BBQ recommendations?

[Martin]

Agreed, we sold our Cobb for the same reasons.

 

[choplee]

i use the brighton site and do like it ....... i use an outback u-compact bbq ..cheap and uses the canister gas ... not saying its the best out there ,but for the price of it and the gas together with it's uses it's not bad at all ...

 

[SimplyDubs]

To be honest... I've stopped using a BBQ pretty much altogether when camping, particularly when only cooking for the three of us. (It's different if we're in a large group.. then it tends to be open fires or the perennial tumble dryer brazier)

I now use a pair of the cartridge stoves (camping gaz... cost me £7 each including cartridges at Yeoman last year) and a heavy cast iron double skillet that sits nicely on top of them both.

Cast iron skillets must be one of the best camp cooking buys ever!

Works incredibly well, except when it's -5 outside and there's no pressure in the cartridges

Rgds

M

 

[choplee]

To be honest... I've stopped using a BBQ pretty much altogether when camping, particularly when only cooking for the three of us. (It's different if we're in a large group.. then it tends to be open fires or the perennial tumble dryer brazier)

I now use a pair of the cartridge stoves (camping gaz... cost me £7 each including cartridges at Yeoman last year) and a heavy cast iron double skillet that sits nicely on top of them both.

Cast iron skillets must be one of the best camp cooking buys ever!

Works incredibly well, except when it's -5 outside and there's no pressure in the cartridges

Rgds

M

£7 .... :!: :!: :!: ...now thats very very cheap indeed

my outback is basically a camping gaz type stove ,so i'm with you on that one mARK

i could do with a new stove and some more canisters ( u reminded me to start hunting )

 

[MrCaliMan]

I use Cadac Safari Chef. Can stick on a pan or kettle, do a proper barbecue on the grille, eggs bacon/steaks etc on the 2 sided griddle, stir fry on wok etc. I use it with another Camping Gaz 907 cylinder so I always have a spare with the one in the van. Legs fold and packs into a compact bag (+space for gas cylinder).

 

[Calimark]

Since most of the southern French campsites don't allow charcoal BBQs and we generally also like cooking breakfasts outside we opted for one of these. We nearly always opt for campsites with hookup and since this is only 1600w most sites would be fine (I also bought a 5m ext reel lead for £9)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BODUM-Bistro-El ... ROKL5A1OLE

It's great as it can do breakfasts on one side and grill/bbq on the other and we don't have to worry about lighting charcoal or running out of gas. I got mine for £50 from amazon which for the quality, is good value I reckon. We can also use it at home for Teppanyaki !

 

[la-th]

This summer i have been testing out the Vidar BBQ from Primus.
I have to say I am very satisfied with it. It comes in a carrying bag that fits perfectly under the rear shelf in my Cali.

It is ready for cooking in 5 minutes, and also cools down in just a few minutes when you´re done. Best of all, it is very easy to keep clean.

http://www.primus.eu/templates/pages/pr ... emId=87684

 

[teeboy]

I like the old school caveman factor of traditional BBQs so I have got one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Notebook-Port ... 3f1f5d98cc which folds flat and sits in the boot perfectly.


In fact I have just ordered another as a spare and as a home spare.

Keep an eye on ebay as that seller sells seconds for £15 occasionally, so you could get 6 for the price of a cobb

 

[Michelle]

I bought a lotus grill at a camping and caravanning show - it was just under £100 BUT it is fantastic. It isn't very big fits easily in our boot - it needs only a small amount of charcoal each time in a small basket in the middle but is hot enough to cook on within a couple of minutes and has a small battery operated fan to keep the heat high - it also stays cold on the outside so you can stand it on a table and cook. We also use it as an outside heater on those cold camping nights! Decided that although cost high it would pay for itself after a couple of years as we had been using disposable BBQ's which would eventually add up in cost. It also comes in great bright colours

 

[CPO77]

We use a Weber Q120 for almost all our cooking needs - we only really use the burners inside for boiling water / cooking pasta etc. The Q120 is the perfect size for 2-4 people and we use it for everything from a grill to a pizza oven. Cant recommend it enough!

 

[Celia and Edward]

We use a Weber Q120 for almost all our cooking needs - we only really use the burners inside for boiling water / cooking pasta etc. The Q120 is the perfect size for 2-4 people and we use it for everything from a grill to a pizza oven. Cant recommend it enough!

The Webber sounds wonderful. Plotting getting one. Great photo too; where were you ?

 

[debarros]

No, no, no - this is a lot of bother - just get 5 disposable BBQs from poundsaver (£1 each) and voila. Camping needs to be better than our back garden.. Not had any complaints in France either.

Works great, no mess, no bother....

 

[CPO77]

We use a Weber Q120 for almost all our cooking needs - we only really use the burners inside for boiling water / cooking pasta etc. The Q120 is the perfect size for 2-4 people and we use it for everything from a grill to a pizza oven. Cant recommend it enough!

The Webber sounds wonderful. Plotting getting one. Great photo too; where were you ?

The Weber is great - we use it in portable mode with the butane canisters for camping and day picnics and have an adapter to run it off larger bottles for extended trips in the Cali. I cant recommend it enough, its easy to clean, light and really portable. I miss using a 'proper' charcoal BBQ for the flavour but in NZ open fires are pretty much banned everywhere in the summer because of the fire risk so its the best next option....

The pic was taken out on the wild East Cape in New Zealand - its the most easterly point of mainland in the world - and is the 1st place to see the sunrise of each new day. Its stunning!

 

[Fatb10ke]

I love a good BBQ and as a result we have multiple, too many to list. My favourite at home is my Big Green Egg (www.biggreenegg.co.uk). However the large version is way to heavy to take on the road at 72Kg.

We have a Cobb that is great and often take that with us. However our favourite has to be our Weber Baby Q (now called the Weber Q 120). We carry a spare 907 to use with this and our Campigaz Chef 2 ring cooker that lives in the van. We cook anything fatty or smelly outside.

Now Big Green Egg make a mini version of the Egg. I'm going to see if I can borrow one and do a review for them as they really are excellent. They use lumpwood charcoal so you're getting none of the chemicals in your food as you'll get with briquettes, cheap charcoal and Cobblestones, you just get the proper smoky BBQ flavour. I love the convenience of gas hence the Weber Baby Q and my Weber Summit S-650 at home, but you can not compete with the flavour of real charcoal.

BTW we just returned from a 6 week European tour in our Cali and managed to fill up both our 907's in Croatia for a total price of £7 at a garage selling LPG. If you're ever there just ask for the nearest LPG filling station and chances are they'll be able to deal with you. Even if you'e only 1/2 empty it makes sense.

 

[burko73]

weber go-anywhere bbq - had one for 12 yrs and its been great. even functions as a fire pit after cooking and have piled it up with wood.

they did stop making it but they have just brought out a new model pretty much the same only a little more compact as they have binned the handles on the ends.

they also now do a gas model.

fits in the cali well and can store the charcoal in a bag inside it. parts available as well if needed.

as its rectangular and closes up all the mess is self contained and when in use the lid means you can pretty much oven cook in it.

 

[McMeefia]

Hi, we've just bought the Weber Q1200. We were wondering...
Is it possible to run it off the 907 canister? If so, is it a Weber adapter that allows you to do this or do I need to get a different adapter?

Thanks
Cathy and Matt

 

[gatvol]

It is worth watching the big green egg video.

I would love to see Steve coogan, johnny Vegas and Peter Kay replacing the three hooray henries. Perhaps white dee and some of the benefits street crowd making up the numbers taking the place of the nicely dressed ladies and impeccably behaved children.

 

[IanE]

Another vote for the Weber go anywhere - we got the most recent version. Advantages as above. Fantastic quality and it stows beautifully in the boot!

 

[Bjohnson]

We've just bought a cobb a couple of weeks ago. I'm really pleased with it, particularly it's versatility.

Have used it at home a few times to get the hang of it and on a weekend away last week. It seems great.

I bought two packs of cobb bricks but haven't actually used them yet, I've been using charcoal briquettes. Optimum number for cooking seems to be 7 and I notice that it works best if fire lighters are spread under the coals to get them all lit evenly, otherwise it doesn't get hot enough.

I've used the griddle plate and the standard plate for cooking chicken, burgers, steaks and had corn on the cobb and jacket spuds in the well.

With the lid on, it certainly cooks quite quickly. Haven't tried the roast chicken yet, but it's only a question of time :hello

 

[Custardtart]

I've struggled with the Cobb if I'm honest.

I found I needed to use as many briquettes as I could in the basket to get enough heat - found that out the hard way of course!

I haven't tried their own fuel bricks - was going to and see if they give more/longer heat.

Anyone else find this or is it me doing something wrong?

 

[GuyB]

I'm a really keen barbecue'ist when not in the Cali and have learnt that what you pay is what you get with briquettes. Avoid instant light at all costs as your food will just taste of fuel. Generally regarded as the best briquettes on the market are HeatBeads - they are quite expensive, but they burn much hotter for 2-3 times longer than your cheap supermarket ones (which are mostly wooddust glued together and dyed black). I use a Cobb in the Cali and love it. It's true it's not a 'true' BBQ, but if you put some wood chips on some foil on the coals then results are just as good. Easiest way to light the coals without firelighters is to pop it on the gas hob for 2-3 mins - you'll be cooking in 15!

 

[Custardtart]

I'm a really keen barbecue'ist when not in the Cali and have learnt that what you pay is what you get with briquettes. Avoid instant light at all costs as your food will just taste of fuel. Generally regarded as the best briquettes on the market are HeatBeads - they are quite expensive, but they burn much hotter for 2-3 times longer than your cheap supermarket ones (which are mostly wooddust glued together and dyed black). I use a Cobb in the Cali and love it. It's true it's not a 'true' BBQ, but if you put some wood chips on some foil on the coals then results are just as good. Easiest way to light the coals without firelighters is to pop it on the gas hob for 2-3 mins - you'll be cooking in 15!

Very interesting - it hadn't really occurred to me the briquettes might vary in quality. I'll look out for the HeatBeads and give them a go. Thanks.

 

[Bjohnson]

I've struggled with the Cobb if I'm honest.

I found I needed to use as many briquettes as I could in the basket to get enough heat - found that out the hard way of course!

I haven't tried their own fuel bricks - was going to and see if they give more/longer heat.

Anyone else find this or is it me doing something wrong?

I did find that using one fire lighter under the briquettes meant it took much longer to get up to temperature. With a couple of fire lighters broken and spread evenly under the briquettes they all tended to light at the same tie. And get up to temperature evenly. Otherwise I noticed that only 3 or 4 would be really hot and the rest were still not properly lit. This seemed to have a big impact on the temperature of the cobb. With about 7 or 8 briquettes evenly lit together it takes about 30 mins to get to cooking temperature.

I also found it best to leave the domed lid off for the first 20-30 mins while the briquettes get hot, otherwise the inside of the lid gets black

 

[Fryers!]

We used to have a Cobb but cleaning it got too much as who wants to be cleaning greasy pans when on holiday?? When we want roast chicken we head for the local pub and let them do the washing up

 

[Fatb10ke]

I posted on here a couple of years ago. Back then I was just about to try the Big Green Egg Mini. Well since then they launched the Big Green Egg MiniMax, a slightly bigger version, it's superb.

I now have a MiniMax and it lives in my Cali.

As with all Big Green Egg's it's just superb. Lighting to 180C is less than 15 minutes and your cooking over propped lumpwood charcoal with no nasty chemicals. Unlike the Cobb you can control the temperature, something that's super easy.

You can use it like a normal BBQ for grilling or:

1) add the ConvEGGtor to convert it into an oven
2) add a pan to use it as a hob (we do paella all the time)
3) add wood chips to turn it into a smoker
4) add the baking stone to cook proper wood fired pizzas and breads
5)...........

The Big Green Egg is used in over 35 Michelin starred restaurants in the UK alone it's that good. I'm sure no restaurant has ever used a Cobb or a Weber Go Anywhere.

It is expensive but it's streets ahead of any other BBQ.