British BBQ Society Forums

i have bought a gas bbq on ebay made by silversteel.my problem is i cant get the temp above 150.c even with the lid down. steaks take so long to cook they dry out and i dont get the chargrilled flavour i was hoping for. has anyone heard of this make of bbq and the heat problem .any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Is it this one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SilverSteel-S ... 1004991885

Cannot comment on this one specifically but it was my gas grills inability to cook a steak that has seen me go back to charcoal.

When the children were small I liked the turn off and onability of gas and had some reasonable results over the years, but as a man that likes a seared and rare steak never could get the grill up where it needed to be.

So I dont think you have bought a specific duffer but for steak I dont believe gas can cut it unless you have some massive beast costing a Kings ransom.....

Thems me thoughts,
Tiny

Life is for the grilling...

Ta for replies. That was the BBQ I meant . The advice I got about returning to charcoal to get a good steak was in line with my gut feeling as well. So can anyone tell me the best type of charcoal BBQ to buy which will give me that elusive charred and rare steak or burger. This is my first attempt at using any kind of forum hope I am going about it correctly. Wanted to message my thanks to each reply but didn't know how or even if that was the done thing. Cheers to everyone.

I think you can do a decent steak on a gas grill, but not with stainless steel as with this one, you need a cast iron grill. Also if it's really not getting well beyond 200C, then it's completely useless IMO.

Don't know if this is relevant. http://www.weberbbq.co.uk/support/faqs/ ... d-propane/

In our house we have the Weber Q120 for just grilling a few sausages on a winter's day; it's portable, albeit heavy. When we want a full-on grilling, it's time for the Weber One Touch 57cm charcoal grill.

This is the basic minimum kit:

http://www.charliesdirect.co.uk/product ... hermometer
http://www.charliesdirect.co.uk/product ... ey-starter
Plus a box of lighter cubes (fill chimney with charcoal, place one lighter cube underneath the chimney, light the cube, and wait 10 minutes)

You can get more expensive versions of the One Touch, there's the One Touch Premium which is about £50 more and adds a hinged grill and an ash catcher, there's the One Touch Deluxe which is a bit of a rip-off with side tables, and then there's the Performer, which has a gas ignition, which honestly isn't all that useful as the coals still need to get hot and it's really no easier than using a chimney.

And get a copy of this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0761120149/

When it comes to BBQ the American books will be better.

Have to agree the American books are best, (does anyone want a copy of Ainsley Harriots BBQ Bible ?). Does the bbq run off propane or butane? I inadvertantly tried my Outdoorchef on the butane tank I had, did't get much in the way of temp so (sorry I humbly apologise but) I read the instructions, switched to propane/patio gas and got searingly hot temps as a result.

Yep - you are using a forum in exactly the way you should - don't worry . I wouldn't thank each post personally as it tends to elongate the thread (but some do) - but you can individually quote individual threads if there are specific items in each thread which you want to call out or comment on.

I would try, if you are able, changing the gas as Keith has said if you are currently using butane.

My switch to charcoal was originally driven by exactly what you are trying to achieve - great steaks.

I went for a Kamado type of BBQ - whilst expensive they do grill, smoke, bake and can be used as an oven. So an all-in-one unit. But the original reason i went for it was their ability to get stupidly hot and thus sear a steak in seconds. With it up at 900F, i cooked a thick steak with 10 seconds per side to medium rare.... And that was without a cast iron grid which retains heat even better to give you the black sear marks and taste of a restaurant-grilled steak.

Weber do a stainless grill that also has a swappable insert in the centre. One of the inserts is a cast iron grid for steaks (or other meat or veg where you want the cast iron char). The Weber plus the multi-grill thing will set you back around £250, whereas for the Kamado, you are looking at £450 for the smallest (Big Green Egg mini), £650 for the one i have (Kamado Joe equivilent to the Big Green Egg Large) or well over £1000 for the largest (Big Joe or BGE XL).

Hope that helps.

Simon

Ta everyone for the tips. I am on propane but think I will keep BBQ for sausages and research one of the charcoal ones you all mentioned. One final question as I now realise there is more to BBQ cooking than I thought, is a restaurant flavour steak achieved by high heat,cast iron grill or a lid keeping the fat smoke in ? Hopefully my next post will have good news.

As hot as you can get it will give you the crust on the outside, I can't speak for cast iron I didn't get on well with it unlike many others herein. As I like my steak Black n Blue the crust is an important part of it. If your temps aren't high enough using a "Cloche" style lid MAY induce steam into the equation which again MAY soften any crust you have. The same can't be said for a BBQ lid as there is so much air-flow.
Depending on thickness most restaurants sear the outside and then pop it into an oven to stabalise the temp (I think). Whichever method you choose don't forget to rest the meat