RBA_91

Thank you both for the suggestions. I’m not that sophisticated in my grilling, I use indirect heat to cook chicken mainly and then direct heat to sear off and cook anything else so not too inclined to go for a smoker. Maybe in the future. The ASDA one looks good but out of stock. I’ve been thinking about the Weber kettle and woll look into it further. Just want to ensure there’s plenty of cooking space!

Hi everyone i am after a large charcoal bbq (big family!) that is good quality but not too expensive. Max I am willing to spend is up to £250 but less if I can. I’ve not considered gas as feels quite high maintenance and love the taste you get from charcoal. any suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful tips. The chimney started was a great investment. i think i still used too little coal for the amount of food we were cooking. I am thinking next time i will just light another batch of coal to add to the coals already in the BBQ when they start to lose heat. Recommendations for any affordable but still good quality coal? Not after anything fancy.

Thanks very much both. Ill give it a try without the foil and using briquettes with my chimney starter when it arrives. Alternatives to using newspaper? Don’t really get newspapers anymore!

Hi all Don't BBQ often at all and i'm very basic with it i.e. just simply grill meats on a charcoal BBQ. Nothing fancy, just a simple rub or marinade and has worked for me fine. I tend to use a basic charcoal grill and for ease i use instant lighting bags of lumpwood. A small bag for a 4 person BBQ (although we eat quite a bit!). I tend to place a layer of alluminium foil at the botom for easy clean up. Has generally worked fine for me. I leave to light for around 20-25 minutes before i start cooking. Wings etc cook super quickly and usually get a nice char immediately. The last few times i have BBQ'd i'm not sure what i've been doing wrong. Followed all the same steps as above, but just don't seem to be getting enough heat/power from the coals. not getting that immediate char on wings and seem to take forever to cook (30 mins for small wings as opposed to say 15 before). BBQ also dies out pretty quickly so i'm left with a bunch of meat i end up taking inside and cooking in the oven. Any idea where i might be going wrong? Not enough coal? Should i let it burn for longer (although makes me think the longer i leave it burning the less time i'll have before it dies out)? Stop using the foil? Use briquettes instead? Get a better (less cheap) BBQ? Open/closed lid? Just purchased a weber chimney starter so hopefully that will help. Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated.