New BBQ Purchase

GASSERS, LPG OR NATURAL
Davo
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Location: Albury NSW on the mighty Murray River

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Davo »

Drive thru Australia on Channel 7 either on the Sat arvo or Sunday arov depending where you are....not sure on Perth's programming. :)

He has another project coming up this year about Farmers Markets...that's going to be in Canberra or something..jeez them buggers in the ACT are taking over :shock: so that'll be interesting.

Cheers

Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
venno
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:49 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by venno »

Captain Cook wrote:Venno

How many people do you normally cook for.
How often do you cook on the BBQ
How many do you cook for occasionally
How often will you cook with your new BBQ/BBQs
What type of dishes to you cook on the BBQ
What style of cooking do you do. Have you tried hood down, charcoal, smoking etc
What is your skill level
Do you want to try different dishes apart from the traditional steak & snags
Have you tried barbecuing over charcoal

Cheers
Hi Captain

I normally cook for 2.
If I had a better bbq than my Downunder I would cook 4x week in summer and 2x in winter on avg.
I occasionly cook for 6 but would love to have more people over every now and then, current bbq is the limiting factor.
I primarily cook steak followed by snags/chops, skewers. But I would love to try roasts and other types of cooking.
I cook primarily hood up but am amenable to hood down with a decent bbq. I have never cooked on anything other than gas.
My skill level is avg I guess.

For me steak is the number one reason for bbq and I always grill it. I love a true medium rare with a decent sear on the outside.

Although I don't cook it, I love going to my brother in laws place when he pulls out his weber kettle and does turkey/chicken/pork over the heat beads. Its a long and daunting process watching him do it and theyre not always a success story, but when they are it tastes fantastic.

Someone suggested a Kamado cooker, I never heard of em so I started researching, they do sound intriguing being able to sear stakes or slow cook. Are they difficult to master though?
venno
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:49 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by venno »

Bojangles wrote:Hi all and venno,

What do I like about it? Its solid, easy to clean, gets to a really high heat for steaks, low heat for sausages, chicken thighs, lamb chops etc and roasts are great. They designed with roasting in mind with a double skinned hood and firebox. Im not sure if that makes any difference to roasting but is good to know. Im told it also prevents tea-stains.

I would have gone the Elite with RQT but was under strict budgets conditions imposed by the family CFO. I was comforted knowing I could upgrade to RQT later anyway if I want to. That said, the ceramic briquettes are great, when they get too much gunk, you just flip them over and burn it off- no cleaning, or very little anyway.

Very happy with the Turbo purchase, can highly recommend. Hope this helps.

Hi Bojangles

Thanks for the info, I have a similar train of thought when it comes to the new Turbo range. I do like their construction and design but am a little uncertain about all stainless cooking surfaces. Interesting comments about the briquettes, they never mentioned that aspect in store. Its good to hear that your bbq is equally adept at hi and lo heat cooking as I would like to try some roasting and hood down cooking.

How would you rate the ease of cleaning and maintainence of the exterior?
venno
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:49 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by venno »

Thanks for the continuing info guys.

Its helping me narrow my decision in some respects but broadening my horizons in others :o

Is charcoal bbq'ing as hard as it looks to setup the coals and get the heat levels right, or does it just seem that way to a newbie?
Captain Cook
Posts: 3968
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:49 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Captain Cook »

Venno
We will get Green Nigel or others to jump in with details on Kamados, also check out the posts in ceramics.
Galores have one which retails for about $1300, accessories will be extra.

If you want portability and not use a lot of gas the Q200 is a good option @$419 instead of the Q300. You can use either the rolling cart @ $110 or the Stationary Cart @ $200. A cover, trivet, breakfast plate & brush will set you back about $150
You should be able to get them to drop about $40 - 50 or throw in one or two of the accessories if there are two BBQG on your way home.
You can cook for 6 - 8 on the Q200, I have cooked for 15 on mine.
You can get yourself a Weber Kettle off ebay or Gumtree for about $100 max. You can get a good Charcoal grill grate to fit on the Kettle for about $130 including freight
With these two BBQs you can cater for quite a few people. I did a 12 course BBQ for 30 people with 2 kettles and a Q220.
Stick around here and you will be grilling like a pro.
Just a word of warning, On ebay there are Weber compact kettles for sale also, these have 2 handles on the body and one on the lid. The handles are bolted on. They are also a lot shallower than a standard kettle, you are better off waiting for a standard one to pop up.

Cheers
Narmnaleg
Posts: 1323
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:45 pm
Location: Sydney, NSW, AU

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Narmnaleg »

venno wrote:Thanks for the continuing info guys.

Its helping me narrow my decision in some respects but broadening my horizons in others :o

Is charcoal bbq'ing as hard as it looks to setup the coals and get the heat levels right, or does it just seem that way to a newbie?

Venno I've only been BBQing on charcoal for around 6 months and I love it! It isn't that hard and experimenting with it is fun.
I still need a gas bbq just due to time limitations during the week and my CFO is more comfortable using it. I usually only cook with charcoal on the weekends and stick to gas during the week.
When I have to quickly roast a chook and potatoes, or get a quick meal ready for the kids, I find gas to be easier and quicker. Hood down gas BBQ cooking definitely has a taste edge, but it still isn't as good as charcoal. The great thing about charcoal is that you can get started (as I did) with a second hand weber kettle for around $50-$100 from ebay or gumtree. Really cheap entry point.
One BBQ just isn't enough. ;)
If you have the space, I'd recommend getting both.
sosman
Posts: 1337
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:31 am
Location: Melbourne - east

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by sosman »

venno wrote:Someone suggested a Kamado cooker, I never heard of em so I started researching, they do sound intriguing being able to sear stakes or slow cook. Are they difficult to master though?
No. I bought one in December last year, check out people's kamado posts in the "what did you cook" thread and charcoal section and make up your own mind.
Image
bodgy
Posts: 827
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:53 am
Location: Lake Macquarie

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by bodgy »

sosman wrote:
venno wrote:Someone suggested a Kamado cooker, I never heard of em so I started researching, they do sound intriguing being able to sear stakes or slow cook. Are they difficult to master though?
No. I bought one in December last year, check out people's kamado posts in the "what did you cook" thread and charcoal section and make up your own mind.
Venno, FWIW, I've had a SS hooded four burner with 2 flat plates and a tiny grill area in the screened in "outdoor area" for 15 years, probably used it 2 or 3 times a week for that long and its still good as new. The Weber TV adds got the better of me and I picked up a Q120 late last year, the 4 burner went straight into semi retirement, now its basically a SS storage cabinet for BBQ tools, The Q120 is terrific little unit, great for steaks and roasting on the trivet, I've also done fish and chicken on the teflon matt no probs. I really should try to use it more often but these jokers :lol: got me looking at charcoal, so I ended up with a BSK as well.
The Keg is now the firm favorite, charcoal, whilst not as instant as gas really is no hassle to get going and we love the flavor, low and slow or let it rip. The kamado style cooker also really suits doing a few extra things to make the most of the heat, eg bake a bread or cook desert while the roast is resting.

PS most only cooking for me and the missus on weekdays and 10 or so some weekends.
Bodgy

ImageImageImage
kingsthorpedavid

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by kingsthorpedavid »

Anything Weber, they are very efficient.

Go for a Q Family Plus.

KD
venno
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:49 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by venno »

I went down to BBQ Galore in Myaree today for the demonstration of the Turbo Elite with the IR burners. They cooked a butterfly chicken over the grill which went quite well. The stainless steel was no more difficult than any other surface to cook on which eased my mind. The ignition on the burners was quite neat sending out a long streak of flame to lite each individual one. The IR burners get hot real quick and they also put out a lot of heat, but its an odd kind of heat compared to a traditional burner. I'm not saying its bad or didn't do the job, quite the opposite, but it is not quite the same. There were no flareups at all when the chicken fat/oils dripped down onto the quartz domes it just vaporized, the bruners also had good heat control and could be set down low. We went thru the cleaning process and the quartz domes were easy, the stainless steel a little more involved but it can be bought back to showroom quality.

My summary of the Turbo Elite:

What i liked - Good grade of stainless used (they claim special formula mix but thats just bollocks its true 304, not china grade 304)
- Good thickness of stainless used (double most of the other barbies they sell)
- Solid construction bordering on commercial quality (no tinny sounds or twisting of hoods/doors)
- Well thought out design for fat tray, hood hinge point and side drawer
- The IR burners seem to perform exactly as advertised and are not just a gimmick (althogh I don't believe their longevity claims of life of bbq eg.10yrs)
- The warranty on the burners and the bbq in general (3 & 10 years respectively)
- Stainless grill easy to cook on and clean
- Heat control from IR burners (can vary from nice lo level to searing dam hot)
- NG gas kit available for fair price ($120)
- Fold Away warming rack (can also be removed altogether)

What i didn't - The price
- 2 castors, needs 4
- IR replacement burner cost ($149 but includes new dome)
- Performance hit when using NG (they quote 15% less thermal output, but they also quote the IR burners at 15% more than traditional so the 2 cancel each other out)
- No shelving in cabinet area, just one big open space
- Grill hot spots at extreme front and rear where gas flames/heat from IR burners exits the ends of the quartz domes)

I asked for best discount (a bit of haggling was required) available for the Elite model and recieved a price of $2100 which included a cover and roasting tray with wire rack. I also asked for price on the Turbo Classic with IR burners under grill, cover and roasting tray wire rack and was told $1835.

Based on these prices I laybuyed an Elite model. I figure I can live with the short comings as the bbq will live under cover in an alfresco with its own rangehood and very rarley move thanks to the front accessed fat tray and the shallow rear overhang of the hood. I'll keep it on LG as I loved the heat output of the burners, steaks here I come, and over time I will do something inside the cabinet to add shelving. If i don't like cooking on the stainless flat plate I may replace it with cast iron, as it will come in handy for breky and vegies.

Thanks to everyone for the great response and input I received as a newbie to this forum, I know that I have chosen a route that many may disagree with but I love to try new things out and these burners did intrigue me greatly. Time will tell wether this decision works out for me or I end up with a weber I guess :)
Smokey
Posts: 5958
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:47 pm
Location: Terranora- Tweed

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Smokey »

No one is going to tell you that you made a bad choice.
I personally think you made the right choice :D
You did your reserch, asked questions, Got educated and made an INFORMED choice. Good stuff.

Now dont you go disapearing off the forum
We/ I want to see how you go with it from new and months,years down the track.
Im interested in how the IR burners go after good hard use as I have my (Old ways) thoughts on them



Congrats on the new turbo barby. I like them.
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would.
http://www.aussiecue.com.au
venno
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:49 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by venno »

Thanks Guys

Will post when I have had my first barbie on the new toy :D
venno
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:49 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by venno »

Well that’s a long time between posts, better late than never I guess :)

My journey with the turbo has been interesting and if you had told me that I would have ended up 9 years later having removed the side shelves (to make room for fridge and sink, yay cheap outdoor kitchen), swapped the stainless cooking surfaces for cast iron, swapped the 2 ci burners for 2 more rqt, converted to NG, and spent 2k on a schewgen rangehood :shock: I would have called you crazy.

The bbq body/trolley stainless has no rust/corrosion and has held up very well. The conversion to NG was the best thing I ever did for the bbq, no more bottle filling and I haven’t noticed a difference in cooking. The conversion allowed me to fit a double pullout bin unit and some shelving which has been the second best modification. I have enjoyed the steaks from this bbq very much and roasts nearly always turn out great, I have also been able to cook for larger groups which has made for many memorable occasions.

But it hasn’t all been good.

The stainless surfaces drove me nuts, first to go was the plate, replaced by cheap cast iron with no looking back. The grill lasted a bit longer until I could no longer easily bring it back to shine, it went, once again ci rules.

The cast iron burners under the plate started giving me grief around the 5 year mark about the same time as I started to notice the 2 rqt burner ceramic honeycomb structures started to loose heating holes around their perimeters. I don’t know what the lifespan of the rqt are but I got 2 more for the grill and moved the originals under the the plate, they seem to go all right there.

Now my biggest issue, cleaning, the burners are easy as is the outside but the firebox and grease system are a nightmare. This bbq would have to be the least well thought out for cleaning ever made, the grease tray is to small and shallow especially considering the amount of water you have to use to clean the burners. The tray does not fit well in the provided slot were all the grease gets channeled into and it tends to spill into the second skin area the tray slides into and this area is very difficult to access.

The internal firebox area has numerous right angle corners where grease will get stuck resulting in buildup, also very hard to clean. The internal firebox layout sees grease getting trapped everywhere and this causes spillover that even makes its way into the internal trolley area thru the numerous gaps.

If the bbq were easier to clean and keep clean I would have used it way more as it does cook well, although the heat distribution is not very good/even. This is due partly to design error that sees the burners spaced just a little too far apart but also due to the burner length, they are not long enough to adequately heat to the very back or front of the grill area. I dont care what the brochures say this bbq is no better than any other for avoiding flare ups, in fact it’s worse and you have to keep an eye on when you grill steaks/fatty snags.

All in all I have been content and I have learned valuable information for what I require in the next bbq.

The only advice I would give after my nearly 9 year journey is the following:

Price is the last thing to consider, you will forget how much you spent but always remember what it got you

Ease of maintenance/cleaning is very important, easier it is to clean keep clean, the more you will use it

Don’t not pay attention to extraneous things like the trolley/storage, comes in handy

Stainless looks great and stays good if it’s high quality but not necessary, anything that will standup to conditions is fine

nG rules, for me anyway

Good even heat output is most important, this leads to the best results
BBQ-Dad
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:57 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by BBQ-Dad »

venno wrote:Well that’s a long time between posts, better late than never I guess :)

My journey with the turbo has been interesting and if you had told me that I would have ended up 9 years later having removed the side shelves (to make room for fridge and sink, yay cheap outdoor kitchen), swapped the stainless cooking surfaces for cast iron, swapped the 2 ci burners for 2 more rqt, converted to NG, and spent 2k on a schewgen rangehood :shock: I would have called you crazy.

The bbq body/trolley stainless has no rust/corrosion and has held up very well. The conversion to NG was the best thing I ever did for the bbq, no more bottle filling and I haven’t noticed a difference in cooking. The conversion allowed me to fit a double pullout bin unit and some shelving which has been the second best modification. I have enjoyed the steaks from this bbq very much and roasts nearly always turn out great, I have also been able to cook for larger groups which has made for many memorable occasions.

But it hasn’t all been good.

The stainless surfaces drove me nuts, first to go was the plate, replaced by cheap cast iron with no looking back. The grill lasted a bit longer until I could no longer easily bring it back to shine, it went, once again ci rules.

The cast iron burners under the plate started giving me grief around the 5 year mark about the same time as I started to notice the 2 rqt burner ceramic honeycomb structures started to loose heating holes around their perimeters. I don’t know what the lifespan of the rqt are but I got 2 more for the grill and moved the originals under the the plate, they seem to go all right there.

Now my biggest issue, cleaning, the burners are easy as is the outside but the firebox and grease system are a nightmare. This bbq would have to be the least well thought out for cleaning ever made, the grease tray is to small and shallow especially considering the amount of water you have to use to clean the burners. The tray does not fit well in the provided slot were all the grease gets channeled into and it tends to spill into the second skin area the tray slides into and this area is very difficult to access.

The internal firebox area has numerous right angle corners where grease will get stuck resulting in buildup, also very hard to clean. The internal firebox layout sees grease getting trapped everywhere and this causes spillover that even makes its way into the internal trolley area thru the numerous gaps.

If the bbq were easier to clean and keep clean I would have used it way more as it does cook well, although the heat distribution is not very good/even. This is due partly to design error that sees the burners spaced just a little too far apart but also due to the burner length, they are not long enough to adequately heat to the very back or front of the grill area. I dont care what the brochures say this bbq is no better than any other for avoiding flare ups, in fact it’s worse and you have to keep an eye on when you grill steaks/fatty snags.

All in all I have been content and I have learned valuable information for what I require in the next bbq.

The only advice I would give after my nearly 9 year journey is the following:

Price is the last thing to consider, you will forget how much you spent but always remember what it got you

Ease of maintenance/cleaning is very important, easier it is to clean keep clean, the more you will use it

Don’t not pay attention to extraneous things like the trolley/storage, comes in handy

Stainless looks great and stays good if it’s high quality but not necessary, anything that will standup to conditions is fine

nG rules, for me anyway

Good even heat output is most important, this leads to the best results
Nice follow up post mate. I just logged on to do one after nearly 12 months but you get the trophy for time delay!

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