Another Weber?

[Tatoosh]

Well, being quite pleased with my Weber One Touch Gold and the smoker insert, I've been enjoying the learning curve on smoking meat. And the nice shiny grill has received covetous eyes from my younger sister-in-law who is destined for a girl scout camp out next week. She wanted to borrow it for their outdoor meal. She was rather crestfallen when my wife told her "No way, not even in my plan!" But the wife then asked if there was a more portable version because she wants to have a BBQ picnic for some of her friends at a local park next week too."Nothing we can get here in time for you, honey." was my reply. But I showed her some of the Weber Smokey Joe/GoAnywhere Webers. They have two types, charcoal and gas and two shapes: round and rectangular. I tend toward the gas for portability because you don't have hot coals or ashes to deal with after the dinner. Just wipe the unit down, disconnect the propane, and head home.But the wife likes the traditional charcoal unit. And the propane would be a hassle because it uses the US style propane bottle I don't see around here, so it would have to be modified to take the smaller propane tank that is more common in the Philippines. Charcoal, with all its hassles, is the preferred choice and some sort of double bottomed ash can will handle the coals and ashes when we are done with the picnic and ready to head home.I had wanted to go with the traditional round but have been outvoted because, "we already have round ones in the Philippines but the rectangular one not so much." So yes, they do have round charcoal grills, in fact I have one that has slowly rusted into uselessness over the last few years even though it was stored out of the rain. I may see if a local metal shop can resurrect the old unit with shorter legs. But I expect one of the Weber Go Anywhere charcoal versions is in the offing.

Edited February 4, 2012 by Tatoosh

[i am bob]

I will admit up front that they were not Webers but I have had similar models to both... And I hate to admit it (because I think the square looks better) but the round works much better!

[Tatoosh]

I am with you there, Bob, but I am losing the argument with my better half. And that is okay, both will ultimately work and both are portable. I like the Webers because compared to the ones I've bought here, they are substantially more .... uhmm ... substantial. Better metal, solid handles, better grills and all that. Older I get, the more I like quality stuff. You'd think it should be the other way around. Young guys with years to live should be looking for high guality gear and old farts closer to the end of the game should be less concerned about durability. But "t'ain't the way it works" as they used to say.

[i am bob]

Yeah, it's hard to beat a Weber... except for the bit where it looks like they have relabelled some of their products to be sold under a store name sometimes... my brother got himself a relabelled Weber gas blast furnace (bbq) for about 2/3 the cost! Only problem is you can't tell which is made by who (store products) unless you take them apart or start going through service manuals. And some of the vital parts are being made in places like China instead of good North American stock. And then, when shopping around and you're sure you've got yourself that relabelled Weber, you take another look and start seeing thin spots in the casing... Or the grill doesn't feel like the proper heavier material.... Or you might find their name in the back of the tech manual (parts book) in customer service and realize it was made by Weder!

[Tatoosh]

The smoker insert I bought specifically warned about Asian versions of the Weber, though they are specifically discussing the charcoal "kettle" types, not the more elaborate and expensive gas versions. But Asian knock offs of the traditional Weber charcoal kettle won't work for the smoke insert due to the very specific placing of the grill "tabs" that are used to hold the smoker upright and keep it firmly in place.I've done ribs twice now with the Weber and I still am in the early part of the learning curve, particularly with temperature control, but I'm getting closer to get it all sorted out. Now I just have to source some good wood or other smoking material and I will be knocking out ribs, chops and so forth on a regular basis. It takes 60 pesos of tubular charcoal and probably 15 pesos of the local lump charcoal to run the smoker for 6 hours, the amount of time to smoke ribs using the 3-2-1 method. The smaller versions won't be used for smoking, but I may play around with BBQ pizza as well as the traditional grill entrees like burgers, chicken, and so forth.

[Old55]

Tatoosh, are pork ribs like those found in the States common over there? I'm not sure I have seen baby back ribs during my visits.Beef brisket?Years ago I had a "green egg" cooker but got a Webber smoker and love it. Easy to use just fire up and forget.http://virtualweberbullet.com/