Hi my name is Paul, and by way of intro my BBQ background is as follows….
Always have had an interest in BBQ-ing even in the Netherlands (where I was born). Given that nature isn’t as kind as it is here in Australia the chances to hone my BBQ skills were limited.
After arriving in Australia some 10 years ago I quickly took up improving my BBQ skills with the help of my friends (in particular 1 kiwi friend; you know who you are Clay) who was instrumental in teaching me the finer details of BBQ etiquete. I started off with a modest 3-burner hardware shop hand-me-down which served me well as a beginner, it didn’t have a hood and the cast-iron plate was horrible to use but it served me well as a starter.
A few years later I progressed to a Weber kettle as the charcoal (well in those days by using briquettes) flavour I find is tastier than using a gasser.
I did learn that getting a Weber started is a takes a bit more preparation than a gasser (about 45-55 minutes) hence for weekdays the little 3-burner was still used.
Whilst the Weber kettle got me onto the charcoal trail the weekday BBQ’s really needed a more versatile BBQ hence I ditched the ‘ol 3-burner (which was getting a bit rusty anyway) and got myself a 4-burner Weber Summit Silver (has anyone else notices that hardly anyone ever does discounts on Weber??), anyway I got it though David Jones who happened to have a 20% discount on at the time…woooohooo that saved me some of my hard-earned money. So this now allowed me to have a decent gasser (with smokin pouch) and easy weekday BBQ’s.
On the weekends though I found that having a kettle Weber (also having surfed the intenet extensively (who doesn’t?) didn’t allow for Low and Slow BBQ-ing and that actually what I was mainly doing was grilling and sometimes a roast (which is still done at reasonably high temps). I was super well behaved (and a good boy) and got a birthday present in the form of a Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) ….WOW for a fairly cheap price you can get an amazingly versatile BBQ.
After getting the WSM the kettle was hardly used anymore as it can get to higher temps AND has as much room as a kettle AND can do Low and Slow smoke flavoured BBQ’s. Just to comment on the “smoke” flavoured mainly with the introduction of my WSM have I started to use smoking chips; don’t get me started on chunks as I still (after years!) have not been able to find a reliable source of smoking chunks; someone suggested to go talk to some of the farmers with apple trees/cherry trees etc to get some chunks maybe? anyway I digress…
Another item I did acquire was a BBQ guru, this electronic gadget regulates the amount of air/oxygen flowing into the WSM thereby controlling the temperature (up to 400 Fahrenheit). This little gadget is one of my favourites as it takes care of all the fiddling and monitoring of the BBQ temp (for hours and hours, really good if you have an overnight cook and you want to get some sleep!).
Having cooked for a couple of years with these 3 BBQ’s I came across the concept of ceramic cooking and decided to research the wonderful world of these babies. At that point in time there were no real ceramic cookers for sale in Australia (well there was 1 BGE for sale in Barbeques Galore but when I enquired it was a one-off with no further stock. Without going into too much detail (that’s for another blog story) I chose the Komodo Kamado (KK) which is in my opinion the best ceramic BBQ currently out there and had it shipped to Australia and it is my current workhorse. The food I can get out of my Aussie Blue (yeah I named my BBQ) is out of this world and it is a pleasure to cook on weekdays + weekends.
My current BBQ-ing would be 80% on my KK and 20% on my Weber gasser.
Well that’s a bit of history I’ll be reporting my BBQ adventures on this blog (and my website and forum) and hopefully I can impart some of my lessons learned on someone else??
Links mentioned in this blog:
Weber: http://www.weberbbq.com.au/barbecues.htm
Komodo Kamado: http://www.komodokamado.com/
BBQ Guru gadget: http://www.thebbqguru.com/
Aussie BBQ Forum: http://www.aussiebbq.info/forum/
PS I am not affiliated with any of these brands however after using them feel confident recommending them 100%!!
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Paul, just took a tour of your blog, I like it. Looking forward to reading about more of your cooking adventures.
Would like to know more about, selecting, buying of your BBQ meats, and seafood.
Thanks for your comments; I haven’t been able to have any BBQ adventures due to a small injury to my leg which means I can only “hobble” around; Intend to do a cook on the long weekend though (Queens birthday)! I will definitely do a blog on “purchasing” my BBQ meats/seafood in the near future.
Just read through the site and I must say it is very informative and well laid out. Congrats on a great site. I’ll be looking forward to reading the updates as you do them. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Jim, like the look of your site too!
Those armadillo eggs look like something I would enjoy!
Your commentary and food ventures are fun to read about! I have already bookmarked your blog/site. Love to hear how you use the KK. I’ve had mine one year, and every time is a great experience.