Charcoal BBQ/Grilling

unklerosco · 11-06-2015 10:42pm

I've a decent recipe/method for need ribs I've been using for a while... Works a treat, I'll dig it out n post it here..

RasTa · 11-06-2015 11:08pm

That's a nice looking smoke ring

curiousb · 12-06-2015 8:57am

Those ribs look great, well done.

How much fuel do you think you used for the cooking?

Dr Crippen · 12-06-2015 9:36am

One word epic! You should go into business with that, the food looks amazing, whats your address

oleras wrote: »

A quick update on the ProQ.

It went together very easily, all i had to do was attach the feet.

Grabbed some meat Tuesday, beef and pork ribs.

Ribs, marinaded overnight in a basic enough rub. Smoked for 3 hours with maple chips, covered in foil for a further 2 hours with a drop of apple juice then the final 30 mins unwrapped to firm up. temp didnt get over 110.
This smoker thing uses a water bath as a buffer between the firepit and the grills, great way to keep a stable low temp.

Beef short ribs, these just had a salt and pepper rub applied before they went into the smoker, same dealio as the pork really, 3-2-1 method, 3 hours smoking, 2 hours wrapped in foil getting the internal temps up and the last hour uncovered. these were way overdone imo, next time i will drop the time or not bother with the wrapping, trial and error.

They were tender as **** though, the bones fell out as i was lifting them off the grill. I had to have a corner to try it, the smoke ring is seemingly a good sign, something to do with nitric acid in the meat coming in contact with the smoke, not unlike the maillard reaction i would assume.

Very happy overall, cant wait to cook some more meat.

oleras · 12-06-2015 11:34am

curiousb wrote: »

Those ribs look great, well done.

How much fuel do you think you used for the cooking?

It was a 12KG bag, i used just over a third i would guess, with some large pieces that did not burn completely and can be reused.

hadepsx · 14-06-2015 11:35am

Is it safe or not to use normal firelighters (for an open fire) to start a lumpwood bbq?

The Hill Billy · 14-06-2015 11:48am

Using fire lighters to ignite charcoal would be fairly common.

curiousb · 14-06-2015 11:49am

hadepsx wrote: »

Is it safe or not to use normal firelighters (for an open fire) to start a lumpwood bbq?

There is no problem using them, but they can give a chemical odour to the food, so it is not recommended. You can get natural odour free firelighters which work just as well.

RasTa · 14-06-2015 11:52am

Yeah you don't want to be using anything that gives an odour.

Something like this is usually the best solution

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Charcoal-Starter-Lighter-charcoal/dp/B0085Y9I6K

hadepsx · 14-06-2015 12:37pm

RasTa wrote: »

Yeah you don't want to be using anything that gives an odour.

Something like this is usually the best solution

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Charcoal-Starter-Lighter-charcoal/dp/B0085Y9I6K

That's a really handy device. Thanks for the link

curiousb · 14-06-2015 12:53pm

A Chimney Starter is also very good. I use one all the time and it makes it very easy.

Alun · 14-06-2015 4:20pm

curiousb wrote: »

A Chimney Starter is also very good. I use one all the time and it makes it very easy.

This x100000. Simplicity itself, it just works ... 3 crumpled sheets of newspaper in the bottom, fill with charcoal, light paper and come back in 15-20 mins to glowing charcoal.

hadepsx · 14-06-2015 6:59pm

hmmm that chimney thing looks cool. and ingenius. but when you come to turning it upside down to empty out, would that not lead to hot ash flying up around your arm. can you get ones that you can just lift up and pull a flap so as the charcoal falls out of the bottom into bbq?

Alun · 14-06-2015 7:02pm

hadepsx wrote: »

hmmm that chimney thing looks cool. and ingenius. but when you come to turning it upside down to empty out, would that not lead to hot ash flying up around your arm. can you get ones that you can just lift up and pull a flap so as the charcoal falls out of the bottom into bbq?

A little bit, but as suggested in the video I usually use a pair of oven mitts when I'm doing it and I've not got burnt yet.

Alun · 14-06-2015 7:02pm

hadepsx wrote: »

hmmm that chimney thing looks cool. and ingenius. but when you come to turning it upside down to empty out, would that not lead to hot ash flying up around your arm. can you get ones that you can just lift up and pull a flap so as the charcoal falls out of the bottom into bbq?

A little bit, but as suggested in the link above I usually use a pair of oven mitts when I'm doing it and I've not got burnt yet.

curiousb · 14-06-2015 7:58pm

hadepsx wrote: »

hmmm that chimney thing looks cool. and ingenius. but when you come to turning it upside down to empty out, would that not lead to hot ash flying up around your arm. can you get ones that you can just lift up and pull a flap so as the charcoal falls out of the bottom into bbq?

I haven't had any problems, and no oven mitts! Just be careful...

vicwatson · 15-06-2015 2:04pm

curiousb wrote: »

A Chimney Starter is also very good. I use one all the time and it makes it very easy.

Tesco have these at €7.99, very good quality and great price.

BaZmO* · 15-06-2015 3:24pm

This is how I always start a BBQ after seeing this guy do it on his show on BBC.

Some would probably see it as overkill but I'm not a fan of using lighter fuel.

vicwatson · 15-06-2015 9:33pm

Used chimney starter tonight and boy it was excellent, never had the coals as hot and because of that they burned for hours. A must have gadget.

OU812 · 15-06-2015 9:43pm

Gonna jump in here & ask a quick question. I love BBQ, absolutely adore it, but I've always had a gas one, mainly because I like the taller fuller ones with racks etc. How easy is it to adapt to the charcoal ones ? It it not a lot more work because the heat isn't as easy to manipulate ?

Shred · 16-06-2015 7:36am

A chimney starter is a must, they really make lighting coals hassle free.

In regards to your question OU812, to loosely paraphrase "nothing easy is worth doing". Yes there's a learning curve to perfect cooking on a charcoal BBQ but personally that's an incentive for me. Secondly I don't think you can beat the flavour of food cooked over charcoal, sometimes further enhanced by wood chips.

OU812 · 16-06-2015 9:00am

I do use wood chips Shred (applewood is the current favourite), but have been toying with getting a charcoal "pit" for a while

Dizzyblonde · 16-06-2015 11:21am

OU812 wrote: »

Gonna jump in here & ask a quick question. I love BBQ, absolutely adore it, but I've always had a gas one, mainly because I like the taller fuller ones with racks etc. How easy is it to adapt to the charcoal ones ? It it not a lot more work because the heat isn't as easy to manipulate ?

After having gas for years we went back to charcoal a few years ago and although it does take a bit longer to get started, when it comes to flavour there's just no comparison. It's definitely worth buying a decent BBQ though. We have a Weber and it's great.

Cocoon · 16-06-2015 10:05pm

Does anybody know where you could buy a large amount of quality lumpwood, I'd easy go through 100kg in a year.

curiousb · 17-06-2015 8:55am

I got my lumpwood from A Room Outside in Limerick, they do restaurant grade.

They might do a deal on a bulk order?

I have used that stuff and it does burn well, but doesn't last as long as charcoal.

I have decided to stick to charcoal and add wood for the smoke instead. Works out cheaper!

fred funk }{ · 18-06-2015 1:50pm

Anybody know where to buy a cooking grill? I'm making a beer keg BBQ and have no wire grill.

Shred · 18-06-2015 4:09pm

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Anybody know where to buy a cooking grill? I'm making a beer keg BBQ and have no wire grill.

I've seen them in Newland's Garden Centre:

http://www.newlands.ie/WEBER-CHARCOAL-GRATE-FOR-47CM-BBQ-077924074059/74130/

http://www.newlands.ie/WEBER-CHARCOAL-GRATE-FOR-57CM-BBQ-077924074066/74127/

Both are stainless steel Weber ones and very easy to clean, you'll probably get cheaper ones elsewhere I suppose.

rubadub · 18-06-2015 5:07pm

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Using fire lighters to ignite charcoal would be fairly common.

heatguns or even hair dryers can also be used

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6r6N2OAzTs

a heatgun will get hot enough to start the fire, the hair dryer would just be fanning on hot air so would have to be lit first. A heatgun can have the charcoal ready to cook on a lot faster than normal too.

oleras · 18-06-2015 9:34pm

I kinda followed this guys recipe for some inexpensive Lidl beef roast i picked up today. I left out the injections of marinade....even typing that just seems wrong !

€10, i wasn't going to the poor house if i made a balls of it.

I removed the netting and used the rub from the recipe, minus the celery salt, didn't have any of that.

I was using up some old briquets i had in the garage, it was only going in for max 2 hrs anyway. A bowl of soaked maple chips added for some smoke, no water bath, i sat the meat in a section above the direct heat to keep it from burning. The temperature pretty much stayed at 275 for most of the cook.

After an hour.

When the temp started to dip at ~ 80min, rather than add more fuel i just stoked the coals and it came right back to 275.

I took it off at around 95 mins, stuck a cheapo probe in and it eventually read 145 internal. I *might* be getting maverick dual probe for fathers day, it seems to be an essential piece of kit when smoking.

Now...if you read the recipe you would know this is to be wrapped in foil, let cool, refrigerated overnight and then thinly sliced.

Hopefully i will have the money shot tomorrow sometime.

I must say i am really enjoying this, getting a chance to combine 2 things i enjoy doing, cooking and eating !

RasTa · 18-06-2015 10:28pm

Tell your little one to get you one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SuperFast-Thermapen-professional-food-thermometer/dp/B002657DW0

Although you don't want to be opening it too often so maybe not

*Charcoal* BBQ/Grilling

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Charcoal BBQ/Grilling