If you want that real BBQ taste but don't want all the inherent risks of burnt food with a real charcoal BBQ then the Weber is the one for you. I you prefer the lazy man's BBQ e.g. a gas BBQ then please be satisfied with low heat, bland food essentially lacking in that real BBQ taste.I have had a one touch for 15 years and while I get quite a bit of stick from my gas BBQ friends, all admit that the food tastes much better and many comment on that REAL BBQ taste. Lighting? Yes lighting a gas BBQ IS easy, but there the convenience ends. Changing heavy gas bottles, looking for the nozzle spanner, worried about the danger of gas, is it turned on? Off?; never sure whether the bottle is full or not, are all diffculties which tend to be overlooked. Consider the charcoal BBQ; lighting is simple - a dollop of coals in the middle of the grill, a squirt of lighting fuel, a match and away we go. After five minutes, the flames die out, another ten, for things to heat up, and away we go. Yes it takes a little longer, about the time it takes to have a beer, after all, what are BBQ's for?
The big secret? Keep the lid ON for all cooking except perhaps for something like steaks. Allow the coals to get really hot with the lid off; put the lid on for a couple of minutes to calm things down and then cook your staeks. Gas BBQ-ers, eat your heart out. No flavour like it.
A whole chicken or the Sunday roat? No problems. Use Weber's basket sytem with the lid ON and I guarantee you will never use your kitchen oven again. One hour cooks a large chicken, no burning and the skin and meat fall off. Try that on a gas BBQ and you will only face disappointment.
My BBQ has been used, and I mean used, for 15 years, summer and winter. Yes its getting on a bit, and several parts have been replaced several times, but the food still tastes the same and we all get as much fun out of it as ever, including poo-pooing our gas BBQ friends who are only too envious.
Happy eating!
