Gone local

[Kooky]

No looking back now, we've been and gone and done it. After coughing our way through Christmas afternoon thanks to grilling in the kitchen, we've bought a Weber Q120, which I believe is a Q100 with an extra tall lid and thermometer.

I planned to buy one before Christmas, when we cancelled our flights, and my menu was based on having one, but Neo knew better. Wait 'til Boxing Day for the sales, his colleagues told him. (Um, but we want it to use now )

Of course the fact that he wanted one with gizmos (naturally) meant we had to go to a specialist supplier and pay exactly the same as we would have done on Christmas Eve.

So he's cooking dinner tonight.

(Check out the cursor on here http://www.weberbbq.com.au/weberq.htm )

[Pinklepurr]

Ooh, you will love it K! We love our Q300 (that's the big version like yours with the thermometer etc). Best thing we ever bought. It does take a little bit of getting used to but once you do...yummmm

[Kooky]

Last Christmas at the lake cottage we used the barbie quite a lot so am hoping we will do likewise with our own. (I still can't get used to having a kitchen in my lounge, hate the post-cooking smells.)

Now I guess we need to go buy a gas bottle

[Fat Bob]

So buying a American barbeque means you've become an Australian?

Solid performers these models are, the thermostat mean you can use it as an oven.

[Morrolan]

we bought a Weber Q200 as a going away present to ourselves for use in Singapore... looking forward to using it a lot.

[Fresh Mint]

A gas braai?

What is the point?

[Morrolan]

less hassle, no ashes to dispose of.

[Fat Bob]

If you're cooking for a load of people, charcoal is great. If you are cooking a steak for yourself or a couple, then gas is the way to go.

Also, a lot less messy in apartment buildings.

[Scrummy Mummy]

Can Neo give Scummy Daddy lessons in how to cook on a barbie? He needs to learn how to be an Aussie man........

[Kooky]

Neo learned quickly as soon as we moved to Singapore, SM. He usually offered to wield the tongs as he realised that it was the easiest way to avoid making mind-numbing small talk at parties

[Fat Bob]

Cooking at a barbeque/braai is very easy.

1: Turn the meat only once: steaks, chops etc. need no more than one turn. Cook one side, then the other. (Sausages, drumsticks and skewars need a little more, you may want to part-bake the chicken prior to cooking)

2: You do not need the grill as hot as it can go. Let charcoal grills cool a little rather than putting the meat on directly after the flames die, let gas grills warm up to the right temp.

3: Leave the juices in. Do not press down on the steak/chop, do not prick the sausage or drumstick.

4: Leave the top down/on: let the meat cook from both sides, not just one.

In my view, taste the meat, not the sauce. This is especially so on good pieces of meat, though I can understand why some people may want to use sauces on the grill when poorer bits of meat are used. That'll teach you for buying your meat at Cold Storage! This is also a health tip: many grilling sauces add salt to improve the taste.

Done!

[Fuzz]

Kook, I have the Q100 and liking it a lot. Welcome to the Weber family ... haha.

[Kooky]

So what kind of beef is best for barbequeing?

We got some topside the other night and I have to say, as somebody that doesn't really like red meat, it was bloody good. Neo managed to get it a bit too medium for our tastes but not a bad first attempt on a new barbie.

I'll be sticking mainly to fish and seafood in future but I imagine he'll go all caveman and want his meat.

[Fat Bob]

I tend to go for tenderlion/eye fillet. However, that chick mentions medium rare to medium, I think she's talking cobblers. Rare is the way to go, and don't wrap bacon around it! The eye fillet to me is not that fatty, comes in about 3" round and the full length (if you go to a butcher and see them cut it) is about 18-24". I tend to have cuts about 2" thick for throwing on the barbeque.

As you can see from Wiki then the cuts of beef can be called different things in different places.

Preparation is important, get the steak out the fridge for a good while (30+ mins) before you are due to cook. If in a rush, place it on something metal at room temperature for at least 5-10 mins. Obviously cover if you kitties have expensive meat tastes.

You can jazz this cut up easily with a slice of Blue Stilton or Roquefort placed on top after the turn, or some foie gras fried in a pan/heated metal dish on the barbeque and served at the time (Tournedos Rossini style). But it's rather nice on it's own with a dash of English mustard.

This is a really easy meal to impress people with, throw together with salad and learn the cooking time on the steaks, and even better, learn how to cook both a medium and a rare steak and serve at the same time, and their panties will be dropping.

I tend not to go for large lumps of any meat: 120-180g is enough, anything over 200g is just too much, and you'll be paying an arm and a leg (or if it's cheap, you'll be getting poor quality meat).

[canuck]

T-bones, Rib Eye, Sirloin, Burgers, Chicken, Leg of Lamb (for long term users), Ribs (finished off after slow roasting), Kebabs with any kind of meat, peppers, onions, mushrooms (the bigger the mushroom the better as they cook the fastest)

[avatarless]

So what kind of beef is best for barbequeing?

We got some topside the other night and I have to say, as somebody that doesn't really like red meat, it was bloody good. Neo managed to get it a bit too medium for our tastes but not a bad first attempt on a new barbie.

I'll be sticking mainly to fish and seafood in future but I imagine he'll go all caveman and want his meat.

Porterhouse, Kooky. Aged. But again I have to remind you that what you call bbq is really just grilling. BBQ involves wood smoke and slow cooking at low temps. If you can find one of these in Oz, you'll be all set: http://www.biggreenegg.com/. The best cut of beef for smoking is brisket, of course.

[Burbage]

But again I have to remind you that what you call bbq is really just grilling. BBQ involves wood smoke and slow cooking at low temps. If you can find one of these in Oz, you'll be all set: http://www.biggreenegg.com/. The best cut of beef for smoking is brisket, of course.

This is the American definition, and is essentially what we'd call roasting.

In English and Australian, barbecuing refers to cooking food over a high heat and grilling refers to cooking food under a high heat. The smoke is incidental. If you use charcoal you get woodsmoke flavour naturally, no matter whether you are fast cooking or slow cooking. If you use heat beads (which is the only thing I can get here) you have to add wood to the fire to get any flavour at all. If you use gas, you might as well be cooking on the stove in the kitchen.

[Fat Bob]

If you use gas, you might as well be cooking on the stove in the kitchen.

I disagree. If only because of the smoke and smells can overwhelm the kitchen.

Though I would like to do a taste test between charcoal, wood and gas grilled meat.

[Burbage]

If you use gas, you might as well be cooking on the stove in the kitchen.

I disagree. If only because of the smoke and smells can overwhelm the kitchen.

Though I would like to do a taste test between charcoal, wood and gas grilled meat.

Well if you want to burn the food then cooking outside is preferable. Or you could drag your stove outside. In fact the 'outdoor kitchen' is now very popular for exactly that reason. The reason you must cook outside with charcoal and wood, is of course, because of the smoke from the fire, not from burning meat.

Gas grilled meat has no flavour except for the meat, which, in itself, is a quality that you may want. So let's not knock it. You can buy stuff to add smoke to gas barbecues I think. I have to add wood to the heat beads which are also completely flavourless. I love the charcoal flavour, pity we can't get it here.

[Fat Bob]

Hmmmm...fat from sausages make smoke, lots of it. Hence I prefer to gas grill them outside rather than do them in the pan or under a grill.

[avatarless]

Well, 'bar-b-que' the phrase is of caribbean origin, so I say the american definition is closest. Wood smoke is essential for the flavor- you can't get much wood smoke flavor from a quick sizzle over charcoal. Gotta be slow cooked. Texas bbq is America's greatest contribution to the world.

[Kooky]

Do you think I give a crap whether or not gas barbeques are considered real barbeques? My priority is not having a sofa that smells of stale food.

Thanks all, for info on meat.

edit: too many nots. I blame the Veuve I had for breakfast.

[baloo]

You make a post about a BBQ and ask for tips. Did you really think the men wouldn't start a debate on the best BBQ techniques ?

[Fat Bob]

Well, 'bar-b-que' the phrase is of caribbean origin, so I say the american definition is closest. Wood smoke is essential for the flavor- you can't get much wood smoke flavor from a quick sizzle over charcoal. Gotta be slow cooked. Texas bbq is America's greatest contribution to the world.

You are right, it does come from the Caribbean. And Wiki says:

'The origins of both the activity of barbecue cooking and the word itself are somewhat obscure. Most etymologists believe that barbecue derives ultimately from the word barabicu found in the language of both the Timucua of Florida and the Taíno people of the Caribbean, which then entered European languages in the form barbacoa. The word translates as "sacred fire pit."[2] The word describes a grill for cooking meat, consisting of a wooden platform resting on sticks.'

So it is a grill. Ner ner ner ner ner!

[Tack]

And just to be confusing, what used to be called grilling here in UK (as Burb said ie cooking under heat) can now mean cooking on one of those griddle/hotplate things that go on the hob eg Jamie Oliver's recipes.

And BBQ smoke flavour has to be wood originated! Toying with buying Mr T an outdoor gas cooker ( ) but I have been for years, when it comes down to it just can't...