BBQ's

Cadac v Weber or similar.

BBQing has a long history and functions by heating food on a grid over the heat source, so that marinades, oil, juices drip onto the heat source, creating smoke which infuses into the food.

Cadacs use a hot plate much like any fast food vendor,. There’s no smoke infusion so the food doesn’t take on a BBQ flavour.

Charcoal BBQs, by and large, create more smoke than gas, with the addition of a lighting ritual which you either enjoy or find to be a chore. A lid is essential for heat control and safe internal temperatures for the food.

Gas BBQs are hugely more convenient to light than charcoal, and will suit frequent users. BUT in most cases they don’t create the taste enhancement that charcoal does. High end products like Weber are designed to catch drips and generate smoke, so make a good substitute. As above, a lid is required for safe cooking.

Good BBQs tend to have thicker lids than their cheaper cousins, helping to maintain safe temperatures. The Rolls Royce of this type is ‘The Egg’.

In consequence of our weak £ against the $, Weber prices are eye wateringly high. Egg BBQs always were very expensive.

People speak well of Cob BBQs too.

High quality BBQs have strong but heavy grates/ hot plates, which are cleaned by heating and brushing prior to use. A lid is essential for this. We never wash our Webers, Cadac hot plates need periodic washing, particularly when packed away for travelling. If configured as a direct heat BBQ, they are next to impossible to clean. Weber sell iron plates to sit on theirs, to allow eggs to be fried, pancakes to be made etc, but they are heavy. Cadacs are lighter. Charcoal ash is messy and has to be disposed of, though this aspect isn’t necessarily troublesome. Sourcing good quality charcoal can be tricky, but it’s much easier than in the past.

I like open charcoal cooked food, the smoking process gives the food a certain taste.

That said we did a BBQ for friends when we were away in the Lakes and we were conscious of the smoke going everywhere and OH, as head chef, managed to burn everything due to feeling he ought to get on with it rather than wait for the smoke to die down. So that wasn't so good.

We take a portable small open barrel shaped BBQ, we can fill it with charcoal or charcoal bags or balance a cheap one on the top.

If you look up the meaning of the word it came from a Caribbean type of open fire cooking (perhaps that's already been mentioned?)

I see Cadac set ups are very popular and they are certainly much easier to manage. 

 

Your problem with burning and smoke is one reason why a lid is needed. When the lid is in place the vent can be entirely closed to starve the charcoal of oxygen, or left slightly open to moderate the flames. Any cook, however experienced, will struggle with the heat of an open grate. Too much heat will burn the outside while leaving the centre raw. Once again, replacing the lid will reduce scorching while allowing the centre to cook.

Your poor friend has good reason to blame his tools.

As I have said we like the Cadac as you can use it for a variety of things for instance I cooked pizza on it last weekend when we were away in the van. You do get smoke from the cadac and flame ups can happen if the temperature is too high. Cadac advice to cook with the lid off when using the BBQ part. 9 Times out of 10 the food is good and as I say we find it much easier and quicker although we did like our charcoal BBQ when we had it but found we didn't use it as much as we could have due to the 'hassle' of lighting it

I favour gas (weber Q) for convenience and personally don't notice any difference in taste between that and a charcoal BBQ. Mainly the taste comes from the food and marinade enhanced by some smoke as bits drop on the heated grill, especially when the lid is in place.

As always, you pay your money and make your choice.

Don’t do bbq, just pop it under the grill, same effect with less burned stuff and less mess to clean up

How does that work? Invitation to friends - it’s a hot day, come on over and I’ll grill you a burger, bring a bottle and don’t worry about extra washing up the wife will clean the grill. Whatever happened to al fresco? 😋🙂😊

I think we have tried a variety of BBQs, from a big gas one in the garden to the throw away types. Years of practice in burning food is a speciality of my OH, lid or no lid and I should add we've had some very good ones too. However we usually take the lid off our sense of humour and don't take outdoor cooking too seriously. 

Without exception all the commercial BBQ's I have seen in many restaurants and take away type shops that cook with charcoal don't have lids on their equipment, I have been recently (twice) to a very fine establishment that specializes in meats cooked over charcoal in SOHO and they certainly don't, as you can watch them prepare your meal. it's down to the skills and knowledge of the person cooking it I would suggest 

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