British BBQ Society Forums

Hi guys, discovered your forum tonight whilst browsing for a new BBQ. I am being told from all angles that I should buy a gas bbq because it's easier to clean etc etc, but I really want to slow cook my ribs to get an authentic bbq smoked flavour.

Now, I have seen a few BBQs on Amazon and alike, and would like some advice! I have roughly £150ish to spend on a bbq, and would like some guidance from some experienced grillers!

What should I go for? I am inexperienced so will be starting from scratch, so an easy-to-operate smoker would be better.

The ones I have seen are:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001 ... XWDSLZ2J3Y

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weber-1351004-O ... B002S2OU2W

Can anyone recommend any of the above, or even suggest a better one?

Cheers guys!

Just realised the Weber might not be able to smoke... Help! I'm a noob!

You can smoke very well with the weber, it'll last longer than the Landman and will be easier to use

Excellent, I may go for that then. My Dad has had a Weber one touch for years and it is still going strong. Is the difference between the Premium and the standard the fact that you can't smoke on a One Touch? Or is there a way of doing it on both models?

Have a look at this page, give an idea: http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_tec ... setup.html

Brilliant stuff. Cheers mate. Can't want to get started!

I believe the difference is the OTP has an ash collector. You can smoke easily on the Weber, do long indirect cooking for large joints, do hot & fast traditional UK style BBQ a quality kettle BBQ is probably the most versatile BBQ out there, it doesn't have to be a Weber but they are the UK market leaders. For build quality I'd choose the Outdoorchef Charcoal kettles but they are more expensive. Buy the 57cm if you can afford it over the smaller, you can always cook less on a bigger bbq it's difficult to cook large on a smaller surface. Hva a good look at Steve Raichlin's websites he uses a kettle grill more than any other and has good (if repetitive) videos for guidance.

Satis wrote:Hi guys, discovered your forum tonight whilst browsing for a new BBQ. I am being told from all angles that I should buy a gas bbq because it's easier to clean etc etc, but I really want to slow cook my ribs to get an authentic bbq smoked flavour.

Now, I have seen a few BBQs on Amazon and alike, and would like some advice! I have roughly £150ish to spend on a bbq, and would like some guidance from some experienced grillers!

What should I go for? I am inexperienced so will be starting from scratch, so an easy-to-operate smoker would be better.

The ones I have seen are:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001 ... XWDSLZ2J3Y

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weber-1351004-O ... B002S2OU2W

Can anyone recommend any of the above, or even suggest a better one?

Cheers guys!

I would stay away from the landmann. This was the first bbq smoker i used and had real problems with it. Yes some of them were my doing being a novice at the time but i would say you defo get what you pay for!!!

The offset heat box is really hard to keep temperature in and is a NIGHTMARE to clean!

I bought a UDS (ugly drum smoker) from Ebay for £50 last summer and have had some great cooks with it i know the contridicts what i just said about you get what you pay for but it does have some major flaws. I use an awful lot of charcoal during cooks and still struggle with maintaining temps but its alot easier than the offset smoker...also the clean up is much MUCH more quicker!!! Hope this helps. Anymore questions just ask

keith157 wrote:I believe the difference is the OTP has an ash collector. You can smoke easily on the Weber, do long indirect cooking for large joints, do hot & fast traditional UK style BBQ a quality kettle BBQ is probably the most versatile BBQ out there, it doesn't have to be a Weber but they are the UK market leaders. For build quality I'd choose the Outdoorchef Charcoal kettles but they are more expensive. Buy the 57cm if you can afford it over the smaller, you can always cook less on a bigger bbq it's difficult to cook large on a smaller surface. Hva a good look at Steve Raichlin's websites he uses a kettle grill more than any other and has good (if repetitive) videos for guidance.

As a Weber kettle user, I have to agree with Keith's comments and would like to add a few comments of my own.

I think the OTP also comes supplied with the hinged grates, useful for topping up with charcoal on a long cook, it also has a temperature gauge in the lid (not sure about the Silver in the UK but not here in the USA) Do not get the smaller one - you will regret it very soon - buy the 57 cm and get it right from the start ( there is not much of a saving anyway ).

You will not cook the same volume of meat as a WSM but how often will you need to cook 50 LBS at one time? On my 57 I have cooked 14 LB turkeys with no problem. My longest smoke has been a 7.5 LB Boston Butt which ended up taking 19 hours (and tasted rather good) And you can grill burgers if you so wish!!! Don't forget the 10 year warranty on the Weber ( and they seem to be very good about it to!) Almost talked myself into buying another one - off to place an order!!!

I'm another who started on a Weber kettle, and I agree with what has already been said. The premium does come with a dustcatcher (the bit that looks like a saucepan underneath the kettle), and hinged grates, as mentioned.

It is a good jack of all trades - there *are* better specialised smokers, but the Weber can be used as both a grill for direct grilling, and a smoker; it allows you to experiment with all different kind of cooking, simply by how you arrange the charcoal.

I've since moved on, but I lent my old Weber to a good friend, who is now going through the same learning curve as I did, and having a great time with it. It is a great bit of kit to learn on.