New BBQ Purchase

GASSERS, LPG OR NATURAL
venno
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:49 am

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by venno »

Wow, thanks for all the replys guys, lots of good info.

I know I'm a bit hamstrung by being tied to BBQ Galore by the vouchers, but use em or lose em. Made a mistake in the original voucher sum, its $650. Have had a look around the local BBQ Galore store in Osborne Park.

So far i'm leaning to the Q300 as this would leave me the least out of pocket and has a deceptivley large cooking area. I also quite liked the all stainless Cucina BBQ for $1499 seems like a lot of BBQ for the price (does size matter though :lol: ), does anyone have one of these?

BBQ Galore tried to push me towards their brand Turbo Classic for $1699. The touted some new technology (optional extra) to replace the normal burners with a quartz covered radiant heater, similar to the ones you see on rotisseries. Does anyone have any experience of these sorts of burners, are they all that BBQ galore crack them up to be?

Cheers all, great and helpfull forum.
sosman
Posts: 1337
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:31 am
Location: Melbourne - east

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by sosman »

I might be biased but I have had nothing but good cookin' from my Q300P.
Image
Captain Cook
Posts: 3968
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:49 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Captain Cook »

I checked them out at BBQG last week and had a yarn to them about the sear burners.
they said that they were very popular and they did get to a higher temp. I started talking about how you would go about cooking other dishes that required a lower heat or an indirect heat. I started to get mixed reactions from them. I questioned them about how they were to cook on them, not if they were popular, and again got some mixed reactions.
I think for searing they would be fantastic but I am led to believe that if you break the quartz glass cover they are expensive to replace.
I would love to try one out myself to see if they are all that the hype says.
I sure would like to hear some feedback from credible owners who have tried a lot of dishes on it.

Has anyone cooked a variety of dishes on them not just High Temp grilling of steak.

Cheers
luke
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:31 am
Location: Poith

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by luke »

You could buy a Weber Kettle and a small Weber gasser? ...two toys are better than one :mrgreen:
I get all my vegetables from meat
Davo
Forum Administrator
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Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:44 am
Location: Albury NSW on the mighty Murray River

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Davo »

I'm inclined to agree with Luke....but a weber Q120 or 220 and get a weber kettle too....you'll have all bases covered because by the time we're finish with you..you're gunna be buying something that handles charcoal eventually..may as well do it now :wink: :lol: Not that we're putting the pressure on
mind you :mrgreen:
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 »

Stopped in at the BBQ Galore in Myaree this arv as they have more BBQs on the floor than Ossie Park. Spent about an hour checking out some ones that took my interest. Tried all the hoods, drawers, doors, fat trays...etc... to gage the quality of materials, construction, ease of cleaning...etc...

Well the Cucina is out, the stainless seems of good quality but its very thin and there a lots of sharp little edges were the plates have been bent up. I cut my finger in one corner on the underside of the bottle storage when moving the fat tray.

The Q300 is shaping up as main contender and whilst they willnot move from RRP they will throw in some accessories to sweeten the deal for greatly reduced price. I like the little breakfast plate, cover and they had an enamel baking tray with v shaped wire rack for roasting. Sales staff were not that knowledgable on the webers but they said they were rated quite highly by customers who had purchased ones. I forgot to mention, the weber seems a very well thought design and would be easy to clean and keep clean. A question, with both burners on can you cook with hood up?

I spent about 20 mins going over the Turbo Elite with the infrared burners, this drew a sales person over to me immediately. She seemed very knowledagle on the product range in the Turbo series and invvited me to come back on Sat morning when they would be cooking up some food on it as a demo for shoppers. Price aside, the turbo range seem to be a very solidly constructed bbq with a well thought out design. The stainless used is thicker than their other offerings and is higher grade, the hoods are the best constructed I have seen with a good hinge point that leaves little rear overhang. The drawer and storage cupboards are well done with a nice sturdy finish and easy access to a front slide out fat tray. I am a little dubious on the IR burners and at $150 a pop they could be an expensive exercise to replace if they don't last (although I guess you could replace with the CI Turbo ones).

I am also unsure of whether stainless steel is a good cooking surface for bbqs, I have never cooked on it, but I guess they do make stainless steel cookware so maybe its okay :?
I don't know why, but somehow I feel that food may stick to it more readily than traditional bbq surfaces. Also I reckon it would be harder to clean and keep clean.

The sales lady indicated that they could be very flexible on purchase price on the Turbo Elite and would throw in a few accessories. She also said that if the Turbo Clasic was more in my price range that they may be able to upgrade the grill burners to IR free.

I think you all see where this is heading:

a. Q300, with breakfast plate, cover, roasting pan/rack for say $850 - $650 = $200 for me to pay

b. Turbo Elite with cover for say $2050 - $650 = $1400 for me to pay

c. Turbo Classic with IR burners upgrade for $1700 - $650 = $1150

What do you all reckon?
Davo
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Location: Albury NSW on the mighty Murray River

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Davo »

Hi Venno,

Jeez mate..I know it's confusing for you because it's not easy to chose with so many makes and models to bamboozle you.

We here in this forum tend to favour the Weber not only for their quality but also for their product back-up and service which is 2nd to none.

I think you'd be best to stick with a trusted brand and even though Weber might be a bit more pricey,I reckon you can't go too much wrong.

It all boils down to how much you're going to use a bbq, how many you will be likely to cook for and how you like your steaks.

Buying a Q300 series will require you to learn different techniques but once mastered (doesn't take long) you'll be glad you chose that one.

Theres plenty of space to cook on the Q300 or if there is only going to be a couple of you,why not buy the Q220 and buy a kettle as well for when you have guests around?
Theres just so many options.

Mark suggested to go to a weber premium dealer and buy a Weber Spirit which is similar to the Genesis but a lot cheaper due to being made in China but it is still brilliant quality with the same 20 yr warranty as the genesis....better than your bbqs galore machine...save the Vouchers for lots of accessories from BBQs galore.

Ok Venno..now that I've confused you more..I'm going to bed :lol: ...it's nearly 1am.

Good night and good luck

Cheers

Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
luke
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:31 am
Location: Poith

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by luke »

I still stick by my earlier suggestion of a Weber Kettle and a small Weber gas bbq.

What do you plan to cook? For how many people? How often? How much time to you have?

If all you're ever going to do is a couple of steaks once or twice a month, or even every night of the week after work, then do you need 2 grands worth of BBQ when a Weber BabyQ would do the job ...and probably better?

If you want to cook incredible-tasting joints/legs of lamb/whole chickens on the weekend then could you beat a Weber kettle for the taste plus the sheer BBQing fun and experimentation?

You could have the top-of-the-range Weber Performer (Kettle built into a trolley/table with storage etc and gas starter) for $800 ...or a One Touch Gold kettle for just $400, and a Weber Q 100 gasser for $300

...and of course a gas bottle, and a big ol' bag o' HeatBeads.

So for $700 to $1200 you'd have yourself a hell of a lot of BBQ and a whole lotta fun.

Like Davo said, the charcoal bug is going to bite you sooner or later!
I get all my vegetables from meat
Narmnaleg
Posts: 1323
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:45 pm
Location: Sydney, NSW, AU

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Narmnaleg »

Hi Venno,

BBQ choice is very personal.
I just thought I'd point out that you only had positives listed for the BBQ that would cost you only $200. Why on earth would you choose to spend more? Don't let the Galore folk talk you into a more expensive BBQ because of their discounts.
It'll still cost you more in the end.

Like others said, I'd keep that extra cash to purchase a good Kamado, Kettle or perfomer when a good one pops up near you on Ebay.
Buccaneer

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Buccaneer »

Narmnaleg wrote:Hi Venno,

BBQ choice is very personal.
I just thought I'd point out that you only had positives listed for the BBQ that would cost you only $200. Why on earth would you choose to spend more? Don't let the Galore folk talk you into a more expensive BBQ because of their discounts.
It'll still cost you more in the end.

Like others said, I'd keep that extra cash to purchase a good Kamado, Kettle or perfomer when a good one pops up near you on Ebay.
This is exactly how I see it too.
Exactly.
Captain Cook
Posts: 3968
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:49 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Captain Cook »

Venno

I have tried to be impartial about my recommendations as I don't want to be accused of being biased towards Weber. I demonstrated cooking on Weber BBQs every Saturday between the end of September and end of December for the last 7 Years. I retired from that at the end of December.

I need to ask a few questions first before I give you my personal recommendations

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

These questions will help determine which BBQ or BBQ Combination would be better for you.

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

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Davo »

Thanks for your imput Bojangles,

It's good to know someone who has actually got one of these grills/bbqs and it was a good little recommendation for them.

I was also impressed with the fact what you wrote about the ceramic briquettes...I've had nothing at all to do with these and the fact that you just turn em over to burn the crud off them says good things....I'm all for burnin' instead of washin :lol:

Ben O'donohue does a lot of cooking on the Turbo for BBQs gal and makes it look so easy.

Thanks again and welcome to the Aussie BBQ forum....have a look at the announcement section..we have a new cooking comp towards the end of this Month..all encouraged to join.
Also think about joining the ABBQA (Australian BBQ Association) Pls contact Urbangriller or Captain Cook and they'll instruct you how to join.

Cheers

Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
Buccaneer

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Buccaneer »

Ben is a charcoal fanatic away from sponsorship eyes, and he loves cast iron griddles.
He can make anything look good bbqing.
Davo
Forum Administrator
Posts: 5330
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:44 am
Location: Albury NSW on the mighty Murray River

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Davo »

Hey Bucc..I'm liking his BBQ travel show with the weber kettle in that outdoor kitchen set-up from the back of the wagon.

But i guess a good chef can cook anywhere..look at Luke Nguyen in Vietnam

I'm a cookingshowaholic these days but i still can't cook....just drewl :lol: :lol:

Cheers

Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
Buccaneer

Re: New BBQ Purchase

Post by Buccaneer »

Davo wrote:Hey Bucc..I'm liking his BBQ travel show with the weber kettle in that outdoor kitchen set-up from the back of the wagon.

But i guess a good chef can cook anywhere..look at Luke Nguyen in Vietnam

I'm a cookingshowaholic these days but i still can't cook....just drewl :lol: :lol:

Cheers

Davo
True, all they need is a heat source and the stuff they can do....intimidating..

What is the show called, which channel?
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