Hi Susie, or is it Susie Q
Welcome to the forum.
I demonstrate cooking on Barbecues for Weber Australia - every Saturday between the end of September and end of December each year.
I hardly ever use a griddle for cooking I will use it sometimes for eggs or pancakes if I don't have a non-stick tray available. Do they offer the Q300 series with 2 grills plus the hotplate in the UK, Generally this combination would be available from a Premium Dealer. This is the best option. Just because I don't use one there is no reason why you shouldn't. I like the true BBQ flavour you get from a grill rather than the stewed flavour you get off a griddle. If you don't believe me try cooking two steaks together, one on the grill and one on the griddle. You can also try it with a couple of sausages, same result, the grill is by far the best. The use of the griddle has been perpetuated by people who have ineficient, old or el-cheapo barbecues. They use a griddle to prevent flare-ups, the problem is that it stews the meat in it's owb juices and or rendered fat and toughens the meat as well as reducing the intensity of the barbecued flavour.
There are a few different ways that you can cook on a BBQ and get those flavours without the flare-ups.
I use a teflon grill sheet on the grill for things like onions potato slices veggie slices, fruit and the like where I want to have grill marks without them falling through or to make it easy to flip. I also use the Weber Veggie grill pan and the Fish grill pan for a lot of dishes especially char grilled veggies, fish and seafood. I don't know wether they sell them in the UK but my most used accessory is the roasting trivet. With this I set up an indirect cooking zone without having to worry about keeping the meat in the centre of the Q300 series. Which means I can use the other half for other dishes at the same time. Idon't only use it for roasting. I use it for cooking marinated meat where the marinade has a high sugar content such as honey and soy (Chinese) chicken wings. You can build up a layer of flavours without having that charred bitter sugar taste.
You are right it does become an expensive hobby.
I just bought BBQ #7, a Baby Q for my new Motorhome. I have more accessories and tools than you would think that you would ever use but I use them all regularly.
The good thing is that the food that I cook that comes off the BBQ is magnificent. Last night I came home from work, turned my Q220 on and seasoned (with a Thai rub) and rolled a Turkey thigh and roasted it for 80 minutes @ 185 C, absolutely outstanding. I did brine it for 10 hours prior to cooking it in white wine, water, salt, sugar, onilion slices, garlic flakes and coriander powder. (2 tablespoon of salt and 2 of sugar to 1 1/2 litres of fluid.
Cheers