Outdoor cooking - Barbecues, Barbecue, BBQs, BBQ, Smokers, Grills. And Ribs.

I love grilling whatever veg you have (courgettes, mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, onion, aubergine etc all work really well), ensuring a proper char on them then adding straight into a flavoured olive oil bath (chilli, garlic, whatever herbs you have but coriander, parsley and mint works very well) - the veg takes on the flavours and is amazing on its own or as a side to meat/fish...

Mackerel is lovely in little foil parcels on the bbq, I like a ginger, chilli, coriander, soy, sesame oil mix, you don't get the crispy skin but you get perfectly cooked, moist flavoursome fish. Obviously is also amazing just grilled straight for that skin, but it can make an absolute mess of your grill....

Did some amazing bream on the bbq last year, just slashed and sat in the same flavours as above, was so tender and delicious!

This book is pretty good. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charred-complete-vegetarian-grilling-barbecue/dp/178713427X/ref=asc_df_178713427X/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=264204147992&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16151330135635881620&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045879&hvtargid=pla-759209916177&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

you can see some example recipes here

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/vegetarian-bbq-recipes-charred-genevieve-taylor-aubergine-sweet-potato-quinoa-a8955756.html

I like grilling fish on cedar planks, you don't get as much char, but do get some good flavours.

Can you talk me through this? Is this like the skandi way of doing salmon on planks of wood angled in towards a fire that I've seen at southbank christmas market before?

I just bought from cedar planks online, soak for a couple of hours in water to stop them burning up, then I whacked some fish on, and put it over indirect heat, again to stop the cedar burning, worked well and gave a nice flavour.
Something along these lines https://www.thespruceeats.com/grilling-fish-on-a-plank-334339

Perfect, thank you - will def be trying that!

Cheers for the various suggestions. I don't tend to do fish indoors often as I'm not keen on the smell (and we have no kitchen door) so keen to give barbecuing a try.

I grill whole fish all the time in summer. Silver Bream is my favourite. The flattish profile makes for it being easy to gauge during cooking. Will def try the above marinade suggestion.

The Weber Go Anywhere is fantastic. It is amazing how well it works, and because it is small it is relatively quick to get cooking too. Having also used a Smokey Joe I would say the Go Anywhere is streets ahead of it in terms of what it is capable of.

Managed to snag an Aldi Kamado in the 2 mins they were in stock this morning.

Might even arrive by next weekend.

Apologies in advance for it raining for the next month solid.

Chapeau! Got on the page through the queue at 8.01 and they were already sold out!

They seem to be back for sale if you're quick...

Lfgss fire heads, talk to me.
I recently dug a little fire pit at the allotment, about 2x2ft and 8” deep. Works perfect for burning crap and a cosy campfire but thinking about cooking options.
I guess my options are: cowboy tripod with hot plate arrangement or build a littl stone/brick wall and pop a grill over.
Pros and cons of each? Will be just for veg and the occasional kettle I’m sure.
Fuel will vary from allotment crap to decent firewood.

Upside down supermarket basket. Trolley on its side for parties.

Nice. Job done!

How do people feel about the cheap offset smoker offered by aldi/argos?

I feel like this is a summer project I want to get into ...

A lot of the cheaper ones are challenged by air leaks from bad seals / wide mfg tolerances. It means you end up constantly chasing temp as they can fluctuate wildly. There are ways of sealing things off to improve things, but there are limitations.

You will not get amazing results, but as a learning exercise it is certainly an inexpensive way to try things out.

Just went on and got the last one! Reviews look pretty good and can’t argue with the price, looking forward to giving it a blast!

I got pretty much this exact smoker off Amazon for about £50 6 Years ago and had no real clue what I was doing. Tried just using wood in it and temp just yo-yo’d all over the place and was a nightmare so it’s been rusting away in a corner, then I saw this video on the tube and I’m wondering.

https://youtu.be/NGucNJ67_wg

that's interesting/helpful!

what is the next best option to experiment with slow/low/bbq meat cooking?

wait for a weber smokey mountain to appear on FB marketplace?

You can do lots with a Weber kettle - that is what I use.

Best book to start with is Meathead although you can also glean a lot of information through his website https://amazingribs.com/

I highly recommend the book - great section in there on various BBQ set ups that don't require a money gun.

ooh interesting. will check out the book!

was also looking at something like this:
https://www.barbequick.com/grillguide/product/bar-be-quick-smoker-grill-barbecue/

What @Aroogah said, pick up a used Weber kettle and start experimenting... Mine was only ten bux at a garage sale... You can cook any thing, any way you want in that thing...

cool! I know nothing -- and thought the key was topping up charcoal/wood which was difficult in a traditional grill.

have ordered the meatheads book