Cooking steak on a Weber Q
To get the best results with steak, cook on the grill-bars rather than on a hotplate. Only use a hotplate when there is the potential for a lot of fat to come away from the meat (or when cooking eggs, pancakes etc).
Always barbecue with the lid closed as Weber Q’s are not designed to cook with the lid up. Even when cooking on a hotplate always cook with the lid down.
Whether you are barbecuing meat on the grill or on the breakfast plate, it is important that you pre-heat the barbecue before cooking. Allowing the BBQ to heat up for approximately 10 minutes should do the trick. It’s important not to let the BBQ heat up for longer than 10 minutes
Roasting with a Weber Q
When roasting, it’s generally a good idea to remove the hotplate (if you have one) and use the roasting trivet accessory. Using this accessory allows air to convect all around the roast for more even cooking. To ensure the bottom of the roast is not scorched by the hot grill bars, make sure the centre burner is left off.
A handy hint is to place a specially made 'Convection Tray' between the grill and the base of the trivet to produce a ‘heat-shield’. This lies on the cooking grill directly below the roasting trivet. The trays in position have slits in the foil so that the fat from the roast can drain away.
Pre-heat your Weber Q before placing the roast in the BBQ. Getting the timing right so that your roast is cooked to your liking can be difficult at times when cooking outside. Wind, ambient temperature and the temperature of the meat when you started cooking all influence the amount of time a roast needs to be cooked.
One of the best ways to make sure you get your roast cooked just the way you like it is to use a meat thermometer
Cooking with the Weber lid closed
Always cook with the lid closed! No matter whether you are cooking a roast, a barbecue or breakfast on a plate, always cook with the lid closed.
First, cooking with the lid closed creates natural convection of the air inside the barbecue. This results in more even cooking with more natural juices retained.
Second, you will achieve outstanding barbecue flavour that you can’t get by cooking with the lid open. This is produced when flavour-giving barbecue smoke is convected all around the meat.
Third, cooking times are greatly reduced (about half of what you might expect on an open barbecue), which means you can barbecue the same amount using a lot less gas. Because less gas is required to cook foods, you won’t need to fill the gas bottle anywhere near as often!
Use ‘natural convection’ to get the best results
Remember, these barbecues use natural convection to cook food perfectly. To assist convection, try not to cover more than two thirds of the cooking grill at one time. Whilst they will cook with the whole cooking surface covered, the results are far better if you barbecue in two or three batches when feeding a crowd. When roasting, make sure the height of your food fits inside with the lid closed.
To allow the air to convect properly you should use an accessory roasting trivet and make sure you have clearance between your food and the lid.
Food sticking to the grill?
When barbecuing steaks or chops the meat can sometimes stick to the hot grill. If the meat is properly branded (2½ to 3 minutes) before you turn it, it will not stick. Turning the meat too early will often will cause this ‘sticking’ problem.
Don’t tear the meat! Instead, just leave the meat where it is and it will come free once properly branded
Cleaning your Weber Q
Weber Q grill’s are so easy to clean. For day to day cleaning the best method is to use a Weber grill brush. Immediately after removing your food, while the grill is still very hot, dip the grill brush in cold water and brush along the grill bars where food residue
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