roll paper and you’ll be able to grab it properly.

The kettle is a better choice for ribs and do the 3-2-1 method. 3 hours with just a rub, 2 hours wrapped with some sauce (if you want sauce) or a bit of water / apple juice / beer, then a last hour unwrapped again.

Just set the kettle for indirect heat.

shaunm · May 2021

fretmeister said:

For pork ribs get rid of the membrane. Top tip - when you get a bit lifted up grab it with kitchen roll paper and you’ll be able to grab it properly.

The kettle is a better choice for ribs and do the 3-2-1 method. 3 hours with just a rub, 2 hours wrapped with some sauce (if you want sauce) or a bit of water / apple juice / beer, then a last hour unwrapped again.

Just set the kettle for indirect heat.

Thank you, noted. This is what I find really interesting, it’s a whole different style of cooking. There’s so much to learn.

DiscoStu · May 2021

What's the best coals?
I bought a 57" B&Q kettle last year and mostly used the Zip coconut shell briquettes which seemed really good.
I only did the standard things like burgers and sausages but I really want to try beer can chicken or slow roasts this year, are my coconut briquettes gonna do the job? I know you lot like the Weber coals but they're pretty expensive.

Longtallronnie · May 2021

I use the briquettes you get from the supermarket (BarB Quick?) and have had no problems doing pulled pork with them. Their lump wood charcoal is utter shite though.

breakstuff · May 2021

Longtallronnie said:

I use the briquettes you get from the supermarket (BarB Quick?) and have had no problems doing pulled pork with them. Their lump wood charcoal is utter shite though.

Yeah, I've found Bar B Quick to be pretty decent. Did a few slow and low cooks with it last year.

Alterlifeson · May 2021

I found Weber's own briquettes to be the best out of the ones I've tried so far. Nice even sizes, hold their shape and last for ages. After knocking the ask off they relight just fine in the chimney too when place in with a few new ones.

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