I bought a BBQ today. Yes it may seem nuts to buy a BBQ at the end of summer. But since I used the last one winter and summer it didn't interfere in the decision. The Half Off tag did though. Three burners. And as can be seen from the steak, the two bits come to about 8-10oz, that there is loads of space for more. Now that piece of beef wasn't the greatest, and really wasn't a valid test. Tomorrow I will buy a decent piece of steak to see what occurs.
I've put a lightbox in so just look to the bottom of the image and click on the next or the arrows work they tell me. If you want full screen and enlargeable, Embiggin, right click.
I've put a lightbox in so just look to the bottom of the image and click on the next or the arrows work they tell me. If you want full screen and enlargeable, Embiggin, right click.
Oh nice! In between seasons is ALWAYS a good time to buy, in my opinion. I bet you will just love it. So much easier when it works like a stove. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHow was tonight's (or maybe last night's by the time you read this :) meal?
Sorry, I had a typo, buy not but.
DeleteYeah, no. The meat wasn't the best. A bit scrappy quite frankly. But that's how it can go when you buy in a pack at the supermarket. You don't see what they are hiding.
I got it to 200C with no bother at all, and I think perhaps that's too high. But I'll tweak things. Still fun to learn a new method.
It is never too cold to barbecue outside (I used grills in Utah and Michigan in the winter and here often use them in the winter). Enjoy, I'm now hungry.
ReplyDeleteThat's kinda my thinking too.
DeleteI'd always thought BBQing in Ireland was close to insanity given the uncertainty weather-wise. But since I got my Hibachi I realised that I could cook for just one person. And then when I got the gas BBQ last year, or was it before, I realised the house was a far nicer place when I did the cooking outside. It's not that the house had bad smells, but it was certainly fresher the days I grilled. This even with the fans running in the kitchen.
I think it's wise to buy off-season, especially when you can still use something like this year round.
ReplyDeleteWhat is that growing in the pot to the left of the grill in the first shot? (I like being about to scroll through them in the larger form)
Oh it's a Lemon scented pelargonium. Pelargonium crispum. It's great for flies, stopping them that is.
DeleteYep I think getting off season is a good idea if it works and you aren't simply buying because it's on offer. An offense I'm guilty of more than once if I'm being honest.
Ah... I knew it looked familiar. I use to grow a variety of those years ago and I still have a book about them. We called them "scented geraniums" and I can remember growing your lemon (or maybe citronella?) along with Rose, Apple, and some others. I also grew the flowering kind (zonal?) kept in pots around the swimming pool. It seems these scented pelargoniums were more for the leaves.
DeleteYep, and apparently they are edible too. That I didn't know until I was looking up the exact name the other day in answer to your question.
DeleteSome people are allergic to them too.
In general it's the Zonal ones we have here too. Grown in pots or as vast beds of a few thousand plants, or even in the middle of roundabouts.
But the very best place I saw them was in France, way down south. Where they are suspended in rows up on the facade of farm houses. This is helped due to their very real ability to survive with little regular watering.
My book has quite a few recipes in it, though I don't remember ever trying any of them. The flowering ones are popular here for window boxes, too. They tolerate the heat well (and lax waterers like myself) which made them good for poolside.
DeleteAs long as it isn't too cold to stand outside for a few minutes at a time, we grill out all year round. I also like to run my smoker in the winter because the cold temperatures allow me to run a lower temperature inside the smoker which means more tender meat.
ReplyDeleteOhh it would be rare that it would be too cold here. In fact cold wouldn't be the problem at all. Our issue with BBQing is rain, and the need to have the BBQ outside in the rain while in operation. Now that can get stale rather quickly.
DeleteI might try to cook on a low heat with this as well and see how it works.
Having just been in your country, I can tell it would never get to the point of being too cold to grill. Enjoy it year round, just as I do.
ReplyDeleteI hope we did you well while you were over. We tend too, so I expect even in the wet you had a good time.
DeleteBut as I said to Ed, cold isn't the issue here. The wet is in winter. But in truth it's a toss-up. Do I live with the cooking smells in the house or get damp cooking outside. Usually it was the BBQ answer.
We went south (one of your suggestions) from Dublin and were blessed with some beautiful days, e.g. on the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. A few showers and some fog here and there, but overall, as you Irish say, lovely. And I met some of the nicest people I have ever had the plessure of encountering.
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