I would get another if it turns up, for the veggies
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Apparently, especially as Iām perceived as having so much time on my hands, during this self-isolation thing, Iāve been placed on milk monitor duties, by each of my three daughters, with strict instructions to make sure I get one for each of them. (Ahem, at my expense, one assumes, since money hasnāt been mentioned 
).
Never easy, is it?
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If itās the one we all chatted about last year, far too small in honestly to work well.
I have a second one unopened somewhere, partly as it was too small for 4.
Charcoal thread next.
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Gizzit, then. 
Well maybe Iām doing something wrong with the first one ???
Basically found it very hard to keep the charcoal alight long enough for anything other than some basic trimmings.
Not claiming to be any kind of expert, but the secret seems to be in balancing the bottom vent with the chimbley one.
Sorry if thatās stating the bleedinā obvious, but it seems to keep things going.
Onyway, urā ye gonnae gizzit, or noā?
Apologies to Richard, weāre just avinā a larf here, no serious solicitation going on, whatsoever.
But, ur ye, ma man @Alley_Cat 
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I get distracted by the odd glass of wineā¦so i start lighting and cookingā¦wife takes over. Always surprised its still warm next morning, a real bargain buy
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Saturday nightās effort. Poached monkfish and prawns with a wine and cream sauce served with baby new potatoes and my wifeās asparagus.
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It may have been the charcoal - I was looking at some alder charcoal on Amazon last year which purported to be chemical free etc.
Itās not that dense and though it gives a good heat initially it burns quickly and creates a lot of extremely fine ash which I think may have limited airflow, also disliked it as it was virtually impossible to lift the lid on the BBQ without plumes of ash going everywhere over food.
Will revisit, I think the other one I have is in the storage unit along with some beast of a BBQ I got from Wilko (which looks cheap/poorly made), but was stickered half price - when I got to the till it was discounted by 50% again, so for Ā£20 not Ā£80+ no real risk.
I bought a large diameter Weber kettle BBQ from B&Q maybe 10-12 years ago - I really dislike it - one of the legs since day one falls out when you move it which is dangerous/messy, and I suspect it was a cheaper version made for B&Q as certain parts are very poor quality. Ash vents block, and again lifting the lid results in plumes of ash coating food unless youāre very very careful.
Maybe nostalgia but I think Iāve always preferred barbecuing uncovered with adjustable height grills - easy to refill with charcoal and adjust the heat - perhaps best when I just want to sear a steak at high heat rather than cook things slowly/indirectly.
We had a cheap Hibachi BBQ clone when I was a lad that I loved to use, things were much simpler and tasted better back then!
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Iāve never really worked at refining my barbecue technique, and found that the egg style grill seemed to take much of the guesswork out of things.
Balancing the top and bottom vents does give you pretty good temperature control, and the ability to choose between searing and a much slower grill for joints of meat.
As for the lumpwood charcoal, I simply grabbed a couple of sacks from Home Bargains, who were a few doors away from Lidl where I picked up the grill, together with the wood shavings ball type fire starters, so the fact that everything worked out well is less to do with any knowledge on my part, more pure luck.
You should persevere with yours though, as they really do seem to take all the hard work out of the whole barbecue process, and the results have been just great, so far.
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Iāve cleaned it out this morning and having another bash.
Iām assuming the inner āplant potā thingy that holds the coals should have the bottom cut out for air in the front next to the lower vent.
Added a few big lumps and a wood shaving firelighter (love these from Home Bargains or Wickes) and lit. Presumably let the coal light with the lid open? Even so it seems to take a while to light, do you wait until all coals are white with ash or just some? I assume you use lid open until ready, as it just doesnāt seem to draw enough air to get going properly with lid shut. Anyhow bangers and burgers for late lunch.
Is it back at LIDL?
Am I allowed to post a link?
Aldi have a Big Green Egg type beast - Ā£350:
Online orders - looks tempting - less than a Powerline.
Drat, sold out!
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Hi,
Yes, the bottom cutout on the ceramic pot should line up with the lower vent.
I light the coals then close the lid, but with the top and bottom vents fairly wide open, in order to get a decent flow of air going through the thing.
Then just watch the temperature climb on the gauge, then once itās up there, carefully open the lid, to avoid blowback of red hot air, and if the top layers of charcoal are white (ish), chuck the food on, close the lid, and probably close the bottom vent to a couple of inches, using the top vent to regulate the temperature.
This seems to work fine for a normal barbecue, but if Iām doing a joint of meat, Iād have the bottom and top vents āonly justā open, to reduce the temperature, as the greater the flow of air, the higher the cooking temperature.
No sign of it back at Lidl yet, but I see the full size one is back at Aldi.
Sold out? Just like last year when the Lidl one sold out across the UK within 24 Hours.
Have fun! 
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Garden is a mess, table I had it on last year looks about to collapse so have placed the BBQ under a wisteria canopy:
10 minutes at 150C, and sausages flipped - more sausages and burgers to add once this batch is done.
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Looking good. 
Itās all trial and error, after all, and Iām certainly no expert on these, but I do find that balancing the two vents, and thereby controlling the temperature works quite well.
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Sunday roast. Broke the rule by adding Yorkshire puddings. Roasties were very good this week. 15 mins more roasting
Atb
Kk
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Oh, no, you gotta have yorkies with a roastie! 
Not in Yorkshire, tha knows, at least yer man apologised for serving them on the same plate, sithee! 
Next youāll be telling me no gravy either?! 