BLUE'S BARBYS
Q Please tell me more about the personal BBQ Blue barby?
Andrew
Gympie
Queensland
A Sadly Andrew there is no single BBQ Blue barby - there's actually five of the buggers:
1/2. The oldest are a pair of Weber kettles - both around the 20 year mark. The charcoal version is
still used on a weekly basis for roasting and the slow smoking of smaller items. The gas kettle was a grand (and I suspect expensive) experiment for Weber that is deeply flawed in regard to indirect cooking. However, it is effective when it comes to using using wood chips with direct cooking over volcanic rock.
3. Next is a four burner gas barbecue which is a really solid, locally
made Gauci unit (sadly, the family that built them had to close their factory in 2004). I added a hood a few years back but soon took it off again and stored it in the shed - the charcoal Weber does all of that indirect cooking stuff so much better. I use the flat top for cooking steaks for a group or breakfasts. Sometimes, I place woodchips wrapped in foil on the heat sink (currently ceramic briquettes) and trap the smoke by placing the lid of the Weber charcoal kettle over the grill.
4. I love my little oval Hibachi and it's ideal for chicken and prawn satays when
it's just me and Mrs Blue.
5. Last is my slow smoker (pic below). ‘The Frankensmoker’ was named after the good doctor because it comprises parts taken from the corpses of several other smokers – a Weber, Brinkmann and Meco to be precise. It doesn't get used as much as I would like because it’s an eight hour plus job to reduce a big chunk of pork shoulder or beef chuck to the most tender and tasty meat you'll ever eat.
As you can see I am a firm believer in of ‘horses for courses’.
BBQ Blue