Child Item

Best way to get into charcoal BBQ

I want to get into charcoal cooking. I've always cooked on a gas BBQ and won't be ditching my Beafeater anytime soon but I want to try charcoal for bigger pieces of meat when we host friends. Can anyone give some tips for a newcomer? I'm a little torn between getting an old-style kettle BBQ and something a little fancier like a Char-griller. Also, where is the best place to get fuel and how long does it tend to last?

Find more posts tagged with

Barbecue

Comments

Jason

Hi @Baz,

I'm sure Workshop community members will be keen to share their advice and experiences. This might also be a great opportunity for new user @MoonshineBen to share his amazing BBQ knowledge.

Here's a couple of previous discussions you also might be interested in:

New BBQ purchase - talk me out of buying gas

Slow food

Thanks,

Jason

Kermit

Take the plunge, you won't regret it. The taste difference can be amazing. You don’t need to spend a lot. But as previously mentioned, there’s a couple of extra things I’d recommend you get to make life easier. Definitely get a BBQ Starter – basically a cylinder with lots of holes for air circulation which makes it really quick and easy to get your charcoal (or heat beads if you must) nice and hot so you can get cooking quicker. Similarly, grab a Looftlighter, which are a bit like a high-powered hair dryer to get the fire cranking. You don’t want to use firelighters and have your food tasting like lighter fluid.

MartyH

A kettle is a cheap way to get started and you can get some great results. But if you think you do want to do slow cooks regularly using charcoal, consider a ceramic kamado cooker. Because they are really well insulated, they don't need much fuel and stay hot for a really, really long time. Not only does this make them much cheaper to use but it also makes it easier for you to regulate the temperature (and therefore cook) which you might find really important as a beginner.

MoonshineBen

Hey Baz

Charcoal cooking is the way to go. Since I've been cooking over coals, I havent really looked back.

A kettle is a good way to start, as you have the option of both hot and fast grilling over the coals, or indirect low and slow and smoking by creating heat zones.

Weber kettles, or the like are great, and there are also things like the ProQ. You want to make sure you get one with a decent thick wall to hold the heat, and porcelain enamel. One of my earlier smokers got so hot once that it peeled the powder coat enamel off the inside, which isn't good for anyone....

I use combinations of fuel depending on the cook. Heatbeads are pretty consistent given the uniformity, and I find I can get about 5 or 6 hours of consistent heat out of them (about half a bag). They're also pretty cheap.

I also use lump charcoal, which is a little harder as far as consistency goes, but can often burn longer and hotter. You can also add some chunks of fruit woods to smoke with as well.

Good luck!

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/1623#Comment_1623

@MoonshineBen

Let me extend a very warm welcome to Workshop. It's great to have you join the community. I hope you find it informative, inspirational and plenty of fun.

Many thanks for joining in the discussion and making your first post. I understand you have a great deal of barbecue experience, knowledge and skill that you can share with the community. I'm certainly looking forward to reading more of your posts soon.

Thanks again,

Jason

Baz

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I saw one of these "in the flesh" the other day - looked amazing. http://chargrilleraustralia.com.au/products/akorn-kamado-kooker-2/ Apparently they are very well insulated as @MartyH said.

Great tips about fuel @MoonshineBen. Many thanks for your help.

Baz

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/1836#Comment_1836

Still haven't done anything about this! But I must get to it. Am tempted by the new Heston BBQs as they self-start so you don't have to mess around with a chimney. Expensive though!

Jason

It's been really interesting to see the rise of charcoal cooking in Australia in recent years. Gas will always remain popular because of its convenience, but we're becoming a lot more adventurous with "low and slow" cooking. There's now a great range of smokers available in Australia, and even hybrid models that allow you to cook with gas or charcoal.

If you'd like to read more about @MoonshineBen's story and read more of his cooking tips, check out Ben's profile story on the blog.

It would also be great if you could share your tips for getting into charcoal cooking by replying below.

Jason

MartyH

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/3812#Comment_3812

This is another option to dip your toe into the water - https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/innovative-products/cook-with-charcoal-in-your-gas-bbq

MoonshineBen

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/3812#Comment_3812

Cheers Jason, it's been a while since I've been in here! Great to see cooking with charcoal growing so rapidly, and more and more products popping up.

The competition circuit has come to a close for the year, pleased to say I was part of a winning team in the penultimate round!

MartyH

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64098#Comment_64098

Not charcoal, but this could be a very easy way to get into smoking. It uses wood pallets and you just set the temp you want and away you go. Just hit stores apparently

https://www.bunnings.com.au/pit-boss-grill-and-smoker-bbq_p0037585

MitchellM

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94967#Comment_94967

@MartyH On a side-note all NSW, QLD, VIC Bunnings stores will be doing BBQ charcoal and gas demonstrations over the next two weekends for the footy finals. Might be worth giving your local store a call if your interested in getting into charcoal BBQ'ing and seeing if there is a demonstration going on. I know I'll be cooking up some BBQ smoked chicken wings at my store.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/113971#Comment_113971

I just posted this in another discussion, but thought I'd add it here as well given the price tag of $219 makes it a reasonably affordable way to get into charcoal.

My birthday was just before Christmas, and a bunch of the extended family got together and gave me a Char-Griller Akorn Junior. I'm looking forward to throwing the first brisket in it - hopefully on the weekend! Seeing it's nice and small, I think it will be fun to do some experimentation. I might need some tips from @MoonshineBen on some smaller cuts of meat to play with. So far I'm thinking brisket, ribs, chicken wings and beef cheeks, but I'd welcome more suggestions.

Jason

Char-Griller Akorn Junior Kamado Charcoal BBQ

MoonshineBen

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124698#Comment_124698

Very nice mate! THere's a lot of people cooking on these now, seem quite versatile.

How was everyone's Xmas and NEw Year? Keen to see the cooks everyone had.

We had a couple of great ones, we tackled our version of the McRib (because McDonald's one is rubbish), in response to a competition on the ABA page. Pretty happy with how this turned out. It's basically a deboned slab of ribs, topped with some onions, cheese, mayo, then some chopped pork belly, then more cheese, onion and pickles, then crackling. And it's amazing.

We also tried our first porchetta. This wasn't a proper one, this was an all belly cut, stuffed with sage, garlic, chilli and a couple of other things. Next time we will be going to whole hog (pun...) and rolling the loin into the middle of it. But taste and crackle on this was out of this world.

alang

the ghar - grill Akorn jr would be a good charcoal grill to start with, it has 3 layers of insulation so if you have kids around not going to be super hot to touch and retains the heat pretty good. have been using the heat beads lump charcoal in the gray bag good value for money and starting the charcoals with the ozito charcoal starter is so easy or just use the samba cardboard fire lighters. to save on charcoal once you finished cooking just close the vents and let it go out and next time just top up and light

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/5309#Comment_5309

Thanks for joining in the discussion @alang. You'll have to add to this long-running discussion and share what you've been cooking lately - https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Outdoor/Ideas-for-your-next-barbecue/m-p/7180

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Workshop community. We're really pleased you could join us and look forward to reading about your projects and plans. Feel free to post whenever you have something to share or need a hand with anything around the house and garden.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/5309#Comment_5309

Hi all,

As this has been a very popular discussion, just thought I would add a new video from the Bunnings team - How to choose a smoker.

Hope you find it helpful. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand with anything. We'd love to see your barbecue set-up at home and what you've been cooking lately.

Jason

Child Item