question about cooking on the Q 300


 

Pinny

TVWBB Super Fan
Hi,

I've got a quick question. The Q 300 has two burners: a round one that runs the circumference of the grill and a straight one that runs across the round one. Think of a large O with a line running horizontally across.

When you cook inside the round burner with both burners on, that's direct. When you cook inside the round burner with only the outer burner on, that's indirect.

My question is, what happens when you cook outside the round burner? Is that like cooking indirect or direct? There's a lot of space there (couple inches all around) and I want to know how to treat it. Anyone have any ideas? Also, what happens when you turn off the outer burner and only leave on the inner one? Will that make it so that anything not cooked directly over the inner burner is effectively cooking indirectly? Am I just really stupid for not getting all of this?
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Thanks in advance,
Pinny
 
Pinny
To best advise you on how to set up the Q300 to cook direct and indirect we need to explain the difference, forgive me if I am telling you things you already know.
Indirect cooking is like convection cooking in an oven, the hot air circulates around the food and there is no direct heat searing the food. generally the food is cooked on a rack so that the food surface does not come in contact with the grill surface which would sear the meat.
You can cook indirectly on the Q300 by turning off the centre burner and cook in the inside area of the outer burner. I have found that the meat still has a tendency to sear which is desirable for some cooks but not for others. The best way I found to cook indirectly on the Q300 is to set up an indirect zone by placing a doubled over sheet of aluminium foil on the grill (leaving an air gap of about 1" around the edges) and using a roasting trivet (a wire rack which lifts the food about 1/2" above the grill this way you can just have the centre burner on low if you want to do a low and slow cook or you can put it on one half and do direct on the other half.
For general roasting you just leave the centre burner off and place a disposable drip tray in the centre with a wire roasting rack inside it and set the outer burner to about 2 strokes below high (as a starting point) and then adjust the burner control to obtain the desired temperature when the temperature stabilises.
The Q300 is a great BBQ and has such versatility, once you master setting up for direct and indirect cooking you will be able to cook anything and the results will be fantastic.

Send me your email and I will send you a photo of indirect setup on a Q200 which is the same method.

regards
 
Thanks for the reply! Some more questions/clarification...

Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
or you can put it on one half and do direct on the other half.
1. Put what on one half? The foil? The food? The fire?

2. The reason you use the roasting trivet is so the grates don't sear the food? Why the foil also?

3. Would it be possible to do both burgers on direct and chicken on indirect at the same time by turning both burners to medium, cooking the burgers on the middle and cooking the chicken outside the outer burner?

Thanks,
Pinny
 
Pinny

1. Put what on one half? The foil? The food? The fire?

Whatever you want to cook indirect - you set up an indirect cooking zone.

2. The reason you use the roasting trivet is so the grates don't sear the food? Why the foil also?

The foil acts as a reflective barrier for the direct heat so it does not burn the bottom of the food.

3. Would it be possible to do both burgers on direct and chicken on indirect at the same time by turning both burners to medium, cooking the burgers on the middle and cooking the chicken outside the outer burner?

Yes it is possible to do both Burgers direct and Chicken indirect at the same time. Set up one side for indirect using the foil and trivet method have both burners set to about medium to slightly above and cook the burgers direct on the other side.
Please note that the Q300 puts out too much heat to do burgers direct on high, it tends to char the outsde too much.

I did a demonstration before Chrismas on the Q220 where I cooked a slightly flattened (about 3/4 of an inch thick)skinless chicken fillet for 3 minutes per side on high. All I did for prep was to brush it with some oil and sprinkle a little salt on it. I passed around slices of it to the customers, opne of them was a chef, he said that it was the best cooked chicken fillet that he had tried. He was looking with his manager to purchase a BBQ to have Sunday BBQs in the hotel wher he worked. - He bought a Summit 650.
The same results are acheivable on the Q300, you just need to get the times and heat right for the thickness and type of meat you are cooking. You will love cooking on the Q300.

Regards
 
I see what you're saying now. Very very cool.

Let me just ask though: It seems to me that what you're saying applies to all grills, not just the Q 300. You're method would work on grills that only have one burner, and it would work on charcoal grills that have coals all along the bottom - just set up some foil and the trivet and you're set for indirect. Is this correct?
 
Originally posted by Pinny B.:
I see what you're saying now. Very very cool.

Let me just ask though: It seems to me that what you're saying applies to all grills, not just the Q 300. You're method would work on grills that only have one burner, and it would work on charcoal grills that have coals all along the bottom - just set up some foil and the trivet and you're set for indirect. Is this correct?

I have not tried this method completely on a Kettle however when I have done large joints of meat on the kettle where the edges of the meat are close to the fire I have used a foil barrier between the meat and the fire. that works. I also regularly use and demonstrate the foil/trivet method on the Genesis especially when I am doing Honey and Soy or Honey and Sichuan Pepper chicken wings. I use the indirect method for a lot of dishes with a high sugar content in the marinade it stops the bitter taste that you get if the sugar/honey burns.

Now that you understand the basics of setting up direct and indirect the dishes that you can and will do on your Q300 has multiplied 100 fold. You can now cook cakes, bread, deserts, fruit, vegetables, stews/casseroles, curries, all types of seafood and you can also burn a bit of meat.
The Q series is the best gas BBQ in the world.

Enjoy your new passion!

Regards
 

 

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