Another Adelaidean

[Hazzzy]

Hi all.
Just donated my Ziggy two burner to my son in law, so had to try a Q3200( second hand).
Very different beasts, both good at what they do.
Still learning to trust the lid down grilling.
Great success with roast lamb but pork crackling is still presenting a challenge.
I will keep trying.
Hunting around for Q cooking techniques to try.
Rob

[Davo]

Welcome Rob,

Yeah one of the characteristics of the Weber grills is it's design for lid down grilling. It keeps the flavour in and around the food rather than going up in the atmosphere. You'll get used to it in time. I've got the Nat gas version of the Q3200 and I love it, it's only a bit over a year old but this is the 2nd Q3200 I've had.
They roast fantastically as you've indicated, they grill great too, it's just a different take on roasting by using a trivet and foil to direct the heat around the food compared to usual indirect methods but it works so well.
Also, get a pan for the Q3200 and/ or the Hotplate, they do a fantastic job as well.
I found the pan is great for doing the onions and mushrooms or fried eggs and bringing it straight back inside the house, it has a detach handle but for larger fry ups, the cast iron flat plate is awesome.

Note:
After a flat period of a few years where this forum remained dormant, some of the original members and I are trying to get this forum back up and running to make this a great place to hang out as it was 10 years ago. It's better than FB groups because it's all here in forums and you can easily find older posts on a subject where it's damned near impossible with Facebook forums. Anyway, love to have you here as a regular, it might take a little time to get this forum buzzing and I'm getting the forum owner to do serious upgrades as we move forward.

Cheers

Davo

[Smokey]

Welcome Hazzzy
There is heaps of Q info here abouts. With pork crackle there are various preps that help regardless of the bbq type. The main one I found is really drying out the skin prior to cooking at max heat at the start. Then turn down. I'm cooking one tonight in the Ziggy and I've been drying it on a rack in the fridge for 48 hours now. Then I'll rub with oil and a lot of salt or salty rub product. Chicken salt is perfect!

[paulr]

Hiya, and I luv my pork crackling (I cheat! but it always comes out great!).
I luv BBQ-ing pork belly (BBQ-ing on low heat for a few hours) ...
Catch the rendered fat add some vegetable oil (or whatever you got... peanut oil etc) and just shallow fry skin side down (still on the pork belly)...
Make sure that you start with the oil being cool (the rendered fat is slightly cool anyway); it will crackle nicely in under 5-10 minutes...
Fluffy and crackling!

Happy BBQ-ing, Paul

[Cobblerdave]

Gday
These days of cryo pac pork the skins never really dry enough for a good crackle. Sometimes there’s not 48 hours time to dry it off in the fridge either. So time for plan B.
Plan B the roast in the sink. Boil the jug a couple of times and pour the boiling water over the skin. Pat dry and let cool and then continue with the salt and oil.
On the subject of pork roasts they seem to be the major cause of fat fires I’ve noticed over the years. It’s usually the extra fat overwhelms an already grubby BBQ.
So cleanings part of your prep. Remove the grates scrap down the inside of the bowl with a wooden or plastic spatular. My weapon of choose is a $2 plastic paint scraper. Scrap into the fat bowl and empty that.
When you put the aluminium foil down under put a number of cuts with a knife down though the gapes in the grates. The wide sections in the grates it to protect the burners and direct the fats away from them. The fats will now drain away and not pool and catch fire.
Remember if all else fails always have a plan C.
Plan C is heat gun I light the charcoal bbq with. Doesn’t do a bad crackle in a pinch as long as you remember the cut away the elastic strings.
Regards Dave