BBQ help

[masoth]

G'day fellas. Although I've done much camp-fire cooking I'm ignorant about BBQs, so am asking for advice before buying my first.
What should I consider - how many burners - hood or no hood - wok burner or not - safety matters, and any thing else you think I need to know?

soth

Oops, will be gas, of course.

[Sparhawk]

First off you need to work out how much you are willing to spend. Like anything you can go from a cheap 4 burner unit from the Warehouse to full stainless steel unit.
How much are you going to use it.
Where are you going to keep it (under cover, on wheels so you can put it in the shed, exposed to the elements).
The number of burners just mean how much cooking surface area you have, and how hot you can get a plate. I would avoid odd numbers, as this means that a burner will be bridging a 2 plates (harder to control the temperature).
If you want to do roasting, then a hood is a good idea. I wouldn't worry to much about a wok burner.

Once you start going up in price there will be other add ons to sell, like ceramic bricks, stainless steel plates, IR burners for the rotisserie.

[masoth]

Thanks for the contribution, Mate.

soth

[Lignin]

Soth,
It really depends on how sophisticated you want to be with the cooking.
If you want to roast/bake, and do all that flash stuff, buy the best machine you can afford with a hood (+/_ rotisserie), but if you just want to grill meat and veg, you can get very good ,very plain BBQs relatively cheaply.Just make sure that the burners heat evenly.
It is not neccessary to get wok burners and other folderols unless you want to impress the neighbours.I don't even bother with the "griddle" plates,and actually prefer a good thick steel plate over a wood fire, but convention now dictates that I should have a gas burner!!
The MOST IMPORTANT THING about BBQing meat is to LEAVE IT ALONE.Whack it on the hotplate,jiggle it to stop it sticking, then leave it alone until a bit of blood collects on the raw side when youi flip it over .
Learn to test for "doneness" by the resistance to a prod with a finger.
ENJOY!!!

[masoth]

Thanks Lignin. "........ Just make sure that the burners heat evenly." is this done by the even spacing of the burners?

soth

[Lignin]

Yep, ya got it!!
Preferrably, two burners per plate,and adjusted so thet plates are in the colourless zone of the flame (It's hottest there).
A thick plate obviously takes longer to heat up, but IMO, does a much better job.

[Softbreeze]

Keep it simple when buying a BBQ, I with you Lignin, two burners per plate and a nice thick plate...gives a much more even heat. Grill plates take to much time to heat up. Cheers and enjoy BBQing.

[Softbreeze]

Sorry I meant too much cleaning for the grill plate.

[RETIRED]

Preferrably, two burners per plate,and adjusted so thet plates are in the colourless zone of the flame (It's hottest there).

The optimum distance from the plate to the top of the burners is no more than 70mm.

[bluegum30]

This is the BBQ we bought because my wife has a serious liver condition where to much fat is bad for her , this Weber cooks with very little to no added oil, we find it very good.Lloyd.

[masoth]

Thanks for the info - amazinig what one needs to consider over what seems a simple choice, isn't it?

soth

[RETIRED]

This is the BBQ we bought because my wife has a serious liver condition where to much fat is bad for her , this Weber cooks with very little to no added oil, we find it very good.Lloyd.

A couple of my friends own those Weber Q's and swear by them.

[underfoot]

or if you're after a quick feed,
this little beauty will cook a whole pig in 4.8 seconds

[RETIRED]

I like the white jacket with trakky daks and boots look. Very Chic.

[masoth]

Sorry, Underfoot, I reckon that will be beyond my budget.

soth