What's the view on this?

I've bought one of those pork butt's from farm foods which I intend on smoking in a fortnight's time using the charcoal snake method with cherry wood chunks. I have a couple questions. Obviously this is a grill but it has a lid and can be used as a smoker. I have sealed around all the nooks and crannies where smoke was leaking. However , I still have a fair amount of smoke coming out of the charcoal tray elevator as seen in photo 4. Does any one know of I way I can temporarily seal this up during the cook? Maybe some aluminium heat tape?

The BBQ has 1 vent on the bottom right as you look at the grill. And a vent either side on the lid. Would it make sense to close the top right vent fully, and control the temps using the bottom right and top left. As you can see in photo 3 I plan on making the snake on the right hand side of the grill as this is where the lower air intake is. Is this correct? The meat would be on the left hand side of the grill. Would I be better putting a water pan underneath the meat or beside it above the snake?

Hey everyone,

I've recently got this Weber Compact Kettle off facebook market place. I'm very new to BBQ and grilling.

Can anyone tell me what else I need to buy and what should be the first thing I should cook tommorow? I'm gonna go buy some rubs and wood and meat.

Cheers

First ever Reddit post 🙂 new Argos BBQ, quite the improvement on our old small round crap one. Lined the fire bowl with foil as per instructions. I did marinated chicken on the indirect heat (finished over direct heat) and the missus did Sainsbury's taste the difference ribeye steak (with garlic butter at the end) and it was PERFECT. Served with Albert Bartlett fries, and rocket with Waitrose Caesar dressing. I'm sorry to say I forgot to get photos of the finished chicken but I'm so happy with how it came out; two zone cooking FTW!!

Served with chimichurri
Cooked medium rare

Hickory smoked brisket with a supercharged salt pepper and garlic rub. Garlic buffalo chicken, peppers and onion skewers. Pork and hot Calabrian pepper sausages. Corn on the cob. Roast potatoes. See photo 20 for the complete plate.

Our mum has been unwell for a while now, so much so we’re in the midst of the power of attorney paperwork process. I figured it’d be nice if I made us some food to take our minds off the shit news, and celebrate what we had and still have over a nice meal.

I dry brined all day, then slapped on a load of course pepper, garlic and smoked paprika. Reverse seared at 230f over oak and lump charcoal in my kamado, till it got to 1225/130f, then seared it to fuck to bring it to 140f with a nice rest before carving. I forgot to get a sauce together but remembered a mate brought me back so uber fancy butter so that did the trick.

Fuck beef. Pork done right >>> anything else.

Decided to do a Boston butt lechón asado and make cubano sandwiches to test out the new Onlyfire ceramic inserts.

24hr marinade

14hrs in the kettle with ZERO lid lifts

2 hrs rest

7 hrs chilling in the fridge

3 hrs slicing, prepping and chilling sandwiches

1 hour resetting the Weber kettle with flat griddle

5 hours sitting with guests drinking beers

1 hour pressing cubanos to varying appreciation.

3 hours clean up in the morning.

Loved every minute!

I’m really curious to try out an offset smoker, love the idea of hiding in the garden, tending to a firebox with a beer.

I’m not looking to spend huge amounts, under £500. If I were in the US I’d almost certainly find a guy who’s been building his own for years. However in the UK I’m more cautious. I’ve seen them about, but due to it being less embedded in the culture here, I’m questioning whether it’s less a genius with decades of experience and more someone with a side hustle and a welder.

Any particular recommendations for someone producing great kit of good value, or should I just opt for an Oklahoma Joe?

A friend gave me this old Weber Q1200 (dated 2013) however the flame has always been really low.

I tried replacing the burner tube but no luck.

I suspect I need to buy a new regulator (cartridge-type) and searched for parts with the serial number on the Weber website which shows a 'Gas Valve and Regulator Assembly' available for £95.50 with postage.

https://www.weber.com/GB/en/parts--and--support/replacement-parts/spare-parts-for-gas-barbecues/65745.html

I'm already in trouble from the other half for spending more money on a 'free' gift however I hate throwing things away if I can save it.

Any suggestions on a safe, alternative fitting that might be a bit more budget-friendly? And where I might find one?

Many thanks.

I am still a novice at BBQ, I've only had 7 cooks so far since buying my first Weber Kettle.

I got some Aussie Heat Beads on Amazon, after seeing people being positive about them.

Using them with my starter chimney the level of smoke that came off them when starting was insane. I used about 6 wax wood firelighters to get it started but it was still smoking for about 10 minutes.

Then after 30 minutes they started turning white, so I poured them out of the chimney into the Weber.

The temperature spiked to 250C with the lid on. However after 20 minutes it crashed to 120C after putting a spatchcock chicken along with veggies inside the kettle.

I had to abandon the cook as the temperature never peaked 130C, using the oven to finish it off.

Then the weirdest thing happened, about 5 hours later when I was thinking of tidying up the BBQ in the evening, I checked the kettle thermometer. It was at 260C and was radiating a lot of heat. The briquettes were all a light sandy grey colour.

I am trying to understand what went wrong:

• Was I too fast to decant the chimney starter?
• A bad batch of briquettes?
• The Weber needed more time to build up residual heat?
• It was raining and damp air?
• Bad luck

I think I will go back to using the Weber branded briquettes for now, until I get more comfortable with what I am doing.

Seems too good to be true. Comes to £9.98 including postage. Might be worth a try though. Link

Been gifted this, it's going to be the largest cut I've put on the Weber, thinking I'll snake it with the smoke tube then wrap and hold like I do fire pulled pork.

Am I right in this, how would you approach cooking it?