Essex BBQer

[webb745]

Hello everyone, im in my 30s from Essex in the UK.

Always been a fan of eating far to much decadent food, spurred on by watch shows like Man vs Food and Diners, Drive Ins & Dives.

I'm a fan of Bodeans in London, which can be hit and miss, but there's normal something worth filling up on (I do like their Jacobs Ladder and the Kona beers). In Bruges (Belgium) there's a place thats called Ribs n Beer that we go to when we are there, they do all you can eat and obviously good Belgium beer.

I used to swear by charcoal bbqing, but then opted for the quicker gas method and I've got a bit of a not so great B&Q gas barbie, similar to an Outback with 3 burners and split between griddle and bars. I added lava rock on to the heat shield for flavour but I'm not sure if its really done much haha.

In the past of done all my BBQ cuts of meat in the slow cooker. Racks of ribs, beef ribs, pulled pork and brisket. Its came out good but never truely great BBQ. Got a double griddle pan for winter so I don't have to go out in the cold and rain when I want burgers and steak. To me you can't beat a bit of ribeye still with the bone attached.

I finally decided to treat myself to a smoker so I can do ribs and joints properly. Was tempted to get a Brinkmann but after reading reviews I decided to check eBay for a 2nd hand entry level ProQ Frontier/Napoleon that I should be able to get for around the same price. With a bit of luck there was one. I went a bit crazy in the dieing seconds and ended up paying £150 (I was hoping to pay £100).

Managed to cram it in my little Focus, was a bit shocked it seemed quite big. Had a measure up when I got home, and realised it was in fact the Pro Q Excel 20! Not to sure but its seems I might have got a bargain?

Car broke down on the way to get charcoal the next day. So im hoping to fire it up bank holiday weekend.

[Kiska95]

Howdy there

You are going the right way "away from gas"! Keep the gas for just hot and fast grilling. Proper BBQ is the way for low and slow n smoked flavour.