Reccommend me a barbecue!

[nicole333]

I'm fed up with buying a new charcoal BBQ every year, only for it to be trashed and not looked after. So I'm contemplating spending out on a gas BBQ in the hope I'll look after it.

I tried a gas one on holiday last year and loved the fact I didn't have to wait for it to be ready. Are they really so much better? How about the cleaning afterwards?

Do you love your BBQ enough to reccommend I buy it?

Thanks

We've got a weber charcoal BBQ. It's fab - lasted for 5 years so far. Very sturdy and robust. Have managed to cook whole chickens on it!

Not sure about gas - feels like cheating. Surely part of the fun of a BBQ is in the preparing and getting the coals warmed up

Love the convenience of a gas BBQ but it just doesn't taste of BBQ does it, you might aswell cook under your grill in the kitchen!

Weber charcoal BBQs all the way, yes they cost a bit but they really do last.

And another vote for the weber charcoal BBQ! :)

If you make the investment, and commit to looking after it then you will get lots of good service from it.

The good thing with the Weber kettle (not the really tiny one though) is you can set it up so the heat is indirect and do things like Iggly's whole chicken or maybe a small leg of lamb. Mmmm....

I have a cobb bbq. You can use cobb stones in it which are a type of fuel made from coconut husks. THe bbq can be used only a few minutes after the cobb stones are lit so no faffing around waiting. They can be ordered from Lakeland and the reviews on there are pretty positive. The only downside that I've found is that the non stick coating on the hot plate isn't particularly non stick, in fact marinades just seem to get glued onto it. You may also find it a bit small if you have a large family.

Oooo Bizzee a leg of lamb sounds yum we did the "beer butt" chicken where you stick a can of beer in the chicken then cook for a couple hours. Mmmmmm.

Thanks for the comments so far. I'd like to balance it with hearing from those of you who have gone gas!

We have a charcoal Weber BBQ and would highly recommend it. It's not massive but we've catered for 10+ people without any problems.

I went to a friend's house last week for a BBQ and she had a gas one. I hated it! It was very hard to regualte the heat, and whenever fat dropped into it, it would catch fire and burn the food.

Weber are great - go for gas as you can use them all the time. Don't have to worry about cleaning the oven!

Whilst I agree that you can't beat a charcoal BBQ for flavour, we bought a cheap gas BBQ from Aldi a couple of years ago and it's been fab for mid week bbq's when there isn't enough time for a 'proper' BBQ.

We use it a couple of times a week in the summer and it was about £60.

That's a good point, gas is very handy for quick dinners - I often cooked steaks for the two of us on a gas bbq (even in 3ft of snow - we lived in Canada!).

well i got my weber charcoal bbq www.bbqworld.co.uk/bbqworld/weber-charcoal-bbq.asp online, surprisingly, i have been using it for 6 years now, never had any problems

Anything made from cast iron is very durable and not expensive, I found the gas ones a waste of time and the thin metal ones do not last more than a couple of years.

have a look at this cast iron type, they come in various sizes and double up as a patio heater and can burn charcoal, wood or coal depending on what you want to use it for
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bk-85cm-100-Cast-Iron-Chimenea-Swing-Out-Grill-/261081390218?pt=UK_Home_Garden_BBQ_s_Accessories_LE&hash=item3cc9a9dc8a

We have an outback gas bbq and a weber charcoal bbq. The gas is handy if we have a crowd round especially for fast cooking items and we can do indirect cooking on the weber for things like pulled pork shoulder or roasts. The taste is better on the Weber but you can still use your gas as a smoker by putting a tinfoil tray inside with some wood chips, closing the lid and letting things smoke.

We have a Son of Hibatchi. Small,but lights very quickly. It comes with a flameproof bag to stash it in, so you can BBQ out and about and then sling it in the boot of the car. We use it loads as it's so convenient - pop it on the outside table and away we go. Would like something bigger for entertaining though.

If you can afford it, you should get a big green egg (or a kamado joe which I've been told is just as good but half the price). It's as quick and easy as gas but it's a "proper" bbq. We love ours and use it all year round.

We bought a weber charcoal one, I absolutely HATED it, it got too hot, used too much charcoal , I could write a list on why it was so crap. I must've used it 10 or so times and gave up, we now have a lovely gas one with lava rocks so it most definitely isn't just like using a gas cooker and I LOVE it! We use it all year round, it's fantastic,I'm would never go back to charcoal.

Sorry, our gas one is an Outback.

Same as motherstongue. Outback gas for use in the week or when I cook; smaller Webber for long, leisurely Sundays

It's very easy to clean, although beat to do it immediately after, not leave it to fester between uses.

We've recently got a Napoleon BBQ, very impressed with its quality. Hubby is hoping to fire it up soon!

sorry forgot to say... ended up buying it from this online shop (used them a few times now) all good. www.bbqs2u.co.uk/94-napoleon-gas-bbqs
Hope that helps