Adelaide Gas BBQ v Meco Square Charcoal (Adelaide Gas Barbeque)

Member Name: Islero

Product:	Adelaide Gas Barbeque
Date:	01/08/00 (1202 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: quick start, clean

Disadvantages: gas costs, cooking flexibility

I have often thought of getting a gas BBQ. I appreciate the benefits of quick start, cleanliness, etc. However, many of them do not have lids or even if they do it is difficult to do some forms of BBQ cooking. I have my second Meco Square charcoal BBQ. It is excellent for the things I like to cook. It has an adjustable grid with several positions of height above the coals. You can tilt it so that one side is nearer than another. It is a large square shape which means you can get a lot on if you have a party and is useful for bigger items like fish - I love trout, mackerel and sardines. With the lid down I cook chicken, which you can smoke with hickory chips or other wood for added flavour and appearance. I have also cooked legs of lamb, turkey and duck. These require the side method where you place a deep pan under the grid and pile coals around the sides. The pan catches the fat which would otherwise fall onto the coals and flair up. With duck especially you need a pipette-type device - a large plastic baster will do nicely. This is a transparent tube with a rubber bulb on the end. You lift the grid during cooking and suck up the fat to put into a bowl - otherwise the pan will overflow. The tube needs to be transparent so that you can see what you are doing - you do not want hot fat in your hand!You can use the fat and juices for gravy or in the case of duck fat it will keep for a long time in a bowl with a tea plate on top - I keep it in the plastc bowls which Xmas puddings come in by the side of my cooker indoors. Great for roast potatoes! I have not yet seen a gas BBQ which lets me cook like this.

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