*Charcoal* BBQ/Grilling

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tHB

Mammamia17 wrote: »

Hi All,
just wondering if anyone has any ideas or recommendations for barbequing.....dd is 18 and we're having a bbq next week, but have never bbq'd before so want to practice this w/end.

Was thinking burgers & steak, sausages & some skewers....lamb maybe & some salmon steaks.....am doing chicken/mushroom vol au vents so will stick to red meat on the bbq

would also like to do pasta salad & curried rice along with the cold meat salads & regular garden salad.... so if anyone has any suggestions or tips I'd be really grateful
Cheers!

Handy side for a BBQ are baby potatoes. Lash them in the oven and coat them in a little rapeseed oil, some cayenne pepper and some garlic salt. Delicious.

I got into the habit of always including some vegetables on the bbq when I lived in New Zealand. It's a nice balance to all the meat.

Sweetcorn, whole cobs still in their leaves when in season.
Soak in a basin of water for a few minutes, shake off the excess and put on the bbq. Leave until the outer leaves start to blacken/go on fire and then turn slightly. Repeat until the entire outer surface is blackened/charred and lift off. Wrap a tea towel around your hand and hold the cobs at the base. Peel off the leaves with your other hand (put on a washing up glove if they're very hot). The result is sweet, smoky, steamed sweet corn. Brush with melted butter and gnaw.

Sweet peppers, tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, baby sweetcorn, mange tout, a handful of spinach leaves, pine nuts etc.. Whatever you fancy really in the way of leaves and veg that will cook quickly (potatoes, carrots and other roots take too long this way). Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and oil e.g. olive, sunflower or rapeseed, salt and pepper, and wrap up in a tinfoil parcel. Place the parcel on the hot plate. Leave for about 15 minutes (until you hear the contents gently sizzling). Carefully open the parcel and put the contents into a bowl to serve.

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Threads merged.

tHB

thanks hill billy, genuinely didnt see this one. Give me more to look at now though!

murphyebass wrote: »

thanks hill billy, genuinely didnt see this one. Give me more to look at now though!

No probs. I knew what to look for.

rick_fantastic wrote: »

Hickory Smoked Pull Pork Shoulder...

it should look like this...

:eek: Mother of Babe!!!

that looks great....

Hi All
Said I would throw up what I did for my last cook
Got some belly pork from Tesco with the ribs attached. I cut off the ribs for use at a later date.
Score the fat side of the belly down to the meat I score mine so when you cut the pork into slices the score is where you cut meaning the crackling on the slice stays intact.
I made some rub 1/2 cup of salt 1/2 cup of brown sugar 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper onion powder garlic powder and sweet paprika each and then a decent grind of black pepper 1 to 2 level table spoons a lovely aromatic rub suitable for all meats.
I used some yellow mustard to coat the pork and act as a glue for my rub.Make sure to get that rub between the slits in the skin
I put mine into a covered tray and left over night in the fridge.


For this cook I was using a weber q 320 gas grill it has 2 burners this is the only gas grill I have ever used my Dad got it years ago the burners are in a strange configuration there is the main burner which runs around the outer edge of the grill at the lowest setting it will go to about 170c then there is another burner which runs down the middle of the grill this will give you lower temps.

I set up my grill as following
I used hickory chips which I had soaked for 30 mins I put them into a foil tray and covered the try in foil and pierced the foil several times.
I set my grill to high on both burners and closed the lid.
I used a roasting tin and filled it with apple juice I then put in a meat rack and rested my pork on the rack. With a meat thermometer
I put my wood chips at the back corner and my meat was in the center.
The weber has 2 openings either side of the cooking area I didn't want my smoke going out the side and not over the meat so I made a baffle with some tinfoil it seems to have worked.
I kept a close eye on the meat for the first 15 20 mins until the skin got nice and crispy then I reduced the temp to between 150c and 170c and let it cook about once an hour I would spritz it with apple juice and if needed fill the pan with some more cider.
it was a modest piece of meat as it was only a couple of friends, Dad and I, so it cooked in 3 hours. I wrapped it in tin foil and put it into a insulated bag while I prepared the rest

I served it with some grilled corn on the cob and a salad
for the corn I get them still in the husk so I peel back the leaves and remove the silk I then put the leaves back and soak the corn in some salt and water for 15 mins. I then put them on a hot grill for about 5 minutes a side until they are done.

The pork was amazing and did not last long the knife glided through the meat it was tender moist and rich on the inside nice and crispy on the outside the hickory and apple work so well combined and then the slight sweet heat from the rub. the corn was tender, Juicy and covered in butter and salt as it should be.

The gas grill is not the Ideal way to cook like this but a smoker is beyond my means for now unless some kind person can pint me in the direction of a reasonably priced charcoal smoker.

Cheers had a look at those sites. The route 66 guys have some machine there. I would love to build my own but I don't have a work shop. Has anyone ever gone to a steel fabricator and priced them making one I am guessing it would be very expensive for a one off job like that.

I find if you put the BBQ up full blast, then baste your steaks generously with cooking oil (note: not olive oil), as the oil drips down, it creates a flame which colours your steaks nicely, while leaving them pink in the middle.

Hey,

Hoping someone in here can advise as to what the best charcoal is for low and slow cooking.

Don't want to be spending a fortune and would be looking to buy in bulk. All web searches are bringing up american brands that are seemingly unavailable over here. Weber charcoal is very expensive also.

Tom75 wrote: »

Try this. 2,5kg about 3-4eur in polish shop.

That's the one I always use. Never have any problems with it. It's proper charcoal too, i.e. not briquettes.

After around 2hrs.. Ready to wrap.


I use melted butter. usually honey but I had none so maple syrup and brown sugar.. If I had some i'd stick in a bit of apple juice. Wrap tightly, I use 3-4 sheets tinfoil to do this. At this stage u could stick em in the oven to finish them off and free up space on ur BBQ or stick em back on the BBQ.


I'll leave them on for close to 2hrs and see what they're like then.. I'll unwrap them, sauce them and stick them back on for 30 od mins to let the sauce set.. Then I'm gonna eat them, all of them!

Just to finish up..
Wrapped heavily and stuck back on for around 2hrs.


After being unwrapped. The butter, sugar and maple syrup (or honey) create a savage sauce. You could eat them like this if you wished, I like to sauce them to add to the flavors..


Saucing them and then giving them another 30 odd mins to set. Usually I'd cut the sauce down with apple/orange juice, coke, beer, whisky,honey and add a few extra spices/rub... but amazingly enough I didn't have a thing in the house (this was a last min decision to do these ribs today...) You'd get a much slicker finish with a cut down sauce too.


Nice smoke ring, I used one chunk of hickory and one of apple wood. Less is more when it comes to wood. I've seen people dump in a whole load of wood, fine when you're working with a meat that can take the heavy smoke (pork shoulder, brisket) but with ribs, chicken less i the way to go (heavily smoked chicken is mank!)


One satisfied stomach!


Hopefully this will give someone an idea as to how to go about getting the best ribs u've ever had.. Same can be done on a kettle BBQ, I've done 2-3 racks on my kettle, used my WSM today just to blow (burn) the cobwebs off it..

<Mod note: There's no need to quote a huge post with multiple pictures>


Nice to see somebody else using a WSM, I brought one in from the States many years ago before they were available in Ireland, used to be an active member of the Virtual Weber Bullet. Since I bought a Big Green Egg the WSM has been put to the back of the shed. I must dust it off and do some ribs and maybe a butt, the WSM does the best ribs I've ever tasted. Keep her lit

lordstilton wrote: »

What have you attached to your bottom vents? is it a fan to get temp up?

BBQ Guru Party Q Uses a temp probe to measure internal temps and then controls the airflow to maintain it. Handy for long cooks, eats batteries for breakfast though, working on modding it to take an ac adapter so I can just plug it in.

Pricer models have loads of featuers, wouldn't mind wifi so I could check temps without having to get off me arse!

Hi all,

I've been BBQing for a number of years now but only recently bought a Weber Master Touch 57cm which promises to take things to a whole different level. I picked up the large Weber Chimney Starter with it and have been using it with great success for lumpwood charcoal, it really is phenomenally easy. However, I've made a couple of attempts at using briquettes (Weber long lasting stuff) and could not get them to light!
I've been using balls of newspaper with the lumpwood and can see plenty of videos of people using the same method with briquettes, but it just won't work for me. I have the chimney about 2/3 full and it initially looks like it's going to take but never does, having left it for 20-25 minutes, not even slightly. I've since picked up some fire lighters and I'm going to try those but any tips would be really appreciated as I'd like to start doing longer cooks and would prefer not to have to keep topping up with lumpwood every so often to maintain temperature.

unklerosco wrote: »

The weber charcoal briquettes are muck. I've had the same issues as you, impossible to light and they give out sod all heat...

Bnq used to sell charcoal that came in a small glossy bag, can't remember the brand but they gave out savage heat... I tend to just use lumpwood all the time now, better flavour and more heat.. They burn a bit quicker but that just requires a top up every now n then.

Thanks for the reply, I was attracted to the briquettes potentially requiring less work, but I'll give the lumpwood a whirl instead and try to get the balance right. Your ribs looks amazing btw.

unklerosco wrote: »

Make sure you just get std lumpwood n not the easy light stuff that's soaked in lighter fluid..

Cheers, any particular brand you'd recommend? What about that polish stuff someone mentions a few posts back?

Charka is great if you're going to use charcoals.

I just found this thread and amazed that I haven't been here before. I love braaing (BBQ) and smoking.

I have two webbers at the moment although its too hot here for them this time of year.

I do our turkeys on the braai each year and go down a treat. One smoked, one un-smoked.

Shred wrote: »

Cheers, any particular brand you'd recommend? What about that polish stuff someone mentions a few posts back?

Aldi had some great charcoal in last year, at least I think thats where I got it.. still have some left, burns very hot n lasts quite long.

Woodies is the only main chain that I've found that sells un-soaked charcoal, it's not bad.. been using it for a few years.

This crowd sell a good range of fuels (and BBQs), plan to stick in an order with them soon.

http://www.aroomoutside.ie/big-k-lumpwood-charcoal-5kg.html