Calling BBQ Experts

tiptap

Hi All,

Hoping some experts can help..
So, I'm going to splash out and purchase my first charcoal bbq.

One question...

Once the charcoal is grey and ashy looking ..
How long can you continue cooking for ..
will it last one hour, three hours, 5 hours ?

Mena

It depends on the charcoal in my experience, but anywhere between 30 mins and an hour with the stuff I can get my hands on. It burns away pretty quickly.

tiptap

Mena wrote: »

It depends on the charcoal in my experience, but anywhere between 30 mins and an hour with the stuff I can get my hands on. It burns away pretty quickly.

Thanks Mena,

But crap :-( didn't think it was that short..

so what happens if you want to cook half a sheep or something where you need to the heat for a good 4 to 6 hours !

Mr Magnolia

Then you're better off buying a gas bbq. I was always against the gas types but I reckon I'll be making a purchase shortly.

yankinlk

tiptap wrote: »

Thanks Mena,

But crap :-( didn't think it was that short..

so what happens if you want to cook half a sheep or something where you need to the heat for a good 4 to 6 hours !

You have to add coals to it....best way to do that is to get a chimney starter like this...
http://www.jupiterimages.com/popup2.aspx?navigationSubType=itemdetails&itemID=22833673

brettmirl

Gas BBQ is the way to go. I use mine right throughout the year and I feel much safer about not food poisoning people when using gas.

Just get decent coals for it, that give the proper BBQ taste/smell and you are sorted!

Oh as an aside, if you wait till about Sept to buy, they will be a lot cheaper than they are now.

Minder

In my experience, lumpwood charcoal is very quick to burn, I get 40 minutes max. Some of the compressed, briquette type coals last longer. As for roasting half a sheep - Buy a setup where you can swap charcoal beds - a very long bbq, you fire up each half in stages and keep swapping the food. Nisbets.ie do commercial bbqs that are ideal for this - they don't have all the knobs and whistles like a Webber or an Outback, but they do the job.

Or just go for a gas grill.

Swampy

Go for the gas grill. Easy cooking all year round. you loose very little on the flavour.

olaola

I'd go for gas too - we got a Weber there a few weeks ago, and I think we've used it nearly every night that we've been home.

DEFO worth spending money on a good one. We had bought a Homebase yoke a while back that wasn't really up to much!