Buying second hand

[knight76]

If you ask it, they will come.....

Weber fanatics that is . I avoided asking the question (which BBQ should I buy) in the title, but you knew it was coming.

My current BBQ has seen better days, and worse days to be honest. It's an ebay euro-grill come bluetongue (more on that in a moment) special stainless steel job.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Euro-Gri ... 2a268acec0

I've had this BBQ for around 10 years and it's definitely showing the signs of aging. But all good things must come to an end, it nearly did early in the piece when one of my kids ran their scooter in to it, knocking it off the concrete slab, slamming it back first to the ground splitting it in two halves. The door and drawers never opened and closed quite the same after that. Oh, and the fat tray is hell to get out. Shaky start but we recovered and I've cooked countless meals on it, from spit roast lamb leg and chicken, to steaks and sausages, and back to spit roast lamb again.....

Time to move on and put this one by the curbside. Which leads me to the purpose for my thread.

The budget doesn't stretch to buying a new quality BBQ at the moment but I still want a quality unit. I've been doing my research online (and lurking here a bit), and from what I read there are brands to avoid and brands that are mentioned as good etc. I've seen the following brands mentions as good here on this very forum.

Weber
Beefeater
Turbo
Marine
Rinnai
Gasmate
Delonghi
Bluetongue - Note below
Lifestyle

* Note: Bluetongue are mentioned as good, but they appear to be the exact same BBQ I have at the moment linked to on ebay above for half the price as listed with bluetongue. That has me puzzled.

Now I have looked at the weber option, even nearly bought a weber genesis E310 for $350 but was too late on the draw, it's just I feel the need to be twisting the knobs on real man sized burners. The weber has 13.3mj/h burners which to me seems a bit small, I was more looking at the type of burners that keep the backs of your fingers clear of hair whilst turning over sausages. I've noted beefeater burners have 17 and 19 MJ/H burners which is more like it.

So, out of the above list of brands I've made a totally OCD list of specs on a spreadsheet and ended up with the following models:

Weber Genesis E310
Gasmate Axis 4 burner
Gasmate Portsea
Beefeater Signature S3000E
Beefeater Discovery 1100E
Beefeater 900 Series Plus
Rinnai GD6001SL
Rinnai Gourmet 5

Any others I have missed that regularly come up on the second hand BBQ market? I do want to stay away from the Bunnings/Aldi, no name chinese brands and look at getting something that is built to a higher standard, and cooks more evenly with fewer hotspots.

I guess if I am being honest I am leaning towards the beefeater discovery or signature mentioned above. Can anybody give a report on how they go even cooking wise? The Weber is renowned for it's even cooking, but you need to cook cover closed with them to get them to work, which is not how I roll really. Hence leaning towards something with higher rated burners allowing for open hood cooking.

My current BBQ has definite hot spots and colder areas on the hotplate/grille. Up the very top it is very hot, middle is ok and down near the burner handles forget it, it's like a second warming tray there.

My style for burning my selected meats is to cook lid open, freaking hot plate/grille, sear the buggers for a bit then move them to the warming rack to finish cooking on more indirect heat. This works for things like pork chops and very thick meat like ribeye cutlets (2" thick). For my standard steak cook of 3/4" - 1" thick scotch fillet it's a coating of oil either side and straight on to a very hot hotplate for 3-4 minutes one side, turn over and cook till medium on the other. This gets a good seared stead on one side and ok on the other.

I'm a 3 night a week BBQ-er year round. I've stood out in the rain middle of winter freezing bloody cold holding an umbrella turning the steaks, I've even set up an umbrella over the BBQ a time or two to make sure the spit can keep turning. Generally if I am cooking meat, it's cooked on the BBQ. And yes, I do use the hot plate for some cooking, or the grill for others depending on the meat.

So thats it I guess. Budget wise I'm aiming at under $500 to get my replacement BBQ going. We are about to move house in the coming months and I think this is a good time to make the change from my existing BBQ. Tomorrow I am picking up a weber kettle BBQ to investigate what this charcoal cooking thing is all about.

So er, hello I guess.

[Commander Cody]

Knight76 wrote.....

"I'm a 3 night a week BBQ-er year round. I've stood out in the rain middle of winter freezing bloody cold holding an umbrella turning the steaks, I've even set up an umbrella over the BBQ a time or two to make sure the spit can keep turning. Generally if I am cooking meat, it's cooked on the BBQ. "

that is beautiful, you were a freak before you hit this forum.............now, we just gotta learn ya real Q.

go with the weber or beefeater both are excellent brands, with weber having the most amazing after sales and warranty, sorry cannot help you with the B/eater, but, i read they are pretty good.

when you can afford it...........try and grab a weber kettle........solid fuel is nicer and safer than gas, but keep your gasser for total fire ban days.

good luck................and WELCOME to the best BBQ forum in OZ

kevin

[Davo]

I guess that if you got 10 years out of your last bbq even considering the little accident, that's not a bad innings especially if you're using it year round 3 or so nights a week. For budget sense, if you were happy with the performance of this BBQ, why not replace it with a similar model?
You can't compare a $500 bbq to a $2,000 dollar job but if it's grilling grunt you want and you can stretch the budget....go Beefeater. They have the burners closer to the hotplate and grill and they really perform which would suit your style with lid up grilling.
Once you get used to the Weber way, it's hard to go back to the conventional way of grilling meat because by having the lid down, the tastes of the meat surround the the meat whereas lid up grilling, the aromas float off into the distance plus lid down grilling is quicker.
I was using the weber Q's and decided to get a big-ass BBQ like a 6 burner Masport (another good brand) but because I loved the way my weber cooked....I just couldn't go back to lid up grilling and this BBQ used gas like a V8 supercar(compared to the Weber Q's) so I sold it to a mate who is happy getting a bargain and I bought a new Weber Q320 and now a happy chappy again.
Everyone is different though......that's the great thing about these forums, we share ideas and experiences.

If you stuck with Bluetongue or it's lookalikes, rinnai and Gasmate too, you could hardly go wrong as these brands have been around for some time now expecially Rinnai and gasmate.

anyway, let us know how you get on and place some pics up....(you'll need a photobucket account first to load pics on here....viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5380

cheers

Davo

[Narmnaleg]

it's just I feel the need to be twisting the knobs on real man sized burners

My advice is that you should start questioning the idea that super hot is necessary. Lid down cooking imparts better flavour and the "reverse sear" will deliver you the best steak you've ever cooked, so my suggestion is that you get a BBQ that is capable of grilling lid down. I'd also encourage you to dabble with charcoal. A second hand weber kettle is a good place to start as it should cost less than $100.

[urbangriller]

You need less heat if you learn to cook lid down. Cooking Lid up just lets out all the heat, the grills will be just as hot lid down and the food will cook and taste better.

Cheers
Chris

[knight76]

Thanks guys, I'd buy a weber genesis if one came along for the right price but I don't think as many of these get passed along to the second hand market too often. I could get a family Q but I don't think it would be big enough for entertaining or cooking for a family of 5 when we have pork/elephant chops.

I'd also like a side burner just to have in case, but never use it lol.

Charcoal, I am actually picking up a weber kettle this arvo and will be delving in to the black art (literally) that is charcoal cooking. I'm looking at using the temp gauge from my existing BBQ and mounting it in the hood of the kettle, and possible making a rotisserie ring for the kettle also. Looking forward to trying out the wood chip foil baggie to impart some old fashioned burned wood taste I remember from my days as a kid scrounging sticks for dad to light the fire on the brick bbq.

Then there is the traeger smokers that burn pellets that caught my interest last night. Shame they haven't taken off in a bigger way here yet.

Too many BBQ styles, not enough undercover area

RE: Time saved by cooking with lid down. My scotch fillet takes 3-4 one side, and about 2 on the other to reach a nice medium. I can't imagine needing to cook em much faster. Also, I find when cooking with lid closed, at least on my BBQ, the sausages swell and end up two times their regular size.

I'll post up a pic of what I end up with. And the weber I pick up this arvo.

[urbangriller]

Thanks guys, I'd buy a weber genesis if one came along for the right price but I don't think as many of these get passed along to the second hand market too often. I could get a family Q but I don't think it would be big enough for entertaining or cooking for a family of 5 when we have pork/elephant chops.

I'd also like a side burner just to have in case, but never use it lol.

Charcoal, I am actually picking up a weber kettle this arvo and will be delving in to the black art (literally) that is charcoal cooking. I'm looking at using the temp gauge from my existing BBQ and mounting it in the hood of the kettle, and possible making a rotisserie ring for the kettle also. Looking forward to trying out the wood chip foil baggie to impart some old fashioned burned wood taste I remember from my days as a kid scrounging sticks for dad to light the fire on the brick bbq.

Then there is the traeger smokers that burn pellets that caught my interest last night. Shame they haven't taken off in a bigger way here yet.

Too many BBQ styles, not enough undercover area

RE: Time saved by cooking with lid down. My scotch fillet takes 3-4 one side, and about 2 on the other to reach a nice medium. I can't imagine needing to cook em much faster. Also, I find when cooking with lid closed, at least on my BBQ, the sausages swell and end up two times their regular size.

I'll post up a pic of what I end up with. And the weber I pick up this arvo.

Pellet BBQs have indeed taken off here, there is a whole section on them in this forum. These are three reputable brands in Australia: Traeger, Yoder and GMG, and Four brands of pellets.

Cheers
Chris

[knight76]

Pellet BBQs have indeed taken off here, there is a whole section on them in this forum. These are three reputable brands in Australia: Traeger, Yoder and GMG, and Four brands of pellets.

Cheers
Chris

I was in BBQ Galore today getting my 9kg bottle refilled and had a look at their stock of pellets and wood pieces for smoking. If I recall the pellets were something like $25 for 500g, but I believe they were flavored.

Wood chips were fairly pricey as well, where do you guys source your wood chips for smoking?

Got the weber. Was fairly dirty so I gave it a good scrub up, came up a hell of a lot cleaner, who knew there was silvery color on that cooking grate eh!

[Muppet]

Bbq sell smoking pellets mate, pellet cookers use a different type. Sold in 15kg bags. Though I can't remember the current price it's not too bad.

[Davo]

Yes Muppet is correct, the ones you looked at were primarily for smoke flavoured pellets not the ones you'd used to create the heat for a woodpellet grill.
Those go for about 25-30 bucks for about 9 kilo bags.

Cheers

Davo

[knight76]

Ah sweet, though I can't see a pellet BBQ in my future just yet. Next up will be some sort of rotisserie either for my gas fired or Charcoal, though I am really tempted to set something up on the weber.

The wife has already made the comment "I can see it, a backyard with all sorts of cooking devices".

See, now I am living her dream!

The weber cost me the princely sum of $50. Though I think it is an older model, all burns the same right!

[Davo]

Ah sweet, though I can't see a pellet BBQ in my future just yet. Next up will be some sort of rotisserie either for my gas fired or Charcoal, though I am really tempted to set something up on the weber.

The wife has already made the comment "I can see it, a backyard with all sorts of cooking devices".

See, now I am living her dream!

The weber cost me the princely sum of $50. Though I think it is an older model, all burns the same right!

Well yeah Kinda!! Is the one you got the 57CM model or the 47CM model?

It looks to be the 57 model and yes it's one of the older ones with the wooden handles....there is a letter code on the top lid vent which will tell you what era its from
http://weberkettleclub.com/determine-age-of-old-grill/

You can buy a rotisserie ring and kit for the 57cm Kettle for around $200

They all grill, they all roast but depending if you have a compact or full version is to the height of the lid.....

irrespective....they are a fantastic grill to learn the art of live fire cooking.

cheers

Davo

[knight76]

It's the 47cm version, code on the vent at the top is R.

I was thinking I could make something up to house a spit. Piece of sheet metal the right length to fit the base/lid. Wide enough to give it a bit of additional space inside, and mount the spit motor etc to that.

Either way, as you say, it's a learning experience which is the reason I bought it.