Need a new BBQ/Smoker

Author
Discussion

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,374 posts

252 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Hi,

Four or five years ago we took the plunge and took delivery of a ProQ Smoker BBQ. It was great until last year when it caught fire taking some sausages (and almost the fence with it). I wasn't home at the time but by all accounts it blew said doors off.

Anyway I need something to get my BBQ fix! Couple of issues I found with the smoker - if you want to add more coals you have to dismantle the whole thing and it only had vents on the top so it was difficult to regulate the heat.

I wondering whether or not just to go for a standard weber kettle bbq (is there enough room to do beer can chicken in one?) or go for another 'smoker'?

Cheers,
Phill

silverous

1,008 posts

133 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Big green egg?

scottri

950 posts

181 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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You can do a beer can chicken in a 57cm weber kettle although its a tight fit.

Have you considered a new Pro Q Bullet - they have doors to access the coal, water pan now, 3 vents at the bottom, plus if you get the premium one they are made of thicker steel. Or you could get the weber smokey mountain if you wanted to spend a bit more.

What sort of budget are you looking at?

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,374 posts

252 months

Monday 20th April 2015
quotequote all
I paid about £80 for the last one (Just dug out the invoice from my emails) - It was the Pro Q Amigo.

We went for a cheaper/smaller one previously to see how we got on with it/how much we'd use it.


Can I get something decent for around £300?

scottri

950 posts

181 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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For under £300 you can get one of the ProQ bullets

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PC23BAM

If you spent a bit more you could get Webers version. I have no experience of these but if they are built as well as the Kettle then i don't think you could go wrong.

http://www.bbqworld.co.uk/weber-barbecues/charcoal...

Avoid the offset american style smokers as this price range they are not very good.

Mad March Taffy

508 posts

118 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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I use the regular Weber 57cm kettle and it works fine - there are some great videos on You Tube of all sorts of advice regarding smoking. I got to try a Big Green Egg on a BBQ cooking course last year - fantastic results but... over a grand for the large sized one!


maturin23

586 posts

221 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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I've had the largest (22inch) Weber Smokey Mountain for a couple of years and I love it.

Started off just doing the low-and-slow smoking (salmon side for 45 mins, ribs for 5/6 hours, pork shoulder for 12/13 etc) but have also started using it more as charcoal oven - no water in the pan and cranking it up to 160/170C. Perfect for getting crispy skin on a chicken or for sausages.

I used to use it in tandem with a normal Weber BBQ but so far this year I've just been using just the WSM.

Had a gorgeous steak yesterday - single nicely-aged untrimmed bone-in 1kg rib (looked like a dinosaur chop) from Andrews in Marlborough - salt and pepper dry rub for an hour then whacked it in the WSM (running at 105C + oak chunks for some ribs) for 45 minutes. Seared it for 30 seconds a side using a half-full Weber Chimney starter with a grill balanced on top (great way of getting a lot of heat in a short time with minimal fuel) and let it rest for 20 minutes. Was better than anything I've had at Hawksmoor or Goodman and I've had a quite a few!


maturin23

586 posts

221 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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I should say that the poster above is right that you can do pretty much everything on a standard Weber BBQ, but for longer slower cooking the WSM is FAR easier to control temperature-wise, plus given there are two grills and no need for empty grill space over the coals with a WSM there is four times as much grill space. This is why I've started using it for higher temp stuff too.

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,374 posts

252 months

Monday 20th April 2015
quotequote all
maturin23 said:
I should say that the poster above is right that you can do pretty much everything on a standard Weber BBQ, but for longer slower cooking the WSM is FAR easier to control temperature-wise, plus given there are two grills and no need for empty grill space over the coals with a WSM there is four times as much grill space. This is why I've started using it for higher temp stuff too.
Are you able to take the middle section out and just use it as small BBQ? eg. base with coals, grill then the lid?

maturin23

586 posts

221 months

Monday 20th April 2015
quotequote all
Yes - you can take the middle section out but the lid doesn't seal quite sat on the bottom section so I wouldn't use it for long cooking.

What I have been doing is taking the middle section out and popping the grill over the coals when I need to do final sear on a decent amount of food (use the Chimney Afterburner method as above if searing a steak or something small) - works well.

calibrax

4,788 posts

210 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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scottri said:
You can do a beer can chicken in a 57cm weber kettle although its a tight fit.
If you get the rotisserie add-on, it has a useful extension ring that gives you a taller space to work with.



http://www.birstall.co.uk/products/weber_charcoal_...

jogon

2,971 posts

157 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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calibrax said:
If you get the rotisserie add-on, it has a useful extension ring that gives you a taller space to work with.



http://www.birstall.co.uk/products/weber_charcoal_...
I've been contemplating one of those and also this device that makes smoking on the weber easier..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=sm...

But in two minds as to just spunking a grand on a big green egg instead and scrapping my 6 year old weber.




Chucklehead

2,729 posts

207 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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I've got the smokenator, quite like it but it doesn't really free up the lower rack for smoking as you'd put a drip pan there.

The water pan is too small too, so I'll be putting a larger foil tray on top.

maturin23

586 posts

221 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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I've not got a smokenator but there doesn't seem to be much love for it on the US BBQ forums.

If you want to cold smoke in a Weber I'd suggest using one of these http://www.macsbbq.com/cold-smokers - I have a big cold smoker I build myself but got one of these for my old man and they do what they promise.

If you want to do the low and slow BBQ thing then just put some fist size chunks of wood in with the coals, or use sawdust wrapped in tin foil.

Barchettaman

6,280 posts

131 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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Weber 57, did a vertical chicken at the weekend, fitted easily and was delish.
Smoked lamb for Easter too
I love it. Get the sear grate for posh steaks, that´s one Weber accessory really worth having IMHO.

edited to add: I got the rotisserie thing and tried it out at the weekend. I did a chicken, which I could just as easily have done on the beercan mount, but it was absolutely bloody delicious.

Next stop suckling pig or a big pork joint on that rotisserie to play around with crackling on the bbq.

Edited by Barchettaman on Monday 27th April 16:47

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,374 posts

252 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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As it's bonus time this month I think I'll invest in the smokey mountain. Med or large is the next question

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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Mate at work just bought the Weber 57 and it's fantastic.

He has already smoked and cooked a full chicken in there smile

Apparently it has a slot where you can drop extra coals in.