So Many Choices of Awesome BBQs

Any general items, polls
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Davo
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Posts: 5330
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:44 am
Location: Albury NSW on the mighty Murray River

So Many Choices of Awesome BBQs

Post by Davo »

Top of the day to you fellow Aussie BBQers,

You remember the days of the earlier BBQ forum, there wasn't much of quality BBQs around and for BBQ enthusiasts such as we were and still are, it came down to mostly what Weber had to offer in their Kettle & Q range, and we also had Beefeater, not to be confused by Beef master (although of good quality these days) from a well known BBQ store but many of the Gassers that were available left a lot to be admired, yes there were a few that popped up that were a fair bit better than the normal but recently while on a loose end and trying to get out in amongst this crap weather because I can't really BBQ in it as I have no cover where I am.
One major thing I've noticed and especially from the BBQs Galore store is that the quality of BBQs in general are of top notch quality and some brands having a bit of an edge over the other for a concept that no other brand has...but overall the quality you can get in many and most brands today are pretty darn good.
That is until they are used when you can notice differences in performance like hot and cool spots on the grill, the way that flame burners behave is a biggie....I once had a Masport that would regularly flare up even though on inspection, the flame tamers were supposed to do what they were designed for, but failed miserably, it was then I sold it to buy another Weber Q. There were also a few Bunnings BBQs that almost burnt a house down if ever used the Weber way due to the way they were ventilated. Of course the majority were only a roasting hood, not a grilling hood for sure!!

Then there were the other aspects of BBQs, the Charcoal & Pellet varieties, man have things progressed over the years, while most of us compared what we could do on a Weber Kettle, WSM or a Komado type BBQ, then entered the Pellet cooker.
Captain Cook, Commander Cody and Myself were able to get some of the first and last American Made Traegers, the first Pellet grills in the business, they were the typical 3 speeders, smoke/med/Hi not like the multi temp controlled thermostats today with WiFi control etc etc, then we all remember the Yoder Maniac (they are actually good but super expensive machines) and now so many brands that pushed the originals like Traeger, Yoder, GMG into a huge group of Traeger knock offs like the Z grills, Louisiana grills and a few others, there was also a fair bit of skuldugery amongst Pellet grill dealers/importers but not only from the main players but some that came in afterwards including major warehouse providers. It's a very competitive and growing market and so are the
different brands of pellets on the market now.
Komado grills are still popular and decent quality but still super heavy.

Which now brings me to the newer Weber stores that have been springing up all over the place as apposed to Weber Specialist dealers....when I say that, it's that Weber specialist dealers were also able to sell other Brands, usually Meat Eater in their stores.
But the Weber Stores are ONLY Weber and what a massive range Weber have in in their Inventory these days....OMG, what choices, what ranges that are available.

Who'd ever thought that Weber would bring out a metal Komado or Pellet grill and what we were waiting for for years but they hesitated too long, the 57Cm WSM....well and truly in my sights....I'd really love one but could I justify it. I only bought a Master touch Plus Kettle last year (deep ocean blue colour I found in the Yamba store of all places) and I hardly use it coz I don't want to dirty it :lol: I bought this in place of the 18.5inch WSM I sold a couple of years ago...huge mistake but I was thinking at the time of moving into an apartment and that never happened.

I've looked at all the bullet smokers around today including Pro-Q's, and a few that Bunnings sells and only WSM I would touch even at double the price due to their feel, the solidness of their metal, not tinny cans like the Pro-Qs sorry but that's how I rate them, I reckon Fornetto's are better built then Pro-Qs. This however is only my opinion not of wide opinion.....

The 57CM WSM now has broken the $1,000 range now at $1,049 but as I said, the feel compared to others is 2nd to none. Yeah I know, other people's budget yeah, and they basically do the same job but want something that will basically outlast me and I can hand down to the most enthusiastic BBQer in my family.

Offsets have also been popular for those harder core smokers and those who cook for larger groups, Hark and Char-Grill have done well from this concept but they are more exxy to run and more hands on but the results are awesome. They take a lot more wood/or charcoal to run them too.

The Weber Gas BBQ range just keeps getting bigger and bigger.....Weber Q's, the new Traveller, Spirit, Genesis and Summits are all great quality and the Genesis now doesn't sound expensive these days compared to other brand available today, many brands now have broken the $3-6K range of Gassers.

So, in the time many of us were in this BBQ forum back in 2008 and onwards, there's probably no industry that has grown to the speed of the Australian BBQ Market, the warranties on equipment are very good and is a good guide that many brands have now good confidence in their models of BBQs, the types of Grills, smokers & pits have exploded in the last 15 years.....Aussies are now nearly as spoilt for choice and their American counterparts...it's awesome to have this choice because back in 2008, there wasn't much at all.....This is just a post of the overall changes we've seen in the Australian BBQ scene. Weber is about to bring out some new colours too to celebrate 75 years in the business.
You only have to walk into a BBQ store these days to see the amount of space dedicated to BBQ accessories, incredible what's available now, from rottiseries, to fish flippers, gloves, packets of smoking woods the amount of charcoal types and briquettes available is so much better than ever, books, rubs & sauces, the list is awesome.

The BBQ Competitions in Australia have promoted BBQ at lot over the past 8-10 years and much of the products available today are a result of many brands upping their quality controls to get noticed in this growing market. But as we have just came out of the 2 year long Covid pandemic, people not able to go out, they were saving money and the BBQ market, especially online was going bananas.

Oh yeah...here's a tip....if ya going out browsing in BBQ stores....NEVER TAKE THE MRS ;D ;D ;D

Cheers

Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
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