I have been given £500 by a very generous father-in-law to buy a gas barbecue and could do with recommendations. Only brand I really know is Weber – however you don’t seem to get as much for your money as some of the other brands, which I don’t recognise.

Before anyone else says it….a proper barbecue doesn’t use gas, it used charcoal or wood.

It sounds as though what you’re after is an outdoor hob 😉

Weber Q 200 Series with the high dome and thermometer, it’s awesome on our second (had to leave 1 in Uk after moving to Oz)

Portable enough and awesome cooking, there is a 300 which is bigger.

Cook with the lid down and get the trivet and hot plate for doing breakfast on

(End Thread!)

Thanks Wombat – I fully expect those comments from this ever-helpful forum!

I already have a big kettle barbecue. I’ve been given the money to spend specifically on an ‘outdoor hob’. Trust me there’s plenty of bike related stuff I could spend 500 notes on.

£500 on a BBQ 😯

I have had and used many highend BBQ’s and Webers I find fantastic.

If the £500 was my money it would be on this – my bro in law has one and its great to use. The flavousizer bars work a treat. They also smoke food pretty well.

http://www.wowbbq.co.uk/Products/Weber-Spirit-Premium-E320-Black-4431074–4431074.html

We bought one of these a few years back, has seen alot of use & have been happy with it:

http://www.flamingbarbecues.co.uk/3-Burner/Outback-BBQs-Excelsior-3-Burner-Hooded-Stainless-Steel-Barbecue

Interesting how STWers know more than the people who actually manufacture the things!
Weber says its a Barbeque
STW says it’s not.
Duh.

Weber Q 200 Series

This. We’ve got a Q120 in our beach hut and was given a Q200 by my [rich] BIL last year because it had become very grubby – I took it apart completely, cleaned it and reassembled. It now lives at my mums house on the coast and is used for breakfast and tea 🙂
They are really great to cook on, quick and easy.
Here we’ve got a biggish generic ‘Beefmaster’ similar to GTDave’s [again from said BIL before he moved onto Weber!] and although it’s OK and has a very good hot plate – which did some wicked saute’d potatoes and fried eggs the other day – it seems rather inefficient – I’d be happy to have another Q200 or 300 here.

£500!!!! You could nearly get a set of forks for that!!!!!! 😯

Interesting how STWers know more than the people who actually manufacture the things! Weber says its a Barbeque

Yes, yes, but they’ve got a vested interest in maintaining the pretense that there’s anything manly about using a cooker that just happens to be outdoors. Instead of getting all testosterone fuelled, sloshing around flammable liquids, while drunk, and potentially setting fire to your property 😀

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOErZuzZpS8[/video]

Actually….to get picky its all about the way you use it not the bbq/hob it self.

Bbqing is actually more like oven cooking, cooking for a long time on a low heat – perfect for ribs, whole chicken etc, usually using wood chips to enhance the flavour. This is rarely done in the UK. Grilling is the usual way here, cooking relatively fast on a high heat, cooking burgers, sausages etc etc. Often the way they do it in SA and Oz too, while bbqing is African, Caribbean and American style.

A BBQ can usually grill while its a lot harder to BBQ on a grill.

Weber.

That is all.

So you let all the fat drip off the meat and burn on hot rocks creating lots of smoke in your kitchen? Jesus!

If you think a gas barbecue is the same as a cooker then you’re either clueless or deliberately being a snob. Charcoal doesn’t give any flavour to the food – at least I hope not, cos charcoal burning on its own just smells a bit like coal. It’s the smoke from the hot fat that makes the smokey barbecue flavour, and you still get that with gas.

Actually I tend to agree with ericemel. I have a Weber barbecue and for the first time recently I used the separators and the foil tray. Took a fair bit longer to cook stuff but it required no intervention and the results were lovely.

Another happy Weber user here. Usually use the foil trays as it’s cleaner (but fat can still drip), and isn’t it meant to be healthier? Something to do with potential carcinogens? Am a bit sketchy on the deails of this, so might be nonsense.

Good point, I have also heard that crispy burned meat is carcinogenic.

I liked the tray method because it didn’t require constant watching.

deliberately being a snob

Eh? On STW? NEVER!

Forget Weber (and gas) this is the way to BBQ

http://www.biggreenegg.com/ 😀

Don’t use one in a tent

Interesting how STWers know more than the people who actually manufacture the things!
Weber says its a Barbeque
STW says it’s not.
Duh.

Manufacturer’s marketing department in misleading/inaccurate/not-strictly true description shocker.

Duh.

You must be the marketing man’s wet dream!

Now, about the £5m I have deposit in the bank of Nigeria. All I need is an advance from you of £5,000 to pay the transactions fees and I’ll share it 50/50 with you.

Weber Q 200 Series with the high dome and thermometer

Or the 300, but the thermometer is hugely useful. It doesn’t work as well as a conventional bbq for some things but for most things it is way better and you can switch it on in seconds. We use ours loads in summer

It’s the smoke from the hot fat that makes the smokey barbecue flavour, and you still get that with gas.

Well, charcoal BBQs definitely give a better flavour to the food as far as I’m concerned, and I’m not sure how recommending the cheaper option makes you a snob.

Oh, I agree with ericimel about the cooking method – keeping the lid on my Weber definitely gives superior results. Apparently you can do a whole chicken, if we ever get some decent weather, I’m giving it a go.

and I’m not sure how recommending the cheaper option makes you a snob

Easy. It’s called inverse snobbery 🙂

I don’t believe charcoal makes a difference tbh. The method of cooking and quality of food is far more important.

Oh btw, anyone got a chiminea for patio heating purposes?

Another Weber ‘Q’ user here – Fabulous.

There are lots of pros and cons of both types – for us, the gas powered Weber that can be plugged into our camper is the the best thing ever. I know last year we had a ‘BBQ’ everytime we were away but up till that point we would never have taken charcoal and bothered with that hassle.

So whether gas is or isn’t proper can be debated, standing out in the sunshine with a beer, cooking various animals after riding some sweet scottish trails felt pretty much like BBQing to me….

I think gas bbqs are a good thing. I’ve effortlessly cooked for over 40 very pished people and I would have struggled to achieve that with other fuels and avoid either overdoing it or poisoning someone with undercooked meat.

I don’t believe charcoal makes a difference tbh. The method of cooking and quality of food is far more important.

Having used both gas and charcoal many times, I disagree: I think the charcoal imparts a superior flavour. Outdoor gas ovens do have their advantages, though, particularly if your taste buds are deficient. 😉

Charcoal only for me (because that’s all we have…).

But, I’m a PITA stickler for the difference between BBQing and grilling.

BBQ is simple: no direct heat, lid down.

Grill: direct heat, lid up.

Whether you achieve that on charcoal or gas I care not, but cook the food properly..!

You want a Weber Spirit.

Manufacturer’s marketing department in misleading/inaccurate/not-strictly true description shocker.

Duh.

You must be the marketing man’s wet dream!

Point. Missed.

I like SPAM fritters can you recommend me a barbequeue

Whole chicken easy peasy, brine it first then whack a beer can up it’s ‘arris!

Interesting how STWers know more than the people who actually manufacture the things!
Weber says its a Barbeque
STW says it’s not.
Duh.

Weber seem to call them grills

Whatever it’s called makes very little difference, outdoor eating and drinking is great fun, we have both gas and charcoal and sometimes have them both going at once if we have a lot of hungry people around, can’t say I have a preference for either TBH but they definitely give food different flavours

FWIW

I have an Outback gas grill. Well built. Grills well. Quite well made.

Couple of years ago bought a portable Weber BBQ, last year bought a Weber kettle BBQ. Totally different to gas as said above, but I still like the gas for convenience.

When it’s time to replace the Outback it will be a Weber.

Apparently you can do a whole chicken

You can, and it’s brilliant. (Not being short of good weather here, we do this reasonably often)

Dohhhhhhhhhhh………………….

Looks like those SPAM-bots got us to resurrect a thread again

Barbecued our turkey this year – It was AWESOME!

Weber kettle, ring of charcoal with a tray of water in the middle, bird in a foil tray on the grill. Upside down for 2 hours, then flip and put bacon on the breasts (fnaar) and cook for another 2 hours.

Best. Turkey. Ever.

Dave

ah dammit, I fell for the resurrected thread trick!

Triple whammy from Alfabus: Big bird, Charcoal and a high consequence Dinner.

You gas boys are deluding yourselves – it’s just grilling.

No matter.I have a spare Turkey and a charcoal bbq – your pic has inspired me to go for it this w/e – what else did you have in there with the turkey? You say a tray of water under the bird? Did you need to top up the charcoal much over the 4 hrs?

I have a large gas bbq but I’d trade it any day for a large smoker. Apple wood chips and bbq ribs oh yeah

No matter.I have a spare Turkey and a charcoal bbq – your pic has inspired me to go for it this w/e – what else did you have in there with the turkey? You say a tray of water under the bird? Did you need to top up the charcoal much over the 4 hrs?

I didn’t bother brining the turkey, it seemed like overkill.
I just rubbed it all over with butter, shoved a lemon up it’s arse and sat it on top of some peeled and sliced carrots.

Charcoal wise, I had a lot in to start with (a mix of briquettes and lumpwood), and got it properly white before I put the bird in. Topped up about half way through (when I flipped the bird).

Keep the lid shut as much as possible and the vents open. With the lid shut, poking a thermometer through the vents, it was about 260 degrees C air temperature. Once the tray of water had evaporated, I didn’t top it up; it had done it’s job of keeping things moist by then, and I wanted the bird to crisp up.

The turkey is done when your meat thermometer reads 75 degrees C in the thickest bit of it’s armpit.

It really was very very simple. I’ll be doing it again next year, and will probably get some other big joints cooked on there this summer. I did a pulled pork shoulder last year; cooked for 7 hours! 🙂

Dave