Who Makes The Best Gas BBQs? Pick me! Pick me! It's me!

"THE SCOTTY COOK DELUXE!"

I haven't posted anything in quite a while  We've been flat out adjusting to a new routine, brought on by unforeseen circumstances.

Whilst we're grounded for a little while, I've been keeping up with travel and off grid living matters by moderating the Caravan, Camping and Glamping group.  With over 50,000 members, it requires quite an effort, but I thoroughly enjoy doing it.

One questions that very often comes up is "which gas BBQ is best for travel?"  It's usually in the context of "Ziggy or Webber Q". Curmudgeonly, pedantic old bastard that I am; my choice of answer would be 'none of them.  They're not barbecues.  Barbecues use charcoal.  They're gas grills!" Well, whatever you want to call them, they're bloody handy, even if they aren't a real barbecue.

The big brand name products usually carry big price tags  There's no way I could afford either a Ziggy or Webber Q.  I believe that they're somewhat limited and quite bulky items to carry.

Enter a few checker plate offcuts, an old folding card table and a $50 cast iron Chinese wok burner.
We've had the old card table for over 2 decades.  It was our first camping table and we couldn't bear to get rid of it. It's from the days when you could still buy Australian made campi+ng equipment.  Just a simple, but solid metal table with sleigh legs that fold away inside it.  That's what illuminated the light bulb in my head.  It folds away and packs flat.  It's the perfect base for "Scotty Cook Deluxe".

I thought about why commercially available gas BBQ's are so bulky and came to the conclusion that it's because they're all in one.  If I could break down those components into something that could not only pack down to nothing, but also be assembled in seconds, I'd be on to a winner (winner chicken dinner).  If I could utilise items that I already had on board, it would be even less hassle to pack and carry.

The commercially available product's bulk is down to:
1.  burners that need to be enclosed i order to shield them from the wind
2.  a lid for covered cooking.

GRILL MODE

Firstly, I had to find a burner.  After a little looking around, a $50 cast iron, concentric 2 ring wok burner seemed to be the perfect solution.  So I had a stand in the form of the old table that folded down flat and a burner that could fit in the told drawer in the back of the Landy.  I was nearly there.

The next task was to ensure that the burner was shielded from the wind.  We had just finished putting checker plate cladding on the caravan.  I had a few off-cuts hanging around, so with the aid of a couple of hinges and some pop rivets, there it was.  A big arsed, tri-fold windbreak, ready to block out a cyclone.  It simply sits on the table, ,shielding the flame on 3 sides, while the 'chef' shields it at the business end.  When not in use, it folds down to a lightweight, small flat object that packs away between the folded legs of the table.

WOK MODE

'But what do you cook on?' I hear you ask.  Always trying to catch me out, aren't you?

We were lucky that we already owned a beautiful French  manufactured enamelled cast iron grill.  One of the finest cooking surfaces available.  Now one of these puppies will set you back the best part of a 'couple of ton', but you can pick up a basic cast iron grill plate from a camping store for twenty bucks.  To be honest, it'll be as good as the Chinese made grill plate on any big brand name gas BBQ.

'But I want covered cooking' I hear you say.  There you go again with your pessimism (the voices are worrying me a bit).

Hah!  Gotcha again!  One of my favourite things to cook in is a wok.  Indeed very handy with my new wok burner.  However, when it isn't being used to sizzle up our favourite Asian delights, it sits perfectly, upside-down on my fancy French grill providing me with a lid big enough to fit a chook or a sizeable joint of meat under. The wok packs away in its normal spot, adding no more bulk or weight to the "Scotty Cook Deluxe".

COVERED COOKING

UNCOVERED COOKING

That leaves me with my stock pot, which I often use to make litres of fish stock from the spoils of a marathon filleting session, following a successful trip out to sea.  It fits on the wok burner perfectly.

MAKING STOCK

We have a beautiful French enamelled cast iron casserole, which is superb for slow cooking stews and curries. Probably our most used item on the grill, is our lovely old British made, Salter cast iron saucepan.  Made in the 1950's, it's bullet proof.  I picked it up years ago for $15.  It has become our trusty deep fryer, enabling us to cook up beautifully crisp, golden brown floured saquid or garfish fillets, two of our staples.

SLOW COOKING

The burner can even provide heat for my old Furphy camp oven, which is a treat to roast or bake in.  It can sit on the ground and pre-heat the camp oven, before suspending it above it, using a tripod and chain.  The perfect solution to camp oven cooking in places where fires aren't permitted.

THE DEEP FRIER

I'm not a chef by trade, but I have owned restaurants and cooked in them, as well as working  for many years as a food writer and broadcaster.  I'm very competent around a flame and I've cooked in everything from the most high tech commercial kitchens to a wood fire in the bush. I've used many of those big brand gas BBQ's and whilst I can knock up some decent grub on anything, I much prefer to cook on my own very versatile, space saving creation.

So there you have it, the "Scotty Cook Deluxe".  No patent pending, so go and make your own.  It'll take you an hour and you'll have change out of 2 golden drinking vouchers!