I have a very large open plan 16+ berth bell tent (think small marquee).
Any reason I couldn't use a proper gas BBQ inside (without charcoal and well clear of the tent material), for boiling my kettle, frying my bacon buttys etc?
I don't like using little half-baked can powered hobs on the floor and I want a quality gas BBQ for camping and life in general so think it would be a good idea to combine the requirements / reduce total weight of trips.
2.
On another note, can it be assumed that most gas BBQs >£100 still allow you to put charcoal in the base for a more authentic flavour or is this something you have to check? For me an authentic BBQ has to be cooked over charcoal.
3.
Looking to spend about £500. Which BBQ brands are considered the most and the least bling nowdays? I'm a bit out of touch.
1. I can't imagine that I would EVER use a gas BBQ inside my tent, I'd rather have something more controllable. I imagine that all of the BBQ's will say that they should only be used in a well ventilated area and outside so it's up to you really if you think it's a good idea. There are plenty of other cookers and stands around. If you are planning to try this I'd get a carbon monoxide monitor to keep in the tent.
Do you have a SIG? If so I certainly wouldn't want to cook on that.
2. Doubt it, you'd clog up the gas holes I'd have thought.
3. £500 for a BBQ? Please send the money to me and I'll select something suitable!
re 2. You can't put real charcoal on the flames of any gas BBQ I've seen, it will ruin the BBQ quickly. What you can get for some BBQs is a smoke box which goes inside the lid, then the heat creates some charcoal smoke to flavour the food.
re 1. If you want something faster than a standard gas 2 burner stove consider a single 3000w burner that screws straight onto your gas bottle, something like this:
I assume you're thinking of a BBQ with a hob ring on the side, because if you stick a kettle on the grate of a regular gas BBQ it will be too far away from the flames to be effective.
I think a decent expensive BBQ that is good for home will be too heavy and large for, and get damaged by, being carted around to campsites. And I agree that charcoal is the only way to BBQ.
Sounds like you need a decent stove, and maybe not a gas BBQ if you like charcoal.
------------- Definately a fair weather camper. I don't like rain. Rain + Tent = Trouble.
2011:
July: Galpton, Devon
August: Duinrell, Holland
I will be using 3 large double burners inside the scouts mess tent this weekend (wish us luck with the weather). Not knowing what your tent is like, I can't say but this is a huge canavas jobby and when the weather's nice I open the end up behind the cooking area. There are also guards all round the cookers to stop splashback, etc. In this situation it's perfectly safe and we have the water boiler going almost constantly. The scouts might not want hot water but the grown ups do!
When I camp in my 6 berth Sunncamp, I use a gaz double burner inside the tent safely if the weather's bad. Prefer to cook outside if it's fine. Can be done safely if well away from sides and all exits easily accessible. Don't recommend it with sewn in groundsheets at all tho. You need a bit of air circulation.
It's the top part of a top notch BBQ, without the cabinet. Tis means I can use it low down in a tent like a camping cooker, thwen put it on various height table to use when camping outside or when at home. Just use different height tables.
Only problem is, it doesn't have a side burner.
Surely its possible to cook / boil a kettle on the BBQ / griddle bit?
Not exactly portable IMHO, and if that is not bling I do not what is! I would love to see how you could keep it nice and shiny after a few use!
Have you considered Cadac?
I have a Cadac Safaric Chef HP so that I can use it as a BBQ when I go camping in France. Most of the time I use the flat plate for cooking my morning fry ups with great success.
I would not consider using it inside a tent though, unless it is made of flame retardant materials.
Agree re: charcoal is the BBQ fuel of choice, however, if the campsites do not allow charcoal BBQs, then one has to compromise and use gas instead.
DK
P.S. If I were to spend that much money on a gas BBQ, I would get a Weber
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
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- 2026: FR+DE
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Welll....obviously it's up to you what you take and spend but that's a vast amount of money for something that IMO is not the flexible piece of kit that you are looking for.
It's heavy and it's big - you'd need something substantial and level to put it on. What do you have in mind? Given you say you want to use something low down you need to think about how hot it gets and how much heat it deflects downwards. You still haven't said whether you use a SIG.
Re kettles and pans on BBQ's, we use the left over heat from our charcoal BBQ to heat "free" hot water and it takes much longer than on the coleman stove as the output from the BBQ is lower (you don't BBQ food at the same temp you would choose to boil water obviously!) and the kettle is not immediately on top of the heat as it is with a stove. We also use a frying pan on our cheap gas BBQ at home and that fries but not very quickly.
I think there are a large range of products between what you've shown above and "little half baked can stoves" and IMO before you blow £499 on a BBQ you'd be wise to give some real thought to exactly what you want to achieve and look at what suits those aims best.
As for this fitting your requirement to reduce weight for your trips - it's 50kg!.....
I'd also recommend the Camping Gaz ring that Astronaut links to. We have one as back up and it's good, it's probably very similar to what's in the bling BBQ but not perhaps pretty enough!
Like so many of the others have said the BBQ youve linked to, would be so impracticle.
We have a Cadac Carri Chef, which is slightly bulky, but you can BBQ, do a stirfry, grill, cook a roast dinner, & fry a breakfast on it, cost around £139.00
Or alternatively buy the Cadac Safari Chef, a smaller more compact version of the above, but you can also boil a kettle on it or cook a pan of beans etc
We also have a Cobb, which uses heat beads, similar to charcoal but without the toxic gases, it burns at a higher heat, and burns for longer than charcoal, It also does all of the above cooking variations of the other 2 I've mentioned. When you have finished cooking on it, you could put the lid on it & put inside the tent to use as a form of heating, or if the coals / briquettes still have some life in them. remove them with tongues and drop them in a bucket of water until cooled, then leave them out to dry & you can re-use them another time. I think we paid around £100.00 for that, & If you look for it on this site I know Ratty & webmaster (Ian) used to sell them at a reduced cost, thats where we got ours from.
It depends on which type of camping we are doing on which one we take with us, we normally take the cobb for picnics, or fishing trips as it is very compact & you can store the heatbeads inside & you only need to use 6 or 7 of these to cook a full roast dinner so they are very economical.
Good luck & let us know what you decide on.
-------------
I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it
Not that I would ever have my BBQ in my tent, but we have a WeberQ.
It is a gas bbq, but it 'apparently' gives an authentic bbq taste. I can't say it's totally authentic, but definately not a 'grilled' taste.
Not sure if you can put a kettle on it but when on high the flames are quite large.
You can also get accessories for it, such as a flat stone thing for doing fry ups etc, along with a pizza stone.
We've only had the weber a few weeks, so we are just learning about it all really, but I'm finding that it is very versatile. In fact we cook the protein part of our dinner on it most nights and it doesn't matter if it's raining because you cook with the lid down!
When I am on my own, I get by with the Cadac Safari Chef HP and a Weber Go Anywhere charcoal BBQ. I also take my Outwell 10-piece stainless steel cookset that has a Trangia type spirit burner in case I find myself having an ad hoc party.
There are 2 suitcase stoves in the garage which I don't use. However, they are handy to have in case I go camping with another person again, or in a group.
As for boiling water, I use a low wattage 1L kettle as I always have EHU. There is a larger kettle about in case I need that in future too.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
I'll have to show hubby this thread, he's always wants to hook up something like this to the back of the trailer...he reckons with better wheels on it, it would be fine!
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Topic: BBQ equipment in tent
