So here we go, our take on the Gas v Charcoal BBQ Debate and which is best. You will never get me to switch to Gas from Charcoal but I can see why some BBQ fans do love a Gas barbecue.

Here are my Top 5 Pros and Cons on Gas v Charcoal BBQ’s..

Gas BBQ Pros

1. Quick to heat up and get going

2. Easy to clean

3. Don’t have to keep buying coal

4. Can keep the BBQ at a consistent temperature

5. Easier to cater for large families or get togethers

Gas BBQ Cons

1. Not as good a flavour as charcoal

2. Gas can work out expensive

3. Typically uglier designs

4. Cannot cook pizza’s on them (need high temp)

5. They are basically just the same as cooking the food indoors!

A Selection of my Favourite Gas BBQ’s are in the Amazon Widget Below

Charcoal BBQ Pros

1. Much more flavour

2. Can do more adventurous recipes on charcoal BBQ’s (pizza, beer can up the bum chicken)

3. Can position the coals as you require (hot spots, indirect BBQ cooking recipes)

4. Designs are much prettier (Kettle Charcoal BBQ’s!)

5. Smell much nicer and you can use woodchips etc

Charcoal BBQ Cons

1. Messy

2. Tougher to clean

3. Hard to control temperature

4. Far more potential for eye brow removal

5. Seem to age/break more quickly than Charcoal BBQ’s

A Selection of my Favourite Charcoal BBQ’s are in the Amazon Widget Below

Popularity: 9% [?]

Sometimes you have a BBQ that is for more than just a few family members. For example we regularly cater for 7+ people and this can bring a few logistical headaches that over the year we have found ways of dealing with.

So, here are our Top 5 Sneaky BBQ Tips and Tricks

1. Bag Everything up to Save Space in Your Fridge

One of the biggest problems with big BBQ’s is fitting everything in the fridge. One of the easiest ways around this is to bag all your prepped BBQ foods up using a food bag. This can include your salads, meat marinading, potato salad etc.

You can then just pop them in their serving dishes when the time comes. Saves the hassle of balancing bowls on bowls in your fridge.

2. Get a job lot of the Weber Silver Drips Trays

These trays are a god send! You can use them for their intended use of collecting the juices from your BBQ’d meat (prevent the coals catching alight again) or you can use them as a serving tray, or even have them on your grill to store cooked foods and keep it all hot. (Amazon £9.00)

3. BBQ Kettle/BBQ Chimney Starter

These are great for those longer BBQ Recipes that need the coals to be topped up. Just place your new charcoal in one of these, light it and then 20 mins later you can pour the coals onto your BBQ. (Amazon £18.00)

4. Oven Glove/BBQ Mitt

Brilliant for quickly moving grills about or when you need to move coals about using a poker or alike. They allow you to get a bit closer to the BBQ… But watch out for the Chuck Norris Shave, i.e. when you get to close to the BBQ and you can feel your weekend stubble burning (Amazon £9.75)

5. Buy Bags of Ice!

You will be amazed at how quickly you go through so much ice at a larger BBQ! Supermarkets sell bags of ice for just £1.00 nowadays and it takes away a common headache!

Popularity: 6% [?]

One of the great things about the early BBQ season is the fact that all the new BBQ equipment is out earlier than normal. As regular readers of this blog will know, we are big fans of Kettle BBQ’s so it is great to hear that Weber has a new range out for 2011.

The first is the 47 inch, One Touch Weber BBQ. We have found the cheapest price for this over on Amazon at just £83.55.

The second new Weber kettle BBQ is the One-Touch 57 inch, again with the cheapest price being on Amazon at just £119.99.

Why do we love Weber Kettle Grills so much? Simple(s)… they come with a 10 year warranty, are so simple to put together that even I can do it, have reinforced handles so if you do need to move it when it is hot you won’t burn your fingers, has a rust free vent… well basically, we love them.

I also think they are the most flexible BBQ out there. You can roast joints on them, do simple burgers and sausages quickly and even do pizza’s as you can get the temp nice and high.

The other great thing about Weber Kettle bbq’s are that they have a great range of accessories like the BBQ Wok that costs just 29.99, and even a chimney starter (£16.71) that helps you keep your BBQ hot when you are cooking roasts.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Lets kick the 2011 BBQ Season off with some back to basics information on how to make sure you have a successful BBQ by having the right equipment.

Before I start, I want to make it clear, BBQ’ing does and should not be expensive. Essentially, all you need is fire and meat. That being said, if you want to make sure that you don’t accidentally food poison friends and family then you need some basics.

I have grouped the below into catagories of “Essential” and “Nice to Have”

Essential:

A BBQ! Up to you whether or not you want gas or charcoal. Whilst I am charcoal all the way I can see the benefits of gas, especially if you have a large young family and you need to grill fast and hard. If you can though, always go for charcoal.

You then have the choice of a Kettle BBQ or a normal open top BBQ, usually a half barrel style. We use a Weber Kettle BBQ. Brilliant for cooking a wider range of BBQ Recipes. For example, the beer can up the bum chicken recipe and pizza recipe can only be done in a kettle BBQ. They enable you to reach a higher temperature.

Charcoal… there are heaps of ethical charcoal companies around, even the big stores like Tesco and B&Q source ethical and greener charcoals.

Long BBQ Fork. Essential for moving your meats around

Nice to Have

BBQ Baskets. I swear by these, no more need to hassle with tossing burgers and steaks. We whack everything in these, fish, burgers, steak, chops etc. Absolutely essential for us.

Heat Beads: Essential for pizza and hot temp BBQ recipes. (available from Waitrose)

Small Coal Shovel: (we actually need a new one of these). Great for moving coals around, positioning at the edge of the BBQ etc for the higher temp BBQ recipes. (try B&Q)

BBQ Mitt: We have gone through a few of the weber mitts and they are essential. I am trying a new brand this year, so I shall report back once we have given it the once over.

Foil trays: Great for catching the juices and stopping the coals setting on fire again during the longer BBQ recipes.

Pizza Stone: Another essential if you are wondering how to cook pizza on a BBQ.

Popularity: unranked [?]

At a recent away match BBQ I got to try a BBQ Vegetable Basket and was fairly impressed. I am very much from the old-school of BBQ’ing as in it should really be meat or fish all the way but I do accept that on the odd occasion, a bit of greenery is necessary.

The one we tried is not available online so I started having a hunt around to see what was available and found this great Weber Veg Basket that costs just £24.99 from Amazon.

They could not be easier to use, basically you just roughly chop a load of veg, place them in a plastic container and then drizzle with some olive oil and make sure everything is coated.

For our BBQ Vegetable Basket we used the following veg (for 4 people):

2 x Red Onions, quartered
1 Packet of mini Sweetcorn
4 x Peppers, roughly chopped
1 x Carrot, roughly chopped
1 x packet of Cherry Tomatoes

The BBQ Vegetable recipe was a really nice accompaniment to the marinated chicken that we had and I cannot recommend them enough.

Have you tried a BBQ Basket? Why not share your experiences in the comment section or send an email to hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com

Popularity: unranked [?]

We have tried this simple to make BBQ recipe few times now, adding a few bits here and there and I think it is now at the stage where I we are ready to unleash it upon the world.

Lamb is a big favourite of ours, we usually get a leg, rolled, with the bone removed from our local butcher in Huntley. Incidentally, his butchers shop has been around since the 1600′s, amazing! We roll it out, add the herb crust and then pop it in a big rack for cooking on the BBQ.

Here is the step by step guide to making Herb Crusted BBQ Lamb for 4 people

Ingredients:

1.8kg Boneless, Leg of Lamb
Pot of breadcrumbs or if making own, 6/7 slices of bread
1 good handful of Coriander – chopped
7 or 8 sprigs of chives – chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary – chopped
1 x tsp cayenne pepper
2 x Onions – finely chopped
2 Glugs of Dry White Wine

Step By Step Recipe guide to Herb Crusted BBQ Lamb
1. Make your breadcrumbs or pour your pot of breadcrumbs into a large glass mixing bowl
2. Add all the herbs and onions and mix
3. Pour in your wine and mix again
4. Unroll your lamb and place it into a roasting tin
5. Press the breadcrumb mix hard into the lamb
6. Turn the lamb over and repeat
7. Leave to stand (optional)
8. Place in the BBQ Basket, or if not using one, on the grill, on a medium heat
9. Turn every 15 mins and cook for about 1hr and 10mins, or until it is cooked to your liking
10. Tuck in!

NOTE, with regards to how to set up your coals, we use a kettle BBQ that acts like an oven. My preference is to put the coals on one side of the grill only so I have a high heat and medium heat section. I tend to seal meat on the high heat and then cook it for the remaining time on the medium heat section to prevent charring!

Did you try this recipe? Let us know how you got on using the comments section below or send a picture of your own BBQ to hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com

Popularity: unranked [?]

The one thing that puts people off BBQ’ing so much is the thought “How do I clean and prepare my BBQ properly” and the reality is that this need not be hard work.

Let me take you though our own process here at iLoveMyBBQ.com.

At the end of every BBQ season we clean our Kettle Barbecue out, wrap and place the baskets that we use into the shed and then cover up the BBQ for the winter.

Come the spring when we are getting ready for our first BBQ (as we are having one tomorrow), I simply fire it up the day before, bang the grills together to get rid of any debris, and then once hot, unwrap all the cooking baskets and place them on the hot grill.

The temperature that the Barbecue reaches means that all the germs and dirt will largely be burnt off and hey presto you are ready to go.

We have never sat there and scrubbed our BBQ clean after using it, we simply bang the cooking baskets together to get rid of any dirt and then place them onto a really hot grill to get rid of any germs. This method has served us well for over 10 years and touch wood, not one instance of a dodgy tummy so far (famous last words!).

Happy Grilling People…

Why not share your own BBQ cleaning hints and tips comments below…

Popularity: unranked [?]

We have had some cracking BBQ recipe and BBQ tips and tricks sent in over the none BBQ season so I thought it would be a great idea to share them with everyone…

Thanks to everyone who sent in their suggestions:

S Whittington suggested this for a great BBQ Burger Recipe:
When making homemade burgers after you have added all the ingredients before making them into patties mix it all up with lots of tomato Sauce to hold them together,the taste is awesome!

Toniq suggested this for a great BBQ Pork Chops Recipe:
Be adventureous! Don’t forget to experiment! We often do Pork chops cubed with aubergine, courgette, pepper chuks, onions on soaked skewers, we alternate between, honey, mustard with cheese marinade to sweet chilli marinade!!! We accompany with some stuffed chiili pork rice peppers which are finished off on the barbie!

Natalie suggested the following Sweet potato BBQ Recipe idea:
Put some sweet potatoes wrapped in foil in the coals while you are cooking your meat – they go really well with ribs, steak and gammon and only take about 20 to 30 minutes.

Mr Crump suggested the following BBQ Cooking Tip for a great BBQ smell:
If you tie a bunch of herbs such as rosemary, sage, mint, on the outside of your BBQ as it warms up it gives off a lovely aroma.

Joolsy suggested a great Pork BBQ Recipe Tip:
Rub your pork with some garlic infused oil beforehand [ed - short and too the point!]

Bella had this brilliant Pork and Apple Stuffing Kebabs BBQ Recipe
The best way to have pork is to make pork and apple stuffing kebabs, just marinate the pork in 1/2pint of cider with 2tablespoons of honey for at least a hour {over night is better for flavour}make stuffing as per the pkt and leave to cool.
When ready for the bbq slice 4 apples and 4onions both cut into quarters {cut out core} and then roll stuffing in to balls, then arrange on a skewer {if using wooden ones the soak in water a hour before hand to stop it burning}.
Arrange pork apple stuffing and onion on the skewer{you can also add mushrooms or peppers} and then bbq for 15/20 mins turning often.
Theses are yummy yummy

Sarah suggested this nice sounding BBQ Pork Recipe idea:
I love marinating pork overnight in apple juice before bbq-ing – makes it sooo tender!

Ami had this tip for cooking BBQ Ribs
Never ever boil ribs first. Everyone always tells you that and effectively you’re making a broth, taking out all the flavour from the ribs!!
What you really want to do is sort of roast the meat. BBQ is a low heat method of roasting, and by dry roasting will concentrate the great flavors of the meat. Grill them slowly and lowly!

Kelly had this veggie BBQ Recipe idea:
I marinate Quorn with lemon, tandoori paste and yogurt and the BBQ and bbq a roti or Chapati, I do the same for my husband with chicken, it’s really tasty and much healthier than a takeaway.

We have had hundreds and hundreds of tips like these so please keep them coming and we will do another batch of BBQ recipe tips, tricks, recipes and BBQ advice shortly.

What are your thoughts? Why not post a comment below?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Well, what a year it has been, not only in terms of awareness of this blog and its phenomenal and unexpected growth but also personally for Cairo and I.

2009 was a massive year for us personally that included getting married in early 09 (about time!) and also having our first child, Mini-Barr towards the end of the year – hopefully this explains why iLoveMyBBQ.com went so quiet towards the end of the year!

In terms of this site 2009 was huge. During the peak BBQ months we struggled to cope with the amount of traffic, questions from BBQ fans and companies getting in touch to ask us to review their products. The site featured in several national newspapers and magazines (website of the day in The Times being a notable highlight) and we were asked to give our opinion on various new BBQ gadgets by a few TV and news shows! Wow…

The two things that really made us both really sit up and take notice were; one, the fact we were asked about potentially selling the site on two seperate occasions and two, when we ran a competition towards the end of the last BBQ season we had hundreds and hundreds of entries – more than we could have ever imagined!  This tells us we must be doing something right.

So, here we are in early 2010 (very early!) and we are planning new ideas and recipes and BBQ related gadget stories for the site. As ever, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know.

Thanks for everyone’s support in 2009 and we look forward to an action packed 2010 of BBQ’ing.

Andy & Jilly (AKA Cairo)

Popularity: unranked [?]

Ok BBQ Fans, time to put away the Brolly, dust off the BBQ and get ready to start your grills as the lying weather people reckon this weekend could be a hot one.

What a horrid few weeks it has been, weather wise, we have had no BBQ’s at all and it has been killing me.

As an extra incentive to get your BBQ’s going the lovely people at the worlds best makers of BBQ equipment and sauces, Weber, have been in touch to give us a competition for you guys.

To celebrate the launch of Weber’s new range of BBQ sauces we’re giving away a BBQ-Tastic prize! Weber is offering one lucky reader the perfect BBQ kit, which includes a Weber Smokey Joe Gold BBQ, an essential BBQ tools kit as well as the entire range of Weber’s NEW BBQ sauces.

Here is what you need to do to Enter:

To be in for the chance of winning this superb Weber BBQ prize, just email your funniest BBQ related picture to hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com – closing date will be midnight on Monday 20th August 2009. You can enter as often as you like, but they have to be your pics and we reserve the right to use your pictures on the blog. This aint like Blue Peter and we won’t accept posted photo’s, and we won’t send them back if you do post any (probably cos the dog will eat them before we actually get to see them).

The Weber sauces are a great range for BBQ fans and with three NEW Weber BBQ Sauces in the range – there’s something for everyone, whatever your taste! Firstly, Weber ORIGINAL BBQ Sauce – an authentic BBQ sauce with a light, zesty flavour, it works perfectly as a marinade. Secondly, Weber HOT ‘N’ SPICY BBQ Sauce – not for the faint hearted, this hot sauce has depth to its flavour and is guaranteed to spice up any BBQ dish! And last but not least, the new Weber BBQ Relish – a hearty tomato based relish, the perfect accompaniment to a homemade burger! So after spending hours cooking on the fire, there’ll be no risk of spoiling your culinary genius with inferior condiments!

Weber BBQ sauces are available from Waitrose, Tesco and Asda supermarkets.

A quick note from the writers/owners of iLoveMyBBQ.com to thank the team at Weber for providing the prizes!

For full T&C’s email hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com

Popularity: unranked [?]