Have BBQ, will travel

At university I developed something of a reputation for barbecuing. On a sunny day I would send out a text to about 30 people to the effect that the fire would be lit at 3pm, and to bring drinks and anything they fancied putting on the grill. I would also buy large cuts of meat to slow cook on the coals as the “main event” of the meal. I got to experiment with different techniques and recipes, and drank other people’s booze all afternoon and evening, my guests got fed, and everyone was a winner. Such was my reputation that I was “volunteered” to cook for my entire department’s graduation do, catering for around 100 people. 

The author stats the cook at the aforementioned party

Since leaving university and moving to London, living in a succession of small flats, my opportunities to cook with fire have been somewhat limited, though on one memorable occasion I smoked a couple of trout in a local park, much to the bemusement of the locals. All of this changed last week, when I waved goodbye to the Big Smoke for good, and moved back to the land of my birth - Hampshire. Along with the increased opportunities to get after the rabbits, pigeons and deer on the family farm, the greater space for my young kids to roam in, and the freedom from the dreadful Tube network, one of the things I have been looking forward to most about the move is the chance to get back in the barbecue saddle.

So when our friends at Weber - the barbecue experts we have been in partnership with over the summer to share game recipes for the grill and top tips for better barbecuing - offered to send me a piece of their kit to try out, the timing could not have been better. I’ve been ogling their amazing products for ages, both online and at their stand at the Game Fair. One item that I was excited to try is the Weber Traveler, a portable gas grill, so when one arrived on my doorstep just ahead of my move, I was thrilled and couldn’t wait to fire it up.

No ordinary portable barbecue

As it happens, I wouldn’t have to wait all that long. As I suppose is always the way when moving house, as supper time approached on first evening in our new place the kitchen was a sea of cardboard, bubble-wrap and newspaper, and we couldn’t find any damn thing. Accordingly, and since the weather was warm, we decided the best thing would be to round up some sausages and burgers and take the Traveler out for a test drive on the farm.

When I write the words “portable barbecue” I know that you’re picturing one of those slightly sad little bucket things they sell in the supermarkets in the late spring, or a depressing camping stove situation. I’m here to tell you to banish such thoughts from your mind. The Traveler could not be more different to these. Instead, it is sort of the lovechild of a sacktruck and a barbecue. Out of the box, the Traveler is very nearly a complete unit; all you have to do is attach the heavy-duty wheels, insert the grill plates and grease-trap and attach the gas bottle. It took about five minutes to set up, with the most time consuming bit being screwing in the gas bottle. It really was incredibly simple. With the Traveler ready to go, we slung it, the kids and the grub in the car and took it out onto the farm. 

Having parked in the farmyard we walked about 500 yards up a hill to the spot where we often have ‘sundowner’ drinks in the summer months. The chunky wheels on the Traveler coped brilliantlyl with the less-than-even farm track, and although the barbecue tips the scales at just under 30kg, it didn’t feel cumbersome. This being said, I don’t think you’re going to want to tow it more than a couple of km, and if the terrain gets too rough it could be a bit of a struggle.

Upon cresting the hill it was time for the Traveler to do its Transformer impression and convert from vehicle to cooking machine. This is achieved by laying the whole thing flat on the ground, undoing a clip, putting your foot on the pedal and lifting, as shown in the video above. The cart’s frame smoothly scissors and then locks in with a satisfying clunk, creating a good stable base to cook on. The instruction manual suggests that you run the barbecue for at least 20 minutes before first cooking on it, so we set the burners going and cracked open a much needed and deserved beer.

Cooking on your Weber Traveler

Once the allotted time had passed, it was time to get cooking. The grilling area itself is a generous 2065 cm2, and the porcelain-enameled cast iron cooking grates are big enough to cook a large amount of food at once. There were five adults and two kids in our party, and in two stages we were able to cook sufficient sausages, burgers and courgettes to leave us all groaning with food.

One aspect that I was particularly impressed by was the “ring” of gas jets, which offered a good even temperature across the whole cooking area, and also lit up in a very pleasing Mexican wave. What’s more, the grill became hot enough to cook on very quickly, going from zero to 300+ degrees in a matter of minutes, as indicated by the thermometer set into the porcelain-enameled lid. While such thermometers are fairly standard on BBQs these days, it has been a while since I have used one and I had forgotten just how good it is to know what’s going on under the hood.

Once we had eaten our fill, and the sun had dipped below the horizon, it was time to pack up. Again, this couldn’t have been simpler - indeed, it was even easier than setting up, since all you have to do is unclip lift a lever, and then the bbq returns to “cart mode” with a hydraulic, handsfree hiss, like it’s a sentient robot. The sight of the Traveler apparently packing itself away drew an admiring “ooh” from my brother’s fiancee.

Later on in the week I made use of the easy-to-control temperature to hot smoke a piece of pork shoulder to triumphant results, showing that not only can the Traveler be used for hot and quick cooking for things like steaks or burgers, but can handle longer cooks too. This being said, the comparatively low-profile lid may mean that the biggest of cuts may be too tall.

Overall, I have been incredibly impressed with the Traveler - it is a versatile, easy to use, practical piece of kit, and that’s the sort of thing that we love here at GunsOnPegs. The great thing about it is the “go [almost] anywhere” nature of it, and the fact that you could happily and comfortably take it to just about any part of any shoot and be ready to cook within minutes. As we ate our sausages under the stars, my brother and I excitedly planned how we might use the Traveler on the shoot this season - barbecued breakfast sausages at the house in the morning, flash-grilled partridge breast goujons for elevenses, or maybe even a shoot lunch of slow cooked, smoked venison, or something from the recipes that Weber shared with us over the summer… I’m hungry just thinking about it.