Success with roasts in the Soveriegn bbq?

[Chuin]

Anyone gots tips for a successful lamb roast? I tried cooking my first lamb roast in the Bushman last night- had the wire rack instead of the plate. Put the roast in a alfoil baking tray but it was clearly cooking too hot from the first, then after 30 mins or so, the flame kept going out. I could get it back on but about 5 mins later, it would extinguish. There wasn't any wind, I got home, replace the wire rack with the plate and it works! What am I doing wrong (apart from the obvious 'not using a Weber)?

[three1four2]

Hi.  I roast in a foil tray, with the hot plate ... but the trick is to lift the tray off the plate, using four 'balls' of foil (made by rolling up in your fingers).  With a heavy roast, you might need more than four.

[Gumb]

If it's going out and there's no wind, my guess is that it's being starved of oxygen because your foil tray is restricting the airflow too much. I have a different camp BBQ (not a Weber) but it's a similar concept and I never use foil trays for meat or anything else. I have a trivet from a baby Weber and place the food on that with a small sheet of foil under it on the grill to protect the bottom from direct heat. That way, the heat can circulate all around the food and it cooks more evenly and doesn't fry on the bottom.

[Harry Lissimore]

I have had mixed success roasting on a Bushman.  The roasts turn out OK but it makes too much mess up in the hood and becomes really hard to clean out especially in that your not supposed to use anything abrasive on the stainless steel.

When I was roasting in the Bushman, I was using the trivet over the burner, but raised it up with 2 pieces of 15 mm box aluminium spacers, then put 2 layers of foil on top of that and then a small trivet on top of that then a baking tray on top of that.  Worked OK as down under the burner remained relatively clean and the heat seemed to distribute around the roast OK, however only a small roast could be cooked otherwise it touched the hood.

It also worked OK with just a trivet on top of the BBQ plate.

Now, because I want to keep the inside of the hood clean, I roast in a small cast iron camp oven with lid inside the bushman.  This keeps the Bushman clean, the down side is there is just enough room in the camp oven for a small half sized roast and veges - just enough for 1 meal for 2 people.

I've never had any trouble with the flame going out but perhaps the foil baking tray covered too much of the trivet. But then, the BBQ plate covers the whole area anyway.  If I'm using the trivet and not the BBQ plate, and I can see the flame, I turn the gas knob down from hi towards off to get the flame lower than the low setting on the knob if I want a very low setting.

If I could fit a Weber Baby Q in where the Bushman is, I would change over instantly!

[Gumb]

The trouble with the Baby Q is the width due to the handles, plus the fact that it's high, even when shut. The Ziegler & Brown portable I have closes up better because the lid folds all the way back and under the body, making the pack up height half the open height. But for the Tvan, I have a Charbroil Grill2Go (just over $200 from BFC) which fits perfectly in the front box with the porta loo. The baby Q is too wide to do that and the handles stick out too far. It's a poor design if you ask me.

Cleaning a BBQ every time makes them just too time consuming. I give the grill a scrape before each cook and clean the fat out of the main body when required. If you're going to worry about having the thing clean every time, it's just not worthwhile.

[Perente]

Chuin,
The problem with your flame going out is probably due to the thermocouple not being positionef correctly in the flame.
I don't pretend to understand the mechanics of it but basically the thermocouple senses if the flame is still alight. If it decides that it isn't still alight, even though it might be, it will turn the gas off, in which case the flame will definitely not be alight. This is a PITA.
To overcome this you need to use a pair of pliers to move the thermocouple further into the flame.... or maybe further out.... I really don't know. I just move ours about a bit and the flame usually behaves.... Until the next time. Like I say, a PITA.
Jeff

LandCruiser 200 GX
Topaz Savannah II

[Chuin]

Hmmm, lots of things to work on here - thanks all for comments. I will persevere and try a couple of the ideas.

I did measure up my Weber and it will fit if i take off the lid - just means i have to put it on when i roast. Choices, choices choices

[Gumb]

It seems a lot of the camping/RV type BBQs run very hot to the point that they can be too hot for a roast. The advantage is that they are great for grilling.

I wrote an article on the BBQ Forum I'm on about taming the flame on a Ziggy portable. The same method could apply to any BBQ attached to your gas bottles so here's the link in case anyone is interested  http://smokefireandfood.com/forum/index.php?thread/3885-slowing-the-gas-flow/

[Colin Wendy]

Removing from direct flame is the key. I use a Z&B with a Temp gauge. Smaller Alfoil tray crushed up side down as a hear sink set in my larger tray. Works great as do our home made pizza's