Gardens

Pets

Lifestyle

View all fact sheets >

ADVERTISEMENT.

Barbecue Roadtest

Home Among Gumtrees > Around the House

Barbecue Roadtest

Cooking food outdoors on the barbecue is a great Aussie tradition, and nothing sums up the laid back, unpretentious nature of Australia better than the backyard barbie. Or does it? In recent years barbecues have moved upmarket and are now competing with the family car as a prestige item. This new generation of barbies does look fantastic, with hoods, wok burners and automatic lighting. However, our research indicates that many of these add-ons may be a complete waste of money. We assessed many of the barbecues available on the market, looking for good design and value for money.

Barbecue Comparisons

(Prices do not include gas. Gas bottles cost around $60 for a 9kg bottle.)

Under $500

Jackeroo J3J Flat Top - $250, 12 months warranty

This model has three gas burners, a cast iron hotplate and grillplate, and automatic lighting. Automatic lighters in barbecues generally tend to become clogged with fat and dirt and they quickly seize up. We checked many barbecues over six months old and in the majority of them the automatic lighter simply didn't work. The finish on the body of the Jackeroo is baked enamel which is not scratch resistant, so if scratches do occur rust could be a problem. The unit sits on a jarrah trolley, which has a fair amount of space for plates at both ends. This barbecue is good value for money.

Weber kettle - $260, 5 years warranty

Made of durable vitreous enamel, this barbecue uses heatbeads and is lightweight, portable and cheap. There are a number of kettle barbecues around, but we found that they seem to have a poor usage rate. The reason is probably because cooking on a more conventional barbecue is quick and straightforward, as opposed to the kettle which is more complex and slow. Unless you are a patient and dedicated cook a more conventional gas barbecue is probably a better alternative, in our opinion.

Mid range - $500 to $1000

BeefEater series 2000 with trolley - $700, 10 years limited warranty

This is an excellent barbecue and very good value for money. The unit has cast iron griddle plates, four burners and a scratch resistant, vitreous/porcelain enamel finish. There is a built-in automatic ignition system on one burner only, and considering most automatic lighters tend to fail that is a bit of a worry. The lid is colorbond and is therefore prone to heat damage and rust. Erecting the wooden trolley can be a difficult job because the parts often don't fit together very well, so it's not a bad idea to pay someone to do it for you. Another option is to purchase this unit without the trolley (for $490) and install it in your own homemade base for a great look that will last a lifetime. We highly recommend this barbecue.

Jackeroo Grange 4 Burner Outdoor Cooking System - $550, 12 months warranty

Like 80% of barbecues sold, the Grange has a hood. However, our research shows that people are not really interested in doing complex cooking outdoors and so the hoods are rarely used. In fact four out of six barbecue instructors not affiliated with any brand said they did not use barbecues with hoods for their cooking classes and believed most people would use them only very occasionally if at all. There is a side burner for wok cooking but again this probably wouldn't be used very often. The body finish is baked enamel so there is a potential rust problem. This is a lot of barbecue for your money, but much of it may not be used after any initial enthusiasm has waned.

Jackeroo Series 5000SS Outdoor Cooking System - $840, 12 months warranty

An impressive looking barbecue with a stainless steel hood, 5 burners, a wok burner, a jarrah trolley and automatic ignition. This barbecue really does do a lot, but again features such as the hood and wok burner probably wouldn't be used very often. The wok burner also takes up much needed space for plates, cutlery, herbs, condiments and food.

Top of the range - $1000+

Weber Flat Top - $1100, 5 years warranty

This is a well designed barbecue with fabulous areas on both sides to put dishes of food, herbs and condiments. They slide in when you've finished cooking to form a weatherproof cover. It has six gas burners, an excellent splash guard, an all metal trolley with four wheels and a gas bottle gauge. Underneath there is a disposable drip tray to collect fat - a good idea if it works well. The automatic lighting on this barbecue at least has some protection over the button, so it might not become clogged as quickly as some of the others. Don considers the cooking grill a potential problem because it is welded steel instead of cast iron, and may rust in time.

BeefEater series 2000 with trolley, hood and side burner - $1200, 10 years limited warranty

Exactly the same as the basic model with the addition of a hood and a side burner. The hood features a glass panel so the cooking can be monitored without having to open the hood and lose heat. One burner has a click lighter, again a bit of a worry considering the failure rate of these types of ignition systems. The wok burner could be used little. We feel the basic BeefEater at $700 is better value for money.

BeefEater Signature - $2000, limited lifetime warranty

This is the top of the range BeefEater. It is made of stainless steel and has four cast iron burners and griddle plates, as well as a hood with a glass panel, warming rack and built-in temperature gauge. Stainless steel is very popular and it looks wonderful, but remember it does mark and may require a lot of cleaning. Each burner has electronic ignition which at least means that if one burner fails, hopefully another will still light. A wok burner if not used often wastes valuable bench space. Overall not a bad barbecue.

Recommendation:

We recommend the BeefEater 2000 series basic model without the hood and wok burner. It's probably not the sort of thing you'd buy to impress your mates, but it's robust, straightforward and will do everything that you want it to. Unpretentious and functional, and at $700 this was the best value for money that we could find.

Barbecuing with chef Martin Dulke

After looking at the various barbecues available, we asked chef Martin Dulke to test drive the top of the range BeefEater (and cook lunch for us at the same time!).

No space

The first thing that worried Martin was the lack of space, so much so that trays of meat and chargrilled bread had to be put on top of the wok burner. Martin suggested setting up a permanent table beside the barbecue for all your plates, cutlery and cooking utensils.

BBQ tools

Buying tools for the barbie is also fraught with traps. Don brought along two pairs of his own barbecue tongs: one pinched his hand, and the grips on the other actually bent back when used. Multi-purpose implements for cutting meat, piercing sausages and scraping grill plates are also problematic. Often they aren't sharp or flexible enough to do the job required. Martin considers good quality kitchen tools far superior to barbecue tools. He recommends using kitchen tongs, kitchen scissors for cutting sausages and an ordinary carving fork for piercing sausages. For scraping hot plates it's not a bad idea to go to a hardware store and buy an ordinary wooden handled paint scraper to do the job.

The hood

Martin had a problem with the open hood deflecting smoke into his eyes. Closing the hood means that the smoke is no longer a problem, food will cook faster and you can watch it through the see-through panel. However, to cook food faster Martin recommended simply covering them with a foil container. Considering that the hood increases the price of most barbecues by approximately $200, using the foil instead of buying a barbecue with a hood is a great money saver. For the average family, Martin agreed with our recommendation that the $700 BeefEater barbecue without the hood is the best value for money.

Safety considerations

Hoods can become very hot and can be dangerous. On one barbecue Martin noticed a wok burner unit that was not covered underneath, so a young child touching it could be seriously injured. As we mentioned before, automatic lighters are not reliable. To make matters worse, most modern barbecues do not have access for manual lighting, so you finish up throwing lighted matches down the slots in the grill plate. This is very dangerous. Although gas bottles have devices to measure how much gas is left, invariably you find you're halfway through cooking and you run out of gas. By all means keep a spare bottle, but don't forget that all gas bottles unscrew clockwise. Having the barbecue connected to your domestic gas supply is a great idea which does away with the problem of bottles. A 9kg gas bottle should last about 10 hours with 2 burners running at full.

Barbecue recipes

By Martin Dulke chef at Ocean, 18 The Piazza, Castle Towers, Old Northern Road, Castle Hill, NSW.

Lemon & Lime BBQ Prawns & Atlantic Salmon

Ingredients

1kg green king prawns
1 Atlantic salmon steak per person
1/2 cup good quality virgin olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
2 limes, juiced
1 tsp freshly chopped garlic
cracked pepper
basting brush

Method

Remove legs and heads leaving the shell intact on the back of the prawn.
Mix lemon and lime juice with garlic and oil. Brush prawns and Atlantic salmon steaks with mixture and barbecue on a medium heat.
Baste again with oil mixture. Remove prawns from heat when opaque, and salmon steaks when cooked.

Marinaded Baby Octopus Salad with Coriander

Ingredients

2kg baby octopus (eyes, guts, ink and beak removed and cut in half lengthways)
1 cup coriander, chopped (also use the stems)
2 tbs ginger, chopped (young if available)
2 tbs fresh garlic
1/2 cup good sesame oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbs chopped chilli, seeds removed
1 lime, juiced, zest removed
4 tbs kecap manis (sweet soy)
1/4 cup julienne of shallot, for serving
1/4 cup chopped parsley, for serving

Method

Place octopus and all other ingredients except for the parsley and shallots in a large container. For very tender octopus, prepare this marinade the day before. You may also like to tenderise the cleaned octopus with a meat mallet before marinating.
Cook the octopus on a very hot grill plate on the barbecue. The octopus is ready when the tentacles are very curly and crisp. I like it more under than over done, but the proof is in the tasting.
Fold the shallots and parsley through the cooked octopus and serve.

Baby spinach and almond salad

Ingredients

1 cup p/person of baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup cherry bocconcini cheese
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup good balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced

Method

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl after washing spinach leaves. Mix oil and vinegar with lemon juice and pepper and salt. This salad is great with fresh seafood and anything from the BBQ.
For a variation barbecue some Atlantic salmon steaks and cut into pieces. Toss into salad for a meal in itself.
With the left over dressing, grill some Turkish bread on the barbecue and dip into the vinegarette mix instead of butter.