Conversions from the Oven to the BBQ

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Sharky

Conversions from the Oven to the BBQ

Post by Sharky »

Hello guys and gals,

Long time reader, first time poster. About a week ago I decided to it was time I ventured into the realms of the BBQ, and so on the sage advise of this forum I purchased a Weber Q220. I cannot understate enough how helpful it was to find this forum and receive the indirect advice that I did. I have not regretted my purchase in the least, case and point was last night where my lady friend and I had a fantastic set of steaks following the advice of the Captain on grilling time and preparation; it was a gastronomic delight!

I wasn't sure which topic to post this under, so I leave it in the hands of the moderator, but I have a question regarding the use of oven roast recipes on the Weber Q. For the long weekend I decided I would attempt Jamie Oliver's pork belly roast, and so with much trepidation I gave it a valiant attempt. I tried to convert (as best I could) his cooking times and oven temperatures over to what I thought they would be on the Q. The first problem occurred with the crackling. Jamie instructs that you blast the pork belly on high at an oven temperature (minimum 220 C) for 30 minutes. I was able to get the Q temperature up to about ~260-270 C, but the temperature dropped 50 C when I opened the lid to put the pork in (as was to be expected), but did not manage getting beyond 210-220 C over the next 30 minutes. The skin did blister a bit, but not to the extent that I was expecting. I resolved myself to continue, following the instructions of decreasing the temperature to 180 C and cooking for 2 hours, adjusting the knob to try and get to the temperature I wanted. At the end of 2 hours, the crackling wasn't good enough and so I through the knob onto high and gave it another 30 minutes. This did the job; the crackling was delightful and the meat just melted in one's mouth. However, I count this success to pure chance and I would rather go through a more controlled process next time.

What didn't help was Weber's suggestion of roasting on low for the same amount of time, which had I done, I fear would have added to the cooking time. My experience with getting the temperatures right will no doubt improve with time and experience. Nonetheless, what I would like to know, is what is a good rule of thumb when taking recipes that are meant to be done in the oven, to doing them on the BBQ instead.

The recipe for the pork belly roast is below.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork ... elly-roast

Look forward to reading your responses.

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

Re: Conversions from the Oven to the BBQ

Post by Davo »

Hi Sharkey,
Congrats on buying your Weber Q220. I also have a Q220 but haven't actually done a Pork roast on it as yet but have cooked just the pork rind (crackling seperate in the Q whilst the actual pork meat was being smoked in the kettle with a thick coating of dry rub at a very low 250F (around 115C). I love the crackling as well just like any Aussie so I cooked it seperate in the Q120 I had at the time.
Do you have the Trivet rack that you need with the Q series for roasting? You'll also need a good sized sheet of foil doubled over to make a cushion of air between the 2 levels of foil and not covering the entire grill area, leave about 25 mm on each end for air to circulate. The Q relies on circulated air (convection) to cook. You need to let air circulate all around the meat for even roasting hence the reason to have it elevated slightly from anny solid base and that's where the Trivet comes in as it's just like a thick cake rack and allows hot air to circulate the whole food.
Pre heat Q with foil and trivet in place when the temp is up to around 500F on guage,you can then place your roast on the rack (don't forget to oil and salt your crackling prior) leave on high for required time about 20 mins then turn it right down to very low and leave it there for the rest of the roasting period.
I usually roast pork till about 75-77C internal temp then let rest, if by chance the crackling isn't crackly enough by the time the roast gets to about 70C, crank it back to full power untill you hit about 77C but don't go too far past this temp or the pork may start to dry overcook and become dry as pork isn't the fatty meat it once was many years ago, it's become more lean over time.
Your crackling should be ready by this but incase it's not, my only suggestion is to slice it off the meat and put back on the trivet , close lid and grill it on high till desired doneness.
Cheers
Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
Sharky

Re: Conversions from the Oven to the BBQ

Post by Sharky »

Davo,

Thanks for the kind advice. I did follow most of what you said in my original attempt. The only difference being that I had the roasting trivet sitting on/in a roasting tray so as to catch all the lovely juices; which I used for the gravy. The tray was also necessary to hold the veg that would cook in the pork fat. I saw that Phil offers a similar recipe for pork belly roast (minus the cracking), and perhaps next time I will follow that and your advice. I think the differences in perceived cooking temperatures between the oven and the BBQ are what have me a bit muddled. Perhaps I should only consider some recipes as far as preparation goes, then leave cooking times and temperatures to what Weber prescribe!? This is my first BBQ, so I am still quite the novice.
Davo
Forum Administrator
Posts: 5330
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:44 am
Location: Albury NSW on the mighty Murray River

Re: Conversions from the Oven to the BBQ

Post by Davo »

G'day Sharkey,

I guess like most things in life, till you get good at it, it's all trial & error but I guess by keeping note of things that don't work out as planned,then do some research to maybe why, then have another go at it.....i guess this is where the fun starts.
I bought my Q220 earlier in the year due to a great discount offered by my local weber dealer but I was previously using a Q120 baby Q with the table flaps, and it was an awesome grill and the only reason I bought the Q220 is I needed a larger grill space with the food I usually cooked. I love grilled vegies..you name it...Butternut pumpkin, zuchinis, green & red capsicums, mushrooms (of course), carrott slices,eggplant slices,potato slices,asparagus spears and many more vegies as well as the meat.....of course
I'm still getting to know this grill and it'll be sometime before i'll get anywhere near what it'll do...so don't feel so bad....it will happen. It operates a bit differently to the Q120 and I think per size v's power, the Q120 is hotter overall than the Q220 but you can do a lot more with the Q220 due to the extra lid height.
Beleive it or not but the Q220 does good pizzas, and while you won't get the woodfire experience, it'll cook pizza very well but you must get pizza as high up in the lid as possible and I did that by one of the Weber (square) veggie baskets upside down with pizza pan on top and pizza ontop of that.....but I'm also using wholemeal lebabese bread so I'm not sure how pizza dough will cook this way but the Leb bread is nice and crispy like a thin crust...yumm!!

Hope I can help in any other way...enjoy your Q220 Sharkey....Bon apetite

Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
ssaq22

Re: Conversions from the Oven to the BBQ

Post by ssaq22 »

Good Day:

I also recently bought weber Q220 from the same place as Davo's (thanks Davo for the tip) I also got a really good deal from them and would recommend http://www.homefires.com.au to any one who wants to get a bbq.

Yesterday I tried Pizza on my weber Q220 (1st time pizza and only 2nd time i used the grill). I am using pizza ready made pizza bread from wooly's.

I dont have a pizza stone and so i placed it directly over the grill with the min. temp. and left it for 20 mins. it turned out ok but a bit too crusty. today i am planing to use the trivet to make it a bit higher and for the indirect heat, let see how it turns out.

Thanks again guys for all the information you gave on this forum. this is my 1st bbq and i am learning alot from this forum.

take care,
bye
Wayshorn
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2017 6:17 pm

Re: Conversions from the Oven to the BBQ

Post by Wayshorn »

Hello,
Check out the wide range of Weber BBQ in Sydney: https://www.hawkesburyheating.com.au/pr ... -barbeque/
Thanks
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