*Charcoal* BBQ/Grilling

paddylonglegs

Brian? wrote: »

Seasoning is absolutely necessary. If you mean seasoning in the strict sense: adding salt and pepper. I notice more and more people using "seasoning" when they actually mean flavouring with herbs and spices.

I heavily season my steaks. But I don't use anything else.

A good tip Iv always gone by is to put on salt and pepper close to the time of cooking, therefore reducing the amount of moisture the salt will draw out of the meat

So I got a big bag of lumpwood in the shop instead of my usual weber briquettes.

Anyone notice any difference? Used it for some burgers and sausages and apart from taking longer to start in the chimney I didn't notice any difference.

The Nal

ronoc wrote: »

So I got a big bag of lumpwood in the shop instead of my usual weber briquettes.

Anyone notice any difference? Used it for some burgers and sausages and apart from taking longer to start in the chimney I didn't notice any difference.

No theres very little difference in any of them. I've used everything from the cheapest charcoal to the best "restaurant grade" lumpwood over the last 20 years. Its a total swindle.

The Nal

The Nal wrote: »

No theres very little difference in any of them. I've used everything from the cheapest charcoal to the best "restaurant grade" lumpwood over the last 20 years. Its a total swindle.

Ah now the organic stuff is the best :pac:

The branded stuff is a complete swindle.
Its like the webber branded metal trays you see for 2e each .

The chan chan man

The Nal wrote: »

No theres very little difference in any of them. I've used everything from the cheapest charcoal to the best "restaurant grade" lumpwood over the last 20 years. Its a total swindle.

If you’re grilling burgers/sausages or something else for 10 minutes then yes I agree. But try a 12 hour pork shoulder with a bag of spar’s briquettes..

There’s a lot of filler in cheap briquettes which creates a thick black smoke. Cheaper lumpwood is often so small its practically useless for anything other than a very short direct grill session.

There’s no need for “organic” BGE lump, but middle of the road stuff is ideal. I would generally steer clear of the real cheap stuff though unless its burgers and saussies!

The chan chan man

The chan chan man wrote: »

There’s no need for “organic” BGE lump, but middle of the road stuff is ideal. I would generally steer clear of the real cheap stuff though unless its burgers and saussies!

Yea totally,
Esspecally any of the instant light muck.
It's the blue bags for me when possible .
After that I found the B&Q stuff alright .

The Nal

The chan chan man wrote: »

If you’re grilling burgers/sausages or something else for 10 minutes then yes I agree. But try a 12 hour pork shoulder with a bag of spar’s briquettes..

There’s a lot of filler in cheap briquettes which creates a thick black smoke. Cheaper lumpwood is often so small its practically useless for anything other than a very short direct grill session.

There’s no need for “organic” BGE lump, but middle of the road stuff is ideal. I would generally steer clear of the real cheap stuff though unless its burgers and saussies!

Have to say I've never noticed a difference. Although admittedly never used Spars charcoal!

Last smoke I did last week I used 3 or 4 different types, some of which I bought in Circle K and it worked fine. Tasted the same as the 40 quids worth of branded super duper Michelin star hero of time master of the universe grade stuff I used last summer.

Brian?

The Nal wrote: »

Have to say I've never noticed a difference. Although admittedly never used Spars charcoal!

Last smoke I did last week I used 3 or 4 different types, some of which I bought in Circle K and it worked fine. Tasted the same as the 40 quids worth of branded super duper Michelin star hero of time master of the universe grade stuff I used last summer.

I agree. The taste difference is so small it's insignificant. It's all about how long it burns for me. Weber briquttes burn consistently for a long time so I use them.

afatbollix

What do you guys think of the Lidl egg BBQ?

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/bbq-essentials/grillchef-mini-kamado-ceramic-charcoal-barbecue/p31935

afatbollix

afatbollix wrote: »

What do you guys think of the Lidl egg BBQ?

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/bbq-essentials/grillchef-mini-kamado-ceramic-charcoal-barbecue/p31935

I dont know but I want it

Quin_Dub

afatbollix wrote: »

What do you guys think of the Lidl egg BBQ?

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/bbq-essentials/grillchef-mini-kamado-ceramic-charcoal-barbecue/p31935

UK only I think - Didn't Lidl here announce that they were cancelling their "middle aisle specials" during the restrictions after all the hassle with their Garden furniture specials a few weeks back?

glic83

Aldi have sold a Komodo BBQ the last 2 years over in the UK but it's never appeared here for sale, so unlikely Lidl will be doing them here either unfortunately

mossym

no longer use much briquettes , only lumpwooed, but my experience is there are significant differneces between the brands. I pretty much know where the vents on my kamado need to be be for a 225F slow cook. did a brisket for 9 hours yesterday, lit the bbq, set the vents, hour later it was pretty much spot on to where i wanted it. and stayed within 5 degress of that all day. that's been my experience with either the blue bags of lumpwood or the kamdado joe XL lumpwood

both of those are big lumps of wood, the KJ stuff even bigger than the blue bags, and i find the KJ stuff is even more consistent in terms of temp as a result

i had a couple of bags of weber lumpwood left, used some a couple of weeks ago. it's small pieces, looks like someone took a hammer to the bigger stuff. as a result it burns much quicker, and much hotter. same spot on the vents gave almost 100f higher, and it was impossible to control, wild swings for minor vent adjustments. be perfect for hot cooking , but for low and slow it's awful

plus i'd echo what was mentioned about soot/black smoke, huge difference between the brands

for my weber kettle i'd still use the weber briquettes as i have a couple of bags left in the garage, and as was said they burn well and consitently, better than cheap ass stuff. certainly agree there is no real taste difference. but what you want from your fuels is controlled heat, and there certainly is variances there, some of which become way more important the type of cooking you are doing

I see more and more posts using fahrenheit.
Just use Kelvin like a normal person.

foodaholic

where do you get the KJ charcoal

blue note

The blue bags are fantastic. Unfortunately I've only two and a bit bags left and a room outside are sold out. I'll be ordering 5 once they get them back in stock. I hope they get them back in before I run out!

I also use the weber briquettes. Very consistent, produce lots of heat.

The cheap charcoal is good for direct cooking, but you just can't use it for longer cooks. Pieces are far too small.

budgemook

Surprised with the comments saying there's no difference in charcoals. the cheap stuff is a disaster IMO - dirty smoke, bad taste and smell, burns out really quickly etc. I'm not saying that BGE organic is required, that's obviously just marketing nonsense so an extra 15 quid can be added to the price, but a decent lumpwood (or briquettes I guess if that's your thing) is a must.

Blue Bag
Quebracho stuff I get off a lad from Galway
BGE own brand

These are all good and I think they are around the 20 quid mark for a big bag.

budgemook

foodaholic wrote: »

where do you get the KJ charcoal

I think I got it off Amazon before, or maybe it was BGE, but it didn't fit in the parcel motel locker and I paid way too much.

Just checked there - it was BGE grand I got - that was 2017 and it was 25 pounds. That's too much and the 7 euro parcel motel charge I paid made it extortionate. Same thing now is on Amazon for 45 pounds!

Captain Red Beard

I used a full chimney of Marienburg lumpwood yesterday for a spatchcocked chicken on my Weber and it burned way too fast for my liking. Barely an hour of usable heat.

Quin_Dub

Was watching a Pitmaster X video the other day and he was using what he called "Coconut briquettes" - Looked like the kind of octagonal woodchip things you get for the fireplace.

Anyone ever seen them for sale?

Captain Red Beard

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Was watching a Pitmaster X video the other day and he was using what he called "Coconut briquettes" - Looked like the kind of octagonal woodchip things you get for the fireplace.

Anyone ever seen them for sale?

I've gotten them in The Range. They burn well and hold heat for a long time.

neris

Tesco had coconut briquettes last year. Think they were Bord na Mona brand. Worked fine no major differences with them and normal coal

Brian?

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Was watching a Pitmaster X video the other day and he was using what he called "Coconut briquettes" - Looked like the kind of octagonal woodchip things you get for the fireplace.

Anyone ever seen them for sale?

I used coconut briquettes last week, they were grand. Burned clean and consistent. There was a weird smell of coconut in the air will they were lighting in the chimney starter, after that there was no difference. I bought them out of pure curiosity and would buy again in an emergency.

The Nal

budgemook wrote: »

Surprised with the comments saying there's no difference in charcoals. the cheap stuff is a disaster IMO - dirty smoke, bad taste and smell, burns out really quickly etc. I'm not saying that BGE organic is required, that's obviously just marketing nonsense so an extra 15 quid can be added to the price, but a decent lumpwood (or briquettes I guess if that's your thing) is a must.

Blue Bag
Quebracho stuff I get off a lad from Galway
BGE own brand

These are all good and I think they are around the 20 quid mark for a big bag.

I find the Bar-Be-Quick lumpwood or charcoal fine, as are all of the standard hardware store charcoals I've tried. Same as anything expensive. No difference whatsoever.

Granted, I must not have tried some of the cheaper stuff as I've never experienced dirty smoke etc.

foodaholic

neris wrote: »

Tesco had coconut briquettes last year. Think they were Bord na Mona brand. Worked fine no major differences with them and normal coal

They have them again this year

budgemook

The Nal wrote: »

I find the Bar-Be-Quick lumpwood or charcoal fine, as are all of the standard hardware store charcoals I've tried. Same as anything expensive. No difference whatsoever.

Granted, I must not have tried some of the cheaper stuff as I've never experienced dirty smoke etc.

Yeah see I think I've only really used really cheap stuff or stuff that costs 20 - 25 euros a bag (and the rest!). How much is a bag of Bar-Be-Quick?

The Nal

budgemook wrote: »

Yeah see I think I've only really used really cheap stuff or stuff that costs 20 - 25 euros a bag (and the rest!). How much is a bag of Bar-Be-Quick?

Think about 15 or 16 quid for a 15KG bag. Lumpwood a euro or two pricier.

the_galway_fry

Anyone help here, really struggling to get the blue bag stuff to take off just lit the chimney for the 3rd time. Never had to do anything like that before.
I am using the leftover coals from previous cooks mixed in with new bits, is that the issue?
Generally just using bunched up piece of paper with a couple of the lidl firestarters

The chan chan man

the_galway_fry wrote: »

Anyone help here, really struggling to get the blue bag stuff to take off just lit the chimney for the 3rd time. Never had to do anything like that before.
I am using the leftover coals from previous cooks mixed in with new bits, is that the issue?
Generally just using bunched up piece of paper with a couple of the lidl firestarters

You should have smaller/other lump or briquettes in the bottom of the chimney when using the restaurant grade/blue bag.

martinr5232

the_galway_fry wrote:

Anyone help here, really struggling to get the blue bag stuff to take off just lit the chimney for the 3rd time. Never had to do anything like that before. I am using the leftover coals from previous cooks mixed in with new bits, is that the issue? Generally just using bunched up piece of paper with a couple of the lidl firestarters

Stand your longer bits in the chimney so the grain of the wood is top to bottom then throw some lumps and smaller bits in on the top.