So on the face of it the Calor gas gauge is a great idea. Just check the gauge and cook away confident in the knowledge that the bbq will not die before the grand finale.

“Charkers”, laughing at the limitation of the gas bbq face a similar problem. Albeit yours is easier to fix just a quick dash 500m in most directions and you’ll find someone selling coals or in a dire emergency just stark hacking your garden down for firewood.

So Calor Gas took a great idea and then wrecked in the execution.

It only has two settings which wouldn’t be so bad if one of them was empty. Unfortunately that’s not what the wise guys at Calor came up with they decided on Hi and Lo. Where Hi is some random number and Lo is below it. Calor advise that when it points to Lo a new cannister may be required shortly. I may be a cynical old goat but this just smacks of a sales trick, I have been on low for pushing 4hrs of cooking time.

How do I counter the risk of running out of gas I hear you enquire? Well I operate a fully redundant system and have a standby of course, as well as a backup charker in the cellar!

I didn’t need to worry the grill area was amble for a large joint of beef and leg of lamb ( not at the same time of course)

The results spoke for themselves, well more shouted out hey I may be small and rectangular but boy can I cook. Check out the photos and the video – if I can figure out how to link vid’s.

As you may have noticed I am a abit of a weber fan boy, and it will be no surprise I strongly recommend this little grill. It delivered the goods and is now must take on any trip with even a whiff that a BBQ may be required.

That said given the time the pleasure I get from cooking a leg of lamb over coals is second to only a few select things
When you are using the indirect method coals are so much more forgiving as the drop in coal temperature diminishes the burn rate with ecery additional minute.

So what am I saying?

The answer is both.
I don’t think it’s a case of gas or coal each has it’s strenths and weaknesses. Just which is better suited to the situation in question or your personal BBQ style. Together you can BBQ whatever the weather or time limits!

Plank grilling is reported to be one of the best ways to cook fish! Slowly cooking the delicate meat allowing for the full flavour of your chosen fish and marinade to develop with the plank taking the brunt of any heat and transferring a subtle woody flavour to the dish.

I just had to give it a go.

So where did I get my plank? You are going to be grilling it for 30 odd minutes with a fish on top it needs to be clean and untreated. I got mine not from an exclusive hardcore bbq supply shop but Homebase for a bargain £3.49!

Incredibly simple to setup, throw the plank into a bucket or other water holding reciprocal for 1 to 2 hours. This allows the plank to absorb water and means it will not catch fire, so don’t skip this step its quite important!

Next set your grill for indirect cooking, front and back burners in a triple burner weber or using the coal dividers if going for the old school charcoal approach in a weber kettle or similar. Lay your fish, marinade and herbs all on the plank and place on the BBQ in the indirect zone.

I cooked my salmon for approx 12 mins and it was delicious, in fact in was amazing!

Time to fix that…

My name is Rob and I am a Bbq’holic, I just love cooking on coals and when I get talking to people and the conversation slides on to BBQ’s it turns out most other people do too.

Only it would seem that there is a limited number of times you can get the crowd excited about sausages, burgers and chicken drum sticks.

That is where I and a few friends hope to help, the mission of this blog is to share the experiences we have bbq’ing, debunk the myths that you need to be an amazing chef to bbq properly and final give you the inspiration and confidence to be a little more adventurous with you cooking.

If you would like to contribute an article or even become a regular writer fantastic just drop me a line and I’ll set you up.

Enjoy,

Rob

last weekends exploits were basic, yet extremely rewarding:

1) ribeye steaks

simply the best steak to grill. many throw money at the problem and plump for fillet or sirloin. other opt for the more preparation intensive rump or flank. but when cow meets grill the combination of meat tenderness and inherent fattiness of the cut makes ribeye very hard to beat. this steak was an inch thick and the wrong side of 250grams to be  meal for one. i even did away with accompaniments (except for english mustard and a large glass of red wine).  my wife was away with mates and the kids were upstairs in bed and the steak was divine.

best served simply with olive oil, salt and pepper or with a sinple marinade of of olive oil, rosemary and garlic. just get the grill cranking hot, don’t overcook and remember the 5 minute rest ……

2) rump steak, whole quartered chicken, chipolatas and grilled asparagus…   for guests.

rump steak was marinaded in the essential dijon/balsamic marinade (more on this in another post) for 24 hours, chicken was jerk marinaded, the chipolatas were served in their simple porky glory and the asparagus was, it has to be said, very disappointing.

despite the woodiness/sandiness of the english asparagus, the rest went down a treat, servung tip: grill everything and serve on a large wooden chopping board and let people help themselves. a large rump steak sliced into strips adds to the aestethic appeal of the affair.

Seared Strawberry Sundae.

Any recipe that includes cream and ice cream has to worth a go and this did not disappoint.

A strawberry and raspberry sauce drizzles over bbq seared strawberries seated on a bed of vanilla ice cream and whipped double cream, sumptuous!

The strawberries are skewered and cooked by indirect medium heat for 3 minutes each side.

Full reciepe to follow.

I am not a big strawberry fan and was a little dubious as the value of bbq’ing other than the rather attractive grill marks. I was yet again in for a surprise! The strawberries soften and seem to sweeten after being on the grill, also they are delicious warm, especially in contrast to the cool sauce and frigid ice cream.

Plus it is a great looker, and a rather flamboyant way to finish a meal, I will definitely be repeating this the next chance I get.

The base and the sauce.

As my stone is rectangular and I was not prepared to attempt dough kirigami with a ready-made base the only alternative was to make our dough from scratch.

I was anticipating this being the toughest part of the operation. It wasn’t!  The pizza base was the easy to make, although, I have to admit I just watched Karen do the hard work.

Ingredients:

• 300g strong bread flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 200ml warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil , plus extra for drizzling

Using a food processor with the pastry blade greatly sped up the whole process and reduced the mess. Chuck everything in food mixer and give it a whizz until it forms into a ball, not long a couple of minutes at the most. At this point its very sticky, remove and place on a floured surface. Knead for 3-4 mins and then roll into a shape that will fit on your stone.

Pizza Sauce

• 300ml passata
• handful fresh basil leaves
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• Half a large onion
• Oregano
• Large dollop of spicy Tomato Sauce
• Black Pepper

I used a hand blender to chop the onions, garlic and basil leaves added them to the 300 ml of passata. I also added a large dollop of spicy tomato sauce, ground in some black pepper and threw in some oregano. I stirred it up and left it in the fridge for 10-20 mins (no particular reason thats just the way it panned out).

The rest is just like they do on the telly, swirl the sauce on to the base with a laddle, garnish with toppings of your choice, as much cheese as takes your fancy and remember no pineapple please!

Awesome Pizza

I have to admit inwardly I was preparing for disappointing results. Although it logically made sense…. granite stone heated in a gas bbq is not a million miles from a wood fired pizza oven…. but why hadn’t I stumbled across one before? Was it another gimmick to leach money from the gullible?

The bbq was fired up with just the rear and front burners on; this is the indirect cooking configuration. The stone was placed in the centre and the lid closed to let it heat up.

Given that the pizza stone is rectangular, there was no option other than to make our own pizza base … and if we were going that route then why not make a pasta sauce too? The dough was rolled out to fit onto the stone and the sauce added. Next we added the toppings – our first pizza had fresh mozzarella, blue cheese, onions and salami with more grated mozzarella added on top. The bbq was now at 250 C.

Now, for this next step you need to be fast, as you do not want to lose too much heat. I opened her up, sprinkled some flour on the stone, and in a single fluid motion swept the pizza onto the stone (losing a couple of toppings into the grill!) and sharply closed her up. I let out a huge sigh of relief and then proceeded to pace for 10 mins!

Pizza Delivery

One thing you will not fail to notice if you  ever see me at the bbq, is that I am a fiddler. Always hovering, tongs in hand tweaking, turning, checking, continually moving the food on the grill.

Like a bbq ninja is how I see it… like a bbq fidget pants is probably truer!

This was torture! I had no idea if it was working, and if I dared to sneak a peak, a cardinal sin in the art of indirect cooking, I would lose all the heat and ruin it !

10 mins……………….

The smell was terrific, and as I lifted her lid I was dazzled…. I had asked Karen to record this historic moment and the flashgun got me right in the face. As my vision returned, before me lay a pizza master piece.

It was an image of pizza perfection: a super thin crispy crust, browned on the edges, the salami was cooked nicely and the cheese melted and also browned. There were even those bubbles you get from the yeast rising faster than the dough can expand!

In my eagerness to get a second pizza on the go as fast as possible, I had prepared the base, sauce and toppings (pepperoni and basil!) whilst the first was cooking. It was sitting on a flour dusted board ready to go. Once we had demolished most of the first pizza I leap up ready for round 2. I followed the same procedure:

• Indirect heat
• 250 C
• ninja like motion to slide the pizza on to the stone!

Only this time the pizza refused to budge! It was stuck to the board and no amount of cajoling would free it. As I had been savouring the first pizza the weight and moisture of the toppings and sauce must have caused the flour to get damp and lose its friction! After much stress and careful manipulation with a fish slice and bag of flour I finally managed to set the pizza free and launch it on to the stone!

Despite all this cafuffle 10 minutes later another materpiece was born!

Breathtakingly simple and the results, wow… I think perhaps I just may have tasted the best pizza of my life. I hate to think how much pizza I have eaten… I guess you would probably measure it to the nearest mile!

Unbelievably it is faster than ordering from your average delivery service, the results are better and you are in total control of the toppings!

My local pizza delivery company has just lost a loyal customer, in fact they may have just got some new competition!

Finishing as I started with a simple chicken breast in Reggae Reggae sauce (yep that of Dragons Dens fame) despite the success enjoyed in between pushing back my bbq’ing boundaries.

I will relay all the adventures in future posts but in summary before I go back to the grill

1. Chicken breast in Reggae Reggae sauce
2. Sausages and Chicken
3. Pizza
4. Planked Salmon and Seared Strawberries
5. Chicken breast in Reggae Reggae sauce