Little Wombat Grows Up

A couple of years ago I wrote a review on a great little Aussie BBQ called the Little Wombat invented by Gold Coast manufacturer Grant Sampson.

Last week I got an email from the Little Wombat team asking me to update some details on my original post so I dropped by the new Little Wombat site to see how they were progressing.

I can tell you it hasn't been all roots, shoots and leaves at Wombat HQ!

In the past couple of years, Team Wombat have developed and perfected their BBQ and have now added a great range of accessories including an optional cast iron grill and griddle set, LW apron and an extra bag for camping.

The Little Wombat has been transformed into a full feature, stainless steel BBQ in an amazing compact package for use at home or on the move.

The new tag line "A unique Australian species of BBQ" points to an international focus on Canada, the USA and Europe and best of all the price is still under $300.

If you are in the market for a portable BBQ, why not check out the site and take 90 seconds to watch their video.

Disclosure: I didn't get paid for this post, I am not associated with Little Wombat, I just like and support Aussie innovation and the Little Wombat has that in the bag!

O-Grill BBQ - O for Outrageous

If you don't already have one of those single burner, gas canister driven cookers that morphed from Chinese restaurants to your camping gear about a decade ago you really should get one. They retail for less than $20 and 4 gas canisters cost around $10

Since I love my camping stove, I got really excited when Google alerts tipped me off to the release of the O Grill. A very similar item for BBQ grilling.

The O-Grill comes in 6 funky colours and is a truly portable gas grill that weights only 12 kgs. O-Grill Boasts a full 225 sq inch coated cast iron cooking grid, 9600 BTU Stainless Steel Burner and compact clam-shell design. O-grill sets up in 10 seconds, is easily cleaned and stowed and measures 20.5"x8.5"x23" (525x215x580 mm).

Ok! So how much? In the UK the O-Grill will set you back GBP149 (AUD 310), in the US you can pick one up for $US168 ($AUD240) but in Australia you'll pay the princely sum of $AUD419 for the pleasure of having an O-Grill.

Outrageous! No wonder they are scare as hens teeth on the net. My suggestion the Biji BBQ featured here last week and the single burner $20 cooker. Just as good, half the price!

Biji BBQ - Rough enough for the Bush!

I love Aussie ingenuity and when I saw this great Biji-Barbi, portable BBQ at the recent Brisbane 4WD show, I just had to have it for BBQ Bling!

The Biji is a dished BBQ plate, modelled on the Australian plough disc/shear, with three fold up legs and a practical, long, fold-up handle.

It's small, foldable and ideal for use with a single gas burner or for open fire cooking.

It is easily cleaned and stored and features a neat range of accessories including (possibly the only affectation about this no-nonsense portable barbeque) a canvas carry bag.

According to its designer and manufacturer, Tony Upton, who came up with the idea for the Biji (from "Murrumbidgee") to take on a fishing trip, up to 8000 units have been produced (in Australia) and sold to date.

The Biji comes in Large (430mm/17" diameter) and Medium (350mm/14" diameter); with or without a centre hole to drain the fat and with a range of optional flippers, bags and tools.

Prices are reasonable at $79 for the Large and $67.50 for Medium with a $10 post and packaging fee anywhere in Australia.

While it wont feed the multitudes, it's a great gift for the fisherman or week-end camper and will easily knock up a feed for a small group. Get one here!

Try putting lipstick on this pig!

We've been meaning to post a piece on the Ozpig for some time and it has been remiss of us not to feature this truly Australian bbq innovation.

The Ozpig is a portable steel bbq come outdoor fireplace for camping or caravan use.

The original inspiration for the Ozpig's barrel body was a 9kg gas bottle but these days he comes purpose built with detachable legs, chimney, hot plate and diffuser.

This type of fireplace is generically called a choofer and a number of camping sites have pages dedicated to making one at home if you don't want to stump up the $240 for a professionally built one like Ozpig.

The Ozpig is perfect for cooking everything from a roast to muffins.

Your Ozpig comes with 2 warming plates, one for cooking and the second for warming and you can also purchase a diffuser.

Pivot the top plate away and add the diffuser on top of the flames. You now have the option of two warming areas while cooking on top of the diffuser. The diffuser is excellent for toasting bread & muffins. It can also be placed under your camp oven to reduce the heat (stewing).

Having 2 plates and a diffuser enables you to keep your kettle hot on one, your chili or stew hot on another while cooking on top of the diffuser.

With a look only a mother could love, the Ozpig is a great gift for all camping enthusiasts. Weighing approximately 17kgs, the Ozpig comes with it's own vinyl carry bag.

See it most major camping and caravan shows or visit the Ozpig site.

Every "Body" Loves Halloween

If the recent spate of BBQ body disposals (California, Thailand, Detroit, Texas) has got you thinking that October 31 could be the ideal time to dispose of your gran with "extreme prejudice" and make the ultimate Halloween decoration, here's a legal alternative from Make Magazine.

Post your own ghoulish BBQ Halloween ideas while there's still time.

A Little BBQ Hygiene

Personally I have never subscribed to the "Cleanliness-is-next-to-Godliness" mantra but the occasional bout of BBQ hygiene is good for your BBQ.

Cleaning your BBQ a couple of times a year will extend the life of parts such as gas burners and grill racks while minimising visits from the local health authorities!

You'll need a strong wire brush, aluminum foil, steel-wool, sponges, washing-up detergent, baking soda, cooking oil and a six-pack! I am not so keen on chemical cleaners (either for cleaning or drinking) as it's hard to get rid of the residual taste.

First up, use the wire brush to scrub the surfaces and remove any food, marinade, spices or corrosion that have built up on the grill or hotplate.

If this doesn't remove all the grime, you may need to wash the grill racks to remove the final vestiges of last year's festivities.

Just brush off as much debris as possible before soaking the grill in a tub of hot soapy water before cleaning briskly with a stainless steel scourer. This is method is easy with stainless steel racks like those on a Weber but is also fine for cast iron racks as long as you dry and oil them after the shampoo!

On lightly soiled BBQs you may be able to get away with a light scrub using baking soda and aluminum foil. Warm the BBQ to make make grease removal easier, then allow it to cool, sprinkle with baking soda and then scrub with the rolled up aluminium foil.

Once the grill racks and hot plate are clean, you need to coat them with a fine mist of cooking oil (olive oil is best) from a spray can. This coating on the barbecue grill will keep the racks lubricated and prevent rusting in between uses.

If you use volcanic rock to spread the heat on your BBQ, this is a good time to change them as they will have accumulated a build up of grease and fat that will cause smoking.

Now, if all this seems like too much work, here are some other suggestions:

Disposable grill liners: These newly patented disposable grill covers are made of heavy duty aluminium foil.

Grillo sheet: A Grillo sheet, is a perforated stainless steel sheet to put over your grill for cooking delicate foods like fish. It has the added advantage of keeping your grill clean.

Aluminium foil: Take a tip from Life Hacker and clean your grill with aluninium foil

Onion: Another tip, use onion on your grill.

Out-source: Call someone like these guys to come and do it for you

Charcool Notebook Portable BBQ Winner Announced

An amazing 270 people entered the first Charcool Australia Fathers Day Contest to win a Notebook Portable BBQ.

Entries came from all over Australia and selecting the final winner was extremely difficult.

The entrants were to tell us what they would cook their Dad for Fathers Day on their Notebook BBQ.

Honourable mentions included:

This may sound extreme
But my Dad is quite mean
Mean with his time and money
What about a rat coated in honey?

and

Satayed steak, a snag or two
Charcooled chicken on BBQ!
Family and friends in celebration
Saluting Dad's across the nation

But there could only be one winner.

So on Sunday, David Leslie of Hamilton NSW, with his 9 siblings, their children and spouses, will huddle around their Dad's new portable BBQ to celebrate Fathers Day.

Congratulations, David.

Ariete SteakHouse Grill

At BBQ Bling we think this vertical steak grill looks more like a toaster than a griller.

According to the Ariete product page this new electric grill takes true grilling to the table: "With SteakHouse Grill, food products cook without coming into contact with their fats as is true with traditional grilling".

Hogwash! From my recollection, the fats and juices are where "the flavour lives" so something that avoids contact with them is not likely to result in a edible meal.

If you like your steak tough and dry, save the $220 and eat at my mother-in-law's house!!

Mentioned on Gizmodo .

Too Much Gaming is Bad for You!

Chill Factor 4/5

BBQ Grill "case-mod" proves link with stupidity!

From Technabob comes irrefutable proof that too much gaming is bad for you.

BBQ Bling's ongoing search for "the good, the bad and the utterly useless", hit pay-dirt in the useless category this week with the sorry tale of one poor Gamer who decided using an old BBQ as a computer case was a cool idea.

"The grill conceals a complete gaming rig, capable of pushing plenty of pixels for playing the latest and greatest computer games. Just pop open the lid, and hidden beneath the lid is a nice big widescreen LCD monitor and a powerful PC. Those glowing orange fans really make it look like the coals are nice and hot."

For some reason this story has been the toast of Blogland which confirms what BBQ Bling has noticed, there's just not much happening in the world of BBQ Gadgets at the moment.

Anyway thanks to Technabob and QuakeCon for adding a new word "case-mod" to our vocab.

If you want to see other examples of what all that hammering in the kid's room is about, follow the QuakeCon link. Or not!

Helios Solar Grill. Let There Be Light

Helios Solar Grill

Chill factor: 3/5

Or else use the retractable power-grid plug in the base!

The Helios, featured on Tuvie, is a solar power grill even if it looks like a public phone for ET.

It stores upright to keep a small footprint and easily cantilevers open and locks in place, when you are ready to cook.

In order to maximize safety, Helios designed it so that the reflective solar dish is pointed away from you while cooking.

Helios utilizes a reflective parabolic dish to focus sunlight onto a solar receptor, transforming it into usable energy.

While only a concept at this stage, the Helios (in Greek mythology: the sun) may turn out to be the future of BBQ if you can overcome the ugliness, diminutive size of the cooking surface and the time it will take to cook a meal!

Gold BBQ Seeks Sartorial Rat

Well, here at bbq bling we wish we had the budget to commission a gold BBQ so everyone would know how classy we are. You can't just leave it to them to figure it out on their own!

One of Australia's best known BBQ manufacturers Beefeater has done just that.

According to the company: "BeefEater commissioned the glittering grill (valued at over $50,000) in time for the Sydney Home Show as a wacky and fun way to celebrate recently being named the World’s Finest Barbecue."

The web site gushes on: "The unique barbecue featured a six-burner barbecue and wok burner, roasting hood and warming rack, high output burners, quartz start ignition, vaporizer grid and reflector system, all individually plated in 24-carat gold."

Since making its debut in Sydney, the golden grill has fired up barbecue fanatics across the globe, from Germany, the UK, Dubai and most recently at the HPBA Assoc trade show in Atlanta, US.

Regrettably gold is not a great material for BBQ construction and the company advises not to turn it on as it would simply turn black and give off toxic fumes.

So if you happen across a "rat with a gold tooth" let him know Gizmag found just the BBQ he was looking for!

George Foreman MP3 Grill

Chill Factor 4/5

As if the LCD-TV fridge wasn’t freaky enough, now you can listen to "Bonanza" or "Rawhide" while cooking the snags on this truly amazing George Foreman "MP3-Ready-Grill"!

Thanks to mp3monster.com and those crazy innovators at George Foreman for a real BBQ Chill:

"Squint hard!—this grill really has a teeny weeny iPod dock at its base. And a 10-watt speaker!

"MP3 Player Not Included," it says, but if the people on Foreman's product-development team were smart, they'd bundle in a tiny digital-music player that has the sounds of sizzling meat and/or George's motivational speeches preloaded. Just to keep the branding going, you know?”

At Charcool we thought it was just ringing in George’s ears!!

Post and tell us your favourite BBQ song! We're listening to Johnny Waklin's Black Superman on ours!!!