Backyard Basics, Real Results

Forget the oven-first myth and the burnt banger stereotype. We sit down with Alan from Totally Awesome Barbecue to unpack how simple methods, smart gear choices, and a little patience can transform any backyard into a reliable smokehouse. Alan’s story starts where many of us do—over-firing a cheap grill—then moves through practical upgrades, mastering airflow on a kettle, and knowing when a pellet smoker makes more sense for low-and-slow. His philosophy is refreshingly no-nonsense: buy kit that lasts, learn your specific grill, and build confidence with repeatable setups.

We break down the minion and snake methods in clear, actionable steps, including common pitfalls like lighting too much fuel and chasing temperatures all day. There’s plenty of real-world nuance—how a heat deflector evens out hot spots, why sausages and burgers shine when cooked indirect, and how to avoid over-salted rubs by keeping sauce on the side. Alan shares honest fails (midnight dinners, anyone?), quick fixes that actually help, and the small tweaks that turn frustration into reliable results.

What really stands out is how British barbecue carves its own identity through range and ingenuity. We talk roasts on the grill at Christmas, breakfast on the flat top, pulled pork for a crowd, brisket for a birthday, and fusion flavours borrowed from curry nights and Greek skewers. It’s frugality, creativity, and fire—showing that great outdoor cooking doesn’t demand a shed full of steel, just sound technique and care.

If you’re ready to cook better with what you have, hit play. Then tell us your biggest win, your most painful fail, and what truly defines UK BBQ for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who still pre-cooks chicken indoors, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Sponsor And Warm Welcome

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Today's episode is brought to you by AOS Kitchens, the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists.

Meet Alan From Totally Awesome Barbecue

SPEAKER_04 0:17

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Meet and Greet Barbecue Podcast. Today we are speaking to Alan from Totally Awesome Barbecue. Go find him on Instagram. He also has a YouTube channel and really interested to speak to Alan as he's got 13 to 14 years of experience, and a lot of his content is about going back to basics and getting the normal things right in barbecue, which we've been championing for ages. But Alan will go through that in a second. So without much further ado, here's Alan.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Hi Alan, welcome to the podcast. Uh nice to see you. Um for everyone that doesn't know, please introduce yourself and tell us who you are.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

My name's Alan. I'm uh my channel is uh Totally Awesome Barbecue. And I basically go back to basics teaching people who have not done this sort of thing before. My my channel probably quite boring for people who know what they're doing. But um when it when it comes to like basically trying to uh help this country get rid of times of America and not you know have some decent cuts of meat and uh you can actually go to a petrol station and get some coal in the winter time, that sort of thing. That's the sort of thing I'm trying to do, is get the the country in in in the way it is over in America, really.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

Yeah, we've talked a lot about the fact that Britain has a bit of a reputation for the burnt bangers um that are actually raw on the inside and the pink chicken and everything. And it's literally about getting back to basics, learning your craft, starting there and building yourself up. And it's amazing what you can achieve with a kettle, some time, and just enjoying being outside and cooking, so we can fully get behind that.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yeah, that we will and you mean a kettle barbecue, Dan, not an actual kettle, right? It depends on the feeling. Just checking.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Although I can you can cook a seven in a dishwasher. I don't imagine what you can cook in a kettle.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

Mainly eggs, but yeah, you could probably give it a go.

Britain’s Barbecue Reputation And Basics

SPEAKER_01 2:23

So um I think it's I think it's quite interesting the the kind of whole back to basics thing, and you were saying that you know you think maybe people would find it boring if they know what they're doing, but yeah, it's I think it's it's an interesting topic because I think once you're in the community and once you're kind of surrounded by people that you know that that do barbecue, yeah. Um you you almost forget that there's still a lot of people that don't know how to barbecue or feel nervous about barbecuing or just think it's only for the two weeks of summer that we usually get.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yeah, exactly. My my videos are basically that uh there used to be a a guy in from Australia like watching called Rex Hunt. He used to do Rex Hunt uh fishing adventures, and his uh his way of uh fishing was I want to kiss fish, I want to keep it simple, stupid. And so that's basically how I like I I don't want uh it's not exactly rocket science. I mean like when you when you get used to like your your own barbecue is like even you could probably buy two webers in the same shop, you you build them and then one will act differently to the other. So it's it's all about getting used to your barbecue and uh seeing how it goes, really, because like what might work for someone else might not work for another.

Learning Your Grill And Budget Choices

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Yeah. So obviously that's where you are now in terms of doing those videos. You've got your YouTube channel, which obviously plug plug in uh again uh as we go through the as we go through the show. But yeah, where did you start? So, how did you get to the point now where you're confident enough to teach others to impart your knowledge?

Alan’s Origin Story And Early Gear

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Well, it started after I had my first child, uh Matt's uh in 2013, really. Um it was uh her her mum that uh it's basically uh I I've never even thought about it. I was I was one of those types that would cover the whole barbecue in coal and not have a safe zone or anything. And uh as she said in other um uh streams, it'd be black on the outside, pink on the inside. And um so I actually showed me um it was it was on this morning that DJ barbecue on there. And uh and he he was talking about uh what you can cook on it, and he was like doing a pool pork and all that. I thought, oh, I wouldn't mind giving that a go. It's basically her fault. Um so that that that that got I got on the bug after that, and uh for years and years I was uh I'll say years, I was I think it was for about three years, I was watching loads and loads of YouTube videos, uh uh DJ Barbecue, Pitmaster X, um the um Barbecue Pit or Barbecue Pit Boys, yeah, yeah, that sort of thing. Um and I was like, I really want to do this, and they're all doing it on Webbers. So I I bought a really crappy kettle from um Argos, and I I tried to recreate it, it just no, it just it wasn't up to scratch, it just wasn't working for me. Then eventually she went, all right, you can buy one. So I ended up getting one of those ones that's got the vents at the bottom that are like a bit like the top, where you got turn, you had three three different vents at the bottom. I was well excited over that. I was like, I started doing low and slow in there, like um I think it was uh what was it? It was some kind of uh like it was a rump or something like that. And it was terrible. Um trying to like because it wasn't the propeller type, it was like that it's going down a bit now. I don't know what about it was uh a a pain in the ass, basically. So um yeah. And after a while, after what we split up and that, I uh had a bit of extra money and I bought myself the Master Touch, and it it was a total game changer can compared to the other one. So I was like, okay. So I started doing things like Paul Pork and all that sort of thing, and learning how to do it, and that and it was wasn't coming out perfect. So I was still learning like uh the snake method, minion method, that sort of thing. And I don't know what don't know what it was, but it but on the weber, I can't seem to get perfect paul pork, but I stick it on the pallet smoker and it's perfect. And that's basically how it started, really. Like um the ex uh misses got me into it, just by showing that one little thing on this morning, and I I just caught the bug. And ever since then, I've been sort of just learning it and perfecting it as I go.

SPEAKER_04 7:22

It's amazing how catching that bug is once you see something and you feel like, yes, I I want to do that, I want to give it a go. And you're completely right, every barbecue reacts differently, you know, and it's about learning your barbecue, understanding what you've got, and putting time into it. And I think it's that confidence that people possibly don't have in investing that time in to learn, understand more, and get proper results from it. Yeah, so was it specifically those kind of YouTube videos that kind of coaxed you on to making the second investment? Or was it look, I've put so much time into this now, I need to see what I'm missing.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Yeah, it's like once I I was I was back into my dad's house and I like strip money, I thought right this this bug isn't going. Uh I need I need to carry it on. And yeah, I bought it and then like I've started watching more and more videos. Um yeah, it's like I wanted to recreate basically I was gonna start the channels, I was just gonna recreate things that I'd seen though the YouTube channels and like um put a link in their description of their video and all that sort of thing. And so right, this is what I made, I got this idea from such and such, and go from there. But then I did a few videos here and there, and then it kind of went on the back burner. Life uh did its thing. I I didn't have much time for it, and then uh eventually I met Fiona and um you see uh she just seemed to like uh the what I was recreating out of my barbecue, and once I moved in, and I ended up buying myself another Weber because we had uh I think it was I think it was Logan's birthday, and I was like, this one Weber isn't gonna cut the mustard when it comes to making burgers and stuff. I've got so many people going around. The pellet smoker isn't really great for doing sausages and burgers, it doesn't really get hot enough for that sort of thing. It's more for low and slow. So I was like, I'm gonna have to get another Weber. So I I got the uh the original one, it's like it is still the propeller, but it's it hasn't got the bucket at the bottom, it's just the tray.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Uh it's just uh cheap, easy type one. I don't I don't want to spend loads and loads of money on it. Uh I looked on marketplace, couldn't find anything that was like in decent condition. That's the other thing, is like so many people. I I see it on uh a marketplace, and there's so many webers being got ripped rid of, and I'm like, do you know what you've got on your hands? Yeah, yeah. That's that's that's like like the uh the best one of the best ones you can get, and they're like, uh, I just want to get rid of it.

Upgrading To Better Kettles And Methods

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yeah, I don't think we we've never really talked about Facebook marketplace actually, in terms of on on the podcast before, but you're right that there's such a mix of absolute trash that's on there. It looks like you know, you get some that are listing a barbecue that is probably it cost them a tenner to buy and it's been in the back garden for 15 years and it's rusted and still trying to get still trying to get rid of it, but every now and again you do get a gem that that that does come up, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 10:43

And uh long yeah I see it all the time on uh Facebook on the uh barbecue uh pages and stuff. Oh I've got I've just got this off the marketplace. I never find anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Yeah, obviously living in the wrong location, yeah. So is it three webbers now? Is that what is that what you've got?

SPEAKER_00 11:05

I've got I've got two two webbers and I've got um a navigator, I've got Pit Box Navigator 1150, what I got from my local um uh garden setter, and it it came with for with a free uh side smoker as well.

unknown 11:19

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Oh nice it it it it weren't up. That wasn't cheap, but it wasn't it was but the uh I bought the cover for it as well. Well it wasn't cheap either, it was like 88 quid. I thought just for a cover. But I I needed I bought all the uh stuff for a shelter to uh go over it. But um at the moment I've got trees behind me that are like you look at it, it's like looking into the uh Jurassic Park. Like the big long buggers and like all these little pines keep falling down onto the barbecues and that. So I've got I'm gonna have to get coverage for these now.

SPEAKER_04 11:59

I have to say, Alan, it's it's refreshing to speak to someone who talks in a realistic term about barbecuing. And what I mean by that is we'll we're lucky enough to speak to some fantastic people in the community, some people who've been on TV shows, and I think it's very easy for Owen and I to forget when you're speaking to these people who seem to have these huge resources to have some fantastic equipment, huge barbecues, gardens that Owen and I can only dream of and drool over when we're speaking to them and they show us around. But it's very possible for someone who's interested in barbecuing but maybe doesn't feel like they have the disposable income to invest to those levels to kind of get involved and get active. Is that part of the ethos of what you're also trying to put across on the channel?

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've I've even said on uh so I've so far but I've done two uh back to basics videos for the Weber. And um I've I've even said you buy a Weber, you look after it, it lasts you 50 years or more.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Not like the ones you get in Argos, which are gonna last you for a year, rust up, and then you throw it away and buy buy another one for like 150 quid or something like that. It's uh yeah, it's like it's just trying to get into people's mindset that it may be costing you nearly 300 quid, but you can save that up. It doesn't you have to do it straight away. You can save that up, get a decent barbecue, and it's gonna last you a long time. And you just gotta make sure you look after it, basically.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Yeah. And in terms of food, then so when you're sort of talking about, you know, these the the big be a back to basic series and and and aiming aiming at a a a group of people that are perhaps not so comfortable with with barbecuing, what's the kind of what's your kind of go-to food? Or what are the what are the kind of things that you're looking to cook on there to show people how easy and versatile a barbecue is?

Pellet Smokers, Webers, And Real-World Setups

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Well, I th I think we've all like the first thing we're gonna we've we've all done is a pull pork, isn't it? And um it's like it's uh because you can't get like it's uh you go to like a butcher's and uh a decent um like shoulder is like 40 quid, isn't it? It's like uh that that's the cheapest range of it. With with the um the bone inside, which you you want for extra flavour and that, and it also is like it's that graphic, oh it came out clean. And yeah, it's like I I tend to uh like uh in the future when I start doing cooks on it, buying stuff from the supermarket, so like it shows that you can get cheap cuts and you can do what you you need to do with it. Um for what you needed out of it, and it doesn't have to be breaking the bank to do it at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_04 14:56

Yeah, a big part's patience, isn't it, as well, to be fair. I mean, particularly with pulled pork or something like that. That when you first speak to people, or if you cook pulled pork for a group of people, and sometimes it takes longer than you expected, and they're asking when it's gonna come out and why, but then once you eventually get there, it's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:15

It's it's very easy for people to rush that, particularly if they don't have the experience.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Oh, yeah, the amount of time I've I've I've done uh barbecues and uh uh I think I think when I first started doing like uh like kids' birthday parties and things like that, and um I'd uh tell what time do they get in there? Uh oh such and such time. So right literally like 10 minutes before I do that, I I started getting both my chimneys going and then like put them in the end, like burgers are on, and I'm like, how long is this gonna take? I'm hungry. It'd be worth it, but in the end, trust me. But yeah, like people like never are quite impatient when it comes to uh bar like over the barbecue, they want everything now.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

But I I also think that that's why uh people tend to then use the oven, which is just upsetting.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

There's a amount of people who say, Oh, yeah, you've got to put the chicken in the oven first before before you put it in the barbecue.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

No, yeah, not at all. No, no, no. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Yeah, I've I've sort of um I have a girl at work that uh every she sort of says, Oh, I did, you know, because I talk a lot about barbecue and uh, oh yeah, no, I did a barbecue at the weekend, and I was like, You put your sausages in the oven first before you finish them on the barbecue, and she's like, Yeah, I did. And it's just like I just want to go.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Have you had that though? So they know you like you do this sort of thing, and it's like, oh, do you want to take over? Yeah, I was like, No.

SPEAKER_04 16:59

I think Owen likes to because it means he doesn't have to talk to people, yeah, and B, it breaks his heart when stuff's done wrong. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

I I I do tend to sort of stand around chatting, and then I'm like, Oh, you need to put that over there, mate. No, no, no, put it over there.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

It's like it's a can it's a control thing as well, isn't it?

Affordability, Second-Hand Finds, And Covers

SPEAKER_00 17:19

It's just yeah, yeah, especially especially when they're like annihilating a sausage and like you know, yeah, and he put that in like two seconds ago, it's been splack. Nah, I'm not eating that. But my my favourite was when I first started doing chicken, uh, chicken legs and stuff, and it was my sister actually. Um I I was quite new into it, and I'd watch people do like drumsticks and stuff like that, and uh but I'm gonna give us a go next time we do a barbecue with dad's and I put it in and she's like, Oh, it's pink inside, it's uh it's it's it's not cooked. I'm like, no, that's the smoke ring dead. I'd explain the whole uh smoke ring thing and all that sort of thing. She still wasn't convinced. Yeah, no, I'm eating it, I'm not dying.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Yeah, the middle of it's white, but the end of it's pink. That's definitely the smoke ring.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Oh, yeah, yeah. But have you ever have you ever read have you ever been to like a a uh a restaurant or somewhere that it uh says it's um a smokehouse and stuff, and you get you you have it there, and it's like nah.

SPEAKER_04 18:29

Yeah, this this has been drenched with liquid smoke and they've just tried to mimic what they're doing.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

I could do better at home. Well we went we went to um was it uh where was it? We went um Robin Hill Oh it was Robin Hill and um Isla White, and they had a smokehouse there, and uh I I went for the red smoke burger. We were waiting quite a long time for it, probably a good good like 40 minutes. I was like, this thing's gonna be stone coal by it comes to me. And I bit into it and I was like it doesn't taste smoky, there's no there's no smoke ring. I looked, I opened it up, this has been bloody grilled. When the boat came, I left a little bit and I he goes to me. Uh uh, was she not not happy? I was like, no, it wasn't really like as as appetized, it was like you know, like it's nice not smoked at all. I said I'll I I do this sort of thing as a hobby, and there's there's no smoke ring, doesn't taste smoky. Oh, I'm very sorry, didn't get me money better.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

So it it it would you say that the sort of poor pork is your is your go-to then in terms of uh the thing that you cook most frequently, or or that that's just kind of what you started to try when you uh when you first got it?

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Um that's basically what I started trying. I I basically I went uh I I did my first pulk pork and I thought, all right, well this is it's kind of okay. It's not pulling as I want it, it's not gonna stelting in my fingers as I'm uh squeezing it. But then I thought, can I do pulled lamb? So I tried doing pulled lamb. That kind of worked. And yeah, so I I try I just kept trying doing like other bits of meat that was like trying to pull it together apart. Uh some people said, some people wasn't uh I think a lot of it was uh luck. Uh um, yeah. I think for the kids it's more poor pork, they like the poor pork. Olivia, uh uh uh Fiona's eldest, uh, she likes she's very much. Oh, it's not the pork pork that I normally have, it's got it's it's got to be swimming in barbecue sauce. So like I said, well, it's the fat the fat gives it the flavour.

SPEAKER_04 20:51

Yeah, I like uh Owen and I always say we uh we pull it, serve it as it is, have sauces on the side if you want to do that, but always please try it before you sauce it first because it's a different experience compared to what people are used to in the UK if they go to a harvester's or a Frankie and Benny's or or anything like that. And I I think it's when we have people over for barbecue, Owen and I, sometimes it's fascinating to watch their minds be blown by how different it is to anything else that they've had before. Um, or mainly when they walk in and see some of the barbecues that Owen have got, and that just knocks them to six anyway.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Yeah, well, pork's I've really gone off. Me and my me and my wife have really gone off the poor pork. Yeah, I think I think um probably 2020, 2021, or whatever, you know. Really, kind of when we're getting into smoking and all that, I think I just overdid it. Just I did so much pork pork. You know, like it was probably about three or four years ago, wasn't it? That pork pork was everywhere. Oh, yeah. You go to a cafe, every bloody sandwich was a pork pork sandwich, and that yeah. I just think I've got to the point now where it's a bit meh. Yeah, do you know what I mean? Like when you've had something so much, you kind of lose it. Same with brisket. I think if you we could we got to the point where we were having brisket too much, and then I've kind of haven't had it for six months. Uh no, you crave it, and then actually, and then you love you know, and you really appreciate the taste when you you and I think kind of poor pork's the same, but I'm now getting to the point where even if I'm craving it, I sort of turn around to the wife and say, Oh, should we have poor pork? And the kids, and none of them are interested. So it's like a lot of effort for me to just have a handful of pork.

Back To Basics Ethos And Longevity

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Oh, yeah, that's the I think that it does you do it so much, it ends up getting boring after a while, and then you end up going back to sausages and burgers.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

I I mean, I don't again, I I I know we've said this before. I I still I don't think there's anything wrong with sausages and burgers, they're a good staple. Oh, yeah. Most most people like them. Um but it is nice to do a bit of variety.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think the uh so far the best uh sausages and burgers that I've I've I've seen that are like at a good budget is the ones from Tesco's when they like suddenly the barbecue season comes, you know. And all that they get their jumbo sausages out, and uh they're uh like they get a pack of uh uh ten like burgers that are not frozen for once and not got like chopped up onion in it, so yeah, an after burp. Um and that they're those are quite nice to do indirect, and like they're quite juicy as well when you finish them. But like especially the sausages, they really take on the smoke. Like, and I don't even have to put any like chunks of wood on it or anything like that, it's like just the the um the coals alone. When I I started off because I I couldn't really fold wood chunks or wood chips at the time, so I was just using um a bit like the minion method, uh, but I've run unlit coals at the bottom and just chuck some lip coals on the top. Because the whole black smoke thing of it being before you know they got the YouTube channels, oh no, you can't you can't do that, you can't have the black smoke in the it's it's it's not good. Uh it doesn't make your food taste oracle or not. I I'd love it. We've all done a snake method, and it's all the same bloody thing, isn't it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

If you've been looking or thinking about an outdoor kitchen, then look no further, Naoes Outdoor Kitchens. They are the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists. Their extensive show room is based just outside Bournemouth on the Dorset Hamletshire border, and as well as a numerous in-store displays, also features a live outdoor kitchen where they cook every week on Camado Grills, pizza ovens, and all filmed and shown on YouTube.

Go-To Cooks, Pulled Meats, And Patience

SPEAKER_04 24:59

They offer a wealth of knowledge on how to transform your patio into the most incredible outdoor dining area with styles and options to suit every budget, and you can guarantee they will be able to create something perfectly suited to you and your home.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

They stock and supply everything that you're gonna need for outdoor cooking, including barbecues, camado ovens, pizza ovens, outdoor fridges, and every accessory that you would need to become the ultimate outdoor chef.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

So if you want to make yourself the envy of your friends and neighbours, get in touch with them today to arrange a consultation and take the first step in transforming your back garden into the most incredible entertainment space. Visit aoskitchens.co.uk, let's um let's talk a little bit about methods because it's something that we haven't really gone in depth on the barbecue podcast about really in the past and some of the methods that you're talking about. So for anyone who's new, can you talk us through standard setup on a kettle? Minion method, snake method, and where people tend to go wrong as well.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Um, well, minion method, I'd say is probably mostly for like the smoky mountain, because this you got more of a you you're gonna cover the bottom of it. Um I've never owned one, but it's like I can imagine it's based on a lot of the time I think minion method is a smoky mountain because uh it's like um an easier way for a snake method with, but instead of like covering the whole thing, and you you put on a few in the middle and it's not working its way out, like the snake method, but it's slightly different. Um but that's where I think on that one, people can go a bit too over uh nutty on it and they'll put a whole chimney's worth of hot coals on top.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

And uh even though the heat's rising, it's still gonna light those really quickly if you've got loads of them on top. So you really need like just uh a bit like if you do the snake method, burn a few coals so it's like like a handful of coals have them in the middle, so then it will just disperse out slowly. A bit bit like the uh slow ins here, really. It's kind of like the minion method and the snake method, you're gonna but you're just putting it on one end. And with the snake method, um, if anybody doesn't know, it's um you're basically doing like a half circle of uh briquettes. Uh it does take a long time and it can be quite frustrating because they won't stay where you want them and that sort of thing. But I saw a video on someone else's video that made it really easy. Just put just put a vortex in the middle, just put all the gold.

SPEAKER_04 27:48

Well, when I had a kettle a long time ago when we were first doing the podcast, that's what how I used to do it.

unknown 27:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:54

Just vortex all around the outside, chunks of wood every so often, light one on one side and just let it go around.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

But yeah, it's uh that's an old one. Um that's the easy uh an easier version of it if you haven't got the patience and that's stackable. Um, because I I've I've been there for about an hour before just trying to get the bloody thing to stay. They never come out perfect, like the American um charcoal, it's all perfect shapes and all that. Um and then yeah, you just uh light a handful of of uh brickettes until they're grey and strategically sticking into one end, and that just acts like a fuse and it just slowly goes round, but it's really good for keeping a low temperature of 250. So you're not having to uh bugger about the events a lot. I I found with the uh the snake method. It's just um you I've I think on the web, I've not really had a great success with Paul Pork. Uh I think if it was a heat deflector I could put on on it, which you can kind of get now, because you can get the Komodo thing to go in the web it now, can't you? Um it has like a deflector plate which will stop that heat from hitting it as much. So probably if I bought one of those, it might work out, but I've got the pellet smoker now. Sonic. Um so yeah, it's it doesn't work out for everybody, but um it's it's one of those things you just gotta keep trying, trying and try again until you die you have your own little method of doing it, really.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

So, Alan, one of the things that we hold dear on the podcast is uh obviously if you're you know you're talking about inspiring people and wanting to go back to basics. Now, not everything does go well. So we'd love to talk about barbecue fails, the things that haven't, and hopefully there's some funny stories. But um have you got have you have you got any uh barbecue fails that you want to share with the group?

SPEAKER_00 29:57

Uh oh yeah, um a recent one. Uh what was that?

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Where'd you start?

Sausages, Burgers, And Smoke Flavour

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Where'd you start? Um the recent one was on was on the pellet spoker. Um I I uh found that it uh in in the middle where you've got the igniter, it it's too hot. And uh things were cooking way too uh fast. And I'm like, this is dumb but before dinner time. I'm like, what's going on here? And I had it really low as well. I I searching through YouTube, what can I do with my smoker? Oh, you can get a deflector thing, and it costs you about£100. Oh, lovely. Uh I've got this deflector thing, it's the shaped like a youth, and it just goes over the uh like the igniter and it just disperses the um the heat, and someone actually did a test on it putting bread all along the um the grill, and after a while they just turned them around and it showed where the all the hot spots were. So they did it before they put the deflector in, it's all in the middle, it's all burnt, and then they put it on it and it's all like evenly uh like toasted, look quite good. So I thought, I'll get one of those. And I bought one, put it on there, did uh a pulled pork, and uh nine o'clock it was still going in in the evening because it was that bloody good, it was like it was just making it even slower and slower. So now if I do anything like uh um a brisket or something, I have to do it literally 10 o'clock at night the night before and just have it from then going all through the night, all through the day until dinner time. Because uh I found it uh if you keep it uh try and keep it at the lowest you can, uh you just wait until you get to the store.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

And uh and then I what I nicked off uh Ted's barbecue, uh I use the uh the foil boat.

SPEAKER_03 31:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Um carry on, and uh then after that it gets further up, I then completely wrap it because it's the bark can only get so barky.

SPEAKER_03 32:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Um and yeah, I I I just found doing that little method of it, uh, it seemed to uh work out. But yeah, that first time, yeah, we we weren't eating until probably about midnight. So I I had to put it in. Uh I'm I had my own little cooler that I bought from Tesco's years ago when we were going to Dr. Chestnut, and um yeah, I had to put it in there that did the whole thing with the um like the tea towels and everything, and yeah, didn't work. It couldn't have been that much of a cooler, really, because it didn't really do a very good job. It was stone cold when I got it out. But the heat up in the in the uh in the oven. It didn't really pull very well either.

SPEAKER_04 32:58

Have you got it done? Yeah, so um two, one of them first purchasing related. So I got a um Angus and Oik uh voucher as a gift not that long ago, and I'd be mean to spend it for ages, and I spent probably half an hour, 40 minutes going through looking at all because you you can buy like the four-pack gift sets, as it were. So I was like, right, I'll put money in that and I'll pick four different ones. And classically, I spent ages going through it all, and I picked like four of the main ones that I tend to get day in, day out, because I just I know I'm gonna use them. Yeah, bought it, and it was about half an hour later. I went, I didn't use the voucher back on. And I was like, look, I'll just I'll just use the voucher on like one or two just uh end up getting it. So they did very well out of me getting a a gift voucher.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

You leave the bags and the boot, isn't it?

Methods 101: Minion, Snake, And Control

SPEAKER_04 33:51

Literally, like it was about half an hour later, I was like, I haven't even got the voucher out, so I couldn't have used it. I just sat down and started scrolling. Um, so there was that. But the other one is um I did a breakfast, uh cook breakfast recently on the Blackstone and kind of flat top, got bits and pieces going on and there, and cut the lid off or took the lid off, uh can of baked beans, stick it on there to heat up. And then when I was ready to take it off, I didn't think I just picked up my bare hands, didn't go very well. That that hurts, by the way. That really hurts. Surprisingly, metal conducts heat quite well. Um I know it shocked everyone, but it's just one of those moments where you're sorting stuff out, and I hadn't actually done the beans like that in the tin before. I normally decant it into a pan or something, so my brain didn't even engage with the fact that it was on the heat, really. Yeah, um, particularly as I had it on the right by itself, and everything else I had on the left and was sorting that way, so that was um not my finest hour to be fair.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

I mean, we've all had the Superman um uh moment where we think we can hold something hot, yeah. Oh, I can hold this.

SPEAKER_04 35:09

No, it's like it's one of those things where your brain tells you you should probably let go of that before you actually let go of it, and you think, What why am I still holding this? It really hurts.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Yeah, but uh it's it's one of those things when you don't realize it, it's like that's a bit warm. Yeah, yeah. Where's that coming from? No, uh when you you know your your burden's part of yourself and you don't know what it is, it's like I can feel that, but where is it on my body?

SPEAKER_04 35:44

What about you, oh have you had any uh barbecue fails recently? Uh no, Mr. Pipex.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Uh no, yeah, mainly because I've I've not had I've I've been uh away quite a lot and uh had a few things on, so I haven't actually done much in terms of barbecuing. Although I just again a bit of stupidity. So I've been making some bacon recently, so I bought a loin, uh, and I did some maple, I did I did three different flavors. So I did some maple bacon, uh, I did another Guinness bacon, and then um Dan, I've spoken to you before about Smokey Rebels Miami Mojo rub, which is like a spicy, citrusy sort of type flavour. We love it. So we we enjoy it so much that I bought the catering pack twice, it's like over a kilos worth. Uh so anyway, uh so I've I've spent two weeks curing these things.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Uh I've then taken them out, sort of patterned them all down, uh, tied them up with kitchen twine, yeah. Uh ready to be hooked onto in and in the fridge to dry out for a week. Anyway, do it all, put it all in the fridge. As I'm putting the the the last one in, I've somehow knocked the first one. It's slipped out, it's slipped out of the twine and then gone on the floor.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

So I've five second roll.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

It was almost like, oh god, I'm gonna have to wash some of the bloody flavour off now. But you know, two weeks of work and uh I drop it, I bloody drop it on the floor.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

So it's very disheartening, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 37:26

It is, it is so it was a quick wash, leave it to dry, leave it to dry out for a few days, and it's all sliced and backpacked now. But um, yeah, it's just when stuff takes time and then you just do something so simple.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Yeah, and you spent all that money on the rub as well. You see all these different like barbecue uh people that pit miles to rex, and he's got loads of uh different loads of different arrays of like rubs and stuff like that, and he makes his own rubs and that, and I'm like, it would cost me a bleeding fortune if I bought all these all these spices. I generally don't make my own rubs because it does because I start two quid a bleeding little thing like that. I'm like, nah, I'd rather just go on Amazon and buy one.

SPEAKER_04 38:14

I tend to have three or four in rotation, oh yeah, and then once one finishes, I'd be like, right, I'll try something different, unless I'd really, really loved it. I mean, I'm my wife and I are obsessed with the Greek um Anglican oink rub, forget what it's called, but it's for doing like gyros and stuff like that, and and Slovakia, and we absolutely love it. So uh it feels like that's pretty much on subscription order at the moment when we go through it and use it.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

I had to recently buy one that wasn't so spicy because uh I I bought uh Barbecue Pit Boys SVG off Amazon uh to do a brisket and that wasn't brisket, it was it was I did it on ribs, and I think it was saying, Oh, it's too spicy. And then and then uh mum came around and they stepdad and mum came around and thought, oh no, yeah, it's he's a bit too spicy for me. So I'm like, oh when you come around next, I'm gonna have to find one that's not so spicy. So I've I found an all-purpose one. Um I think it's uh something church or property. Yeah, something like yeah, it's an all-purpose, like it's got a cow that's like a priest sort of thing. And uh yeah, that uh it was nice, but it was very, very salty. Uh I find I find a lot of rubs that I I buy, it's got too much salt in it.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

And we were literally talking about this maybe three, four weeks ago. Yeah. We don't know if it's like a British flavour palette, or if it's just uh we we cook so much ourselves that we're not used to what other people put in, but you've got to be so careful what you get because it can be so so salty.

Barbecue Fails And Fixes

SPEAKER_00 39:58

Yeah, and you end up the next few days constantly uh trying to quench your third so that you can't.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

Yeah, definitely. Actually, I I think it's probably a good time to bring us on to uh barbecue bingo while we're talking about ingredients. So uh Alan, I'm gonna share my screen. Yeah. Um, and for people listening, I'm the uh on the screen we've got a list of ingredients, um, which I'm hoping you can see. Um, yeah, these are all ingredients that have been left by previous guests. So in effect, what we will gonna want to do in a moment is we want to spin the wheel, whatever it lands on. We'd love for you to cook a dish with said ingredient, um, and then also for you to leave something for for for the next guest. So you know, as you can see here, we've got everything from scallops to frog's legs to white pudding to blue cheese, alligator. Uh, you know, that may be a bit more.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

You want to see my missus' face when she heard you say half of those things?

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Um but there there is one in particular called my signature dish. Obviously, that would be your signature dish. So if it lands on that, uh, what would what are you best known for? What would you cook?

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Well, I did I did ask uh Fianna this, and I thought I I don't really have a signature one, but uh lately people seem to like my brisket, though, especially a stepdad. I did one for Logan's birthday, and it I I I got one burnt end, I didn't tea the rest. Uh it was a popular. So I'm I'm guessing the brisket really at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

Yeah, sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

It's a good answer. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

Cool. Okay, right. Let's give it a spin then and see what you get.

SPEAKER_04 41:42

Sort of interest, you're talking about burnt ends there. Would you say that yours is like uh you're known for brisket in particular, or like the burnt ends are you more popular for in the house?

SPEAKER_00 41:53

Yeah, uh, it's uh I think it was just the whole brisket reel. I I got the burnt ends because it's a bit master privilege, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 41:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. Well, I don't know if you've barbecued this before, but liver is what's come out.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Never done liver before.

SPEAKER_04 42:06

Lots of different things you could potentially do with it. I don't know if your brain goes anywhere if you go the classic kind of liver and onions.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

I'm not a big fan of liver myself. Uh no. Um I can I can have a look and I can uh see what I can do on uh I can search the web and see.

SPEAKER_04 42:29

Make like a smoked pate or something.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

Oh yeah, I suppose I could do that, yeah. I've got I've got a blender.

SPEAKER_04 42:35

I've also I've said that out loud with no knowledge at all about how to make pate. However, it's smoked, smoked pate might be something to look into. Smoke it, blend it.

SPEAKER_02 42:46

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

Uh yeah. Um, yeah, yeah, ponder on that one. Um, but what wouldn't once you do, uh post it on Instagram and uh tag us in and we'll we'll we'll repost uh what you do create. So uh what what are you gonna leave for the next one? Are you gonna uh next guests? Um are you gonna do something nice, strange, horrible? Uh what are you gonna leave?

SPEAKER_00 43:14

That's a that's a trick question. Uh I'm looking at half of these and not uh kangaroo, it wouldn't be good over it.

SPEAKER_04 43:23

Uh oh no people have been quite harsh recently when we've been speaking to them. It's vindictive, if anything, which I can't say that I'm angry about. I think it's quite funny, but um, there's nothing wrong with going with something more basic for people to have a go on.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

I go like kind of uh weird for most people, but it's I've heard it's nice. I've not tried it myself. But uh beef cheeks.

SPEAKER_04 43:45

Yeah. We've spoken about that a few times. It's Owen's nemesis beef cheeks.

SPEAKER_00 43:50

Oh, is it?

SPEAKER_01 43:51

I've never tried it myself, but uh I've done it a few times, just I just can't get it right. It turns out like wallpaper paste. Oh, is it just you know when the fat and the sinew kind of breaks down, it just goes all too bloopy. I I must take it too far, I don't know, but it it's I I could honestly put some wallpaper up with it.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

I I recently did a um oxtail because I saw uh other people had done it. Uh I think it was on Chad's Barbecue I saw it. I was like, Oh, there's so much meat on there. And I I bought some. It was an online uh butcher, I think it was like George and Turner. And um yeah, I gave it a go. There was there wasn't very a lot of meat on there, but it looked like it had more meat in it before I cooked it. Yeah, that's the last video I made.

unknown 44:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

Well, Alan, honestly, it's been uh it's been really good to have you on the podcast as we kind of come towards the end. Is that is there anything else that we haven't covered yet that you'd like to discuss? Um, if not, give yourself a tell everyone where they can find you and and and and see what you're cooking. Give yourself a shout out.

Rubs, Spice, And Salt Balance

SPEAKER_00 45:01

Uh well I'll do the shout-out first. Uh it's uh um totally awesome barbecue. I'm on um Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. So if you do TikTok, so I I don't do a hell of a lot on TikTok and Instagram. I always end up cooking something and forgetting to take a photo of it. But uh yeah, it's mostly YouTube, really. I d I do uh I I use Instagram and uh TikTok mainly for the uh the following and subscribe to the channel. Uh but yeah, yeah. Uh totally awesome barbecue on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. But my my question to you is, and I've been thinking about this all week because I'm working and listening to your podcast. Um Americans have got their own thing of like people see that and go, Oh yeah, it's an American barbecue. What in this like what could what we actually do in this this for this country that uh sets us to another level that someone says, Oh yeah, that's that's a barbecue that I see for me that's that's almost an impossible question to argue. Because we're we're named for burgers and sausages, isn't we?

SPEAKER_01 46:15

Well uh well I th I think we are I I think we are if we if if if you talk to someone that doesn't know barbecue, yeah, but I think if you talk to someone that does barbecue, I think we're probably more versatile in what we cook. So, you know, I I think obviously with uh you know with a lot of American barbecue, right? If you go to Texas, you'll probably end up gonna get some hot links, you're gonna get cornbread, you're you're gonna get you're gonna get some ribs and you're gonna get some brisket uh or some smoked turkey, etc.

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

But I think I think what we're good at here is using our barbecue probably in a more versatile way. So we will pick breakfasts, you know, we will do baking on the barbecue, we will do the Americ the American style, but at the same time, we'll probably crack out a curry. I I just I I just think we're probably there's more of a fusion of style.

SPEAKER_04 47:14

Yeah, 100%. I I totally agree with that. And um for for examples, um, one of my favorite Instagram accounts for barbecue of all time was Urban Street Tree, but it's now the smellier of smoke. Uh, Dan Catford, we were lucky enough to have him on an earlier episode of the podcast. But the things that man does on a barbecue, but it's all about blending different flavors, being more colourful and playful and experimenting. I think for me, British barbecue is similar to the blend of our natural cuisine in the fact that we're much more experimental, I think, as a nation with playing with flavors and we're more accepting of different flavours. Um I think if you're maybe American, you don't know much about British cuisine, you go meet and two veg. But actually, you come over here and there's a big argument for putting forward that chicken tikka masala, for example, could be a national dish for us, you know. It's a it's a curry, but it was created in this country for this country, and we embrace lots of different flavor profiles. And Dan's Instagram there is a good example of it. Spice punch as well, does really interesting, exciting things with the different flavours and taking a little bit of from here for inspiration, take a little bit of there and smashing it all together. And so I think fusion barbecue is what I would describe British barbecue as.

SPEAKER_01 48:39

Yeah, yeah. That but that being said, though, I mean uh that that being said, I think um uh I I would I'd be disappointed if we couldn't be renowned for cooking a roast dinner on the barbecue.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

Oh, yeah, yeah. That's one of the quintessential things of us is a Sunday roast. Um and uh I see so many, especially on TikTok, I see a lot of Americans saying, Oh, but English food is so bland, and have you been over yet?

SPEAKER_04 49:11

Yeah, it's exactly that, right? Have you been over here and have you tried it? Or have you just done read stuff online?

Barbecue Bingo: Liver Challenge

SPEAKER_00 49:16

Yeah, exactly. And then they they go, Oh, beans on toast. And I uh I don't really like the idea of that. They get they're going and uh I was like, well, you know, they try it and they're oh yeah, actually, this is quite nice. But you can you can't beat some beans on toast, can you?

SPEAKER_04 49:35

Particularly if you smash some Worcestershire sauce on there. Oh some extra ritual, grated cheddar, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:42

Yeah, yeah. They can't say uh uh what's the what's the sauce probably can they what's the sister sauce, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 49:49

What's the sisters in this sauce? That's what they call it.

SPEAKER_00 49:53

Or Worcestershire Shire.

SPEAKER_04 49:55

Yeah, exact exactly. Um, but like Owen says, uh every Christmas now I do my meat on the barbecue, and depending on who I've got coming over on Christmas Day, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

Yeah, I'm actually doing uh barbecue for the first time here for Christmas.

SPEAKER_04 50:12

Um it's a game changer, I would say flavour-wise, it's an absolute game changer, and it's nice to be going in and out personally for me that I enjoy that. Uh stick the stuff on the night before, you're laughing in the morning.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

Yeah, if you only have stepdad's well excited because I was it we we did duck, didn't we? And we did um uh gammon and I did it on the uh pellet smoker, and uh he took he tried a bit of each. Went, this what we have at Christmas, is it? He's like, I have some of that. He keeps going on about the duck, but uh, he didn't really seem like we sold him many times that there wasn't much meat on the duck. What I thought was a really nice uh breast of meat, it was rockard. I thought, yeah, it tastes nice, but it's there's not a lot of meat on it.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Yeah, ducking duck is quite expensive, and you don't get a lot of meat squash.

SPEAKER_00 51:06

It was just one of those experiments that I just I just I wanted to try duck.

SPEAKER_01 51:10

Yeah, yeah. There we are. Yeah, anyways. Uh Alan, as I said, really good to have you coming on the podcast. Um, thanks so much for joining, and um, we'll we'll catch up again soon. Absolutely, can't wait. Thanks so much, Alan. Thank you very much. See you later. Cheers now. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. That's it for another episode of the Meet Greet Barbecue Podcast. Thanks so much to Alan uh for coming onto the show. Again, another insightful episode, really good chat. Um, if you want to go check out Alan's uh channel um on YouTube, it's totally awesome barbecue. Uh he's also on Instagram. As ever, we want to hear from you. Please do get in touch with anything that you want to talk about on the podcast. We do always want to hear what you want us to talk about. Any questions that you have, do reach out in to any of our social channels. Um, but until next time, keep on grilling.

SPEAKER_04 52:15

Today's episode of the Meet and Greek Barbecue Podcast is brought to you by AOS Outdoor Kitchens. They are the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists.