British BBQ Society Forums

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice here.....

I'm going to get a gas BBQ to use when I want to cook something and I don't have time to fire up my XL20 and cook something over coals, having said that I will use this for grilling but I will also want to do low and slow on it too.

I'm not sure what to get though, I'm looking at spending between £150 and £250, want a good sized cooking area with a hood, not fussed about a side burner but I want to be able to get a smokey flavour.

Argos have an offer on just now and are doing an Outback 3 burner unit for £160 but I don't know what the quality's like plus it looks like there's big vents in the back that'd let any smoke out. I don't want something that'll be covered in rust by next summer. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... uctReviews

What would you guys recommend?

From what I've read Outback are a good make, as to rusting well in our climate most things will eventually fall apart, so budget for a good quality cover and or keep it in a shed or under a weatherproof shelter. With regard to letting the smoke out, the idea is to keep smoke around the food, however if there is no outlet (exhaust) for the air you don't get fresh air into the bbq so you loose combustion therefore smoke and heat. If all 3 burners can be turned on seperately then you can indirect cook as well which is excellent. Have a look at other sites for write-ups and don't rely on just Argos as a basic opinion.

I had an outback hunter for 10 years great piece of kit but now I've gone to charcoal.

Why?

Jury's still out,

Weber do gassers too. I've not used them, but might be worth a look given their track record on customer service & also their guarantees on workmanship - just check the same kind of thing applies to the gasser as it does to their charcoal grills.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'd love to go with a Weber but having just spent a small fortune on a bigger turbo, injectors, fuel pump etc for my car the Weber is out of my price range.

I've been looking for a while now and I think I'll go with the Outback, I wasn't sure about the quality as there's nowhere near me I could go to see one in the flesh but from what I can tell from here and searching the net they seem to be OK, I don't want to spend to much anyway as this will only be used when I want to BBQ something and I don't have time to wait for the coals to heat up in the smoker.

If I buy it from Argos it's less than half the advertised price (advertised price is rather high though) and I've just noticed that going in through Topcashback I get just over 4% cashback too so it's the best price I've seen and every little helps.

If it turns out to be a piece of crap I'll do a review and let you know.

Thanks for your help

From the little research I've done you should be alright with regard to build quality for the price. If you pay Rolls Royce prices you expect that level of quality. That being said I've seen more positive comments for Outback than negative. Good luck and send us plenty of pics.

Sold out at Argos unfortunately so I'll need to see what's available elsewhere.

No hurry though, had a good couple of days with the XL20, done a pork loin, brisket, chicken fillets, chicken wings and a couple of beer can chickens. Not being at work is good for my tastebuds but probably bad for my wasteline.

My thoughts exactly Keith, I'm of the opinion of buy cheap, buy twice. Maybe I'll hold of for a while and get something a bit more "Rolls Royce".

Apparantly nearly 80% of all RRs ever made are still running, don't know how that translates to BBQs though. I do remember a guy on TV a few years ago still using one of the original Webers, the big chunky ones made from marine bouys quality or what