Fire up the barbecue in the Bay

BIGGEST IN NZ: The Big Smoke BBQ Co. owner Mike Jeffries uses a three-tonne barbecue (plus two smaller units) for his mobile catering business, the appliance can cook up to four whole pigs at once

The Kiwi barbecue is getting fancier and pricier as new gas models replace our old portable charcoal units. Is the barbie losing charm as we move the entire kitchen and caboodle outside? Bay of Plenty Times reporter Dawn Picken spoke with local grill masters and retailers to learn whether bigger and newer means better.

Visit Gate Pa's Lee Pearce between Christmas and New Year, and you'll likely find him cooking outside.

"We do leftovers out there. We take all the stuff outside." Pearce uses a boat-style gas barbecue with a lid. He says it's compact and portable.

"We bought a small one so I can put it in the car and take it with me, as opposed to a big one, where you have one place to use them."

Pearce says he cooks not just steak but kebabs, small hams, plus the occasional pizza and fish. He also grills most of his vegetables, mixing them with oil, garlic and seasoning first before putting them straight onto the barbie.

In addition to barbecue duties at home, Pearce is also a chef tutor for the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic's hospitality programme. Pearce says the same rules apply for cooks, no matter the setting.

"Grilling principles are the same whether you're indoors, outdoors... It's just a different heat source."

He says a common mistake home cooks make is oiling the barbecue before placing food on it.

"Oil burns really quickly on a hot surface like that, so when you put it on, you have a residue of fat that spreads all over the barbecue. I oil and season the steak at the same time, so the oil's attached to the food."

Pearce says it's about slowing the burning process, and even chefs are changing how they grill.

"It used to be leave it on one side for half the time it needs cook, then turn. Now, chefs are turning steaks more often so it doesn't burn on one side and allows heat to transfer through."

He says another common mistake is loading up the barbie straight away, which causes heat loss.

"You need it nice and hot to create caramelised meat. Especially when you go to the beach, you see lovely barbecues, but they don't have a lot of heat because people load them up and they slow the cooking process right down."

Modern grilling encompasses much more than sausages and meat.

Professional chef Peter Blakeway demonstrated that while competing in the inaugural New Zealand Gourmet BBQ Championship in Mount Maunganui in June. He won the gas division.

"I was fairly certain everyone would be doing large lumps of meat with a sauce they'd had handed down from generations of internet users. I did a full Indian banquet with six dishes, including naan bread and a whole boned trout."

Blakeway says barbecue cooks are capable of doing "astonishing things".

"Your cooking has to be in tune with an aggressive heat course. An aggressive form of anything takes more skill, yet in New Zealand the vast majority of barbecue kings have the least cooking knowledge in any one family."

Peter Blakeway teaches young diners how to cook steak on the barbecue. Photo/George Novak

Blakeway says it's generally the bloke with a beer in one hand cooking steaks while someone in the kitchen produces the main meal.

"We can do so much better than that by using the barbecue in a way that highlights its advantages. It can bring a huge amount of value and entertainment and family quality time because we're all outside together."

Another Bay barbecue pro, Mike Jeffries, cooks stockyards of meat on what he says is the country's largest barbie.

Jeffries, who owns the Big Smoke BBQ Co, says his three-tonne engine-shaped, Texas-made appliance can cook four whole pigs at once and 200 steaks an hour.

"I do more low and slow. I'm more into charcoal and wood-fired, whereas most Kiwis, for convenience, have gas grills."

Jeffries advises home cooks not to rush.

He says his favourite meal, pulled pork, takes up to 13 hours to grill.

"We do it year-round. It's just the whole thing of lighting the fire and kicking back and sitting round with a few friends. Beers and barbecues are not just for breakfast, anymore."

Local retailers tell 48 Hours sales of barbecues, especially gas models, are steady.

4 Seasons manager Matt Hasson says Canadian brand Broil King is popular. 4 Seasons' website shows the range starting at $399 for the single burner Porta-Chef model, up to $4499 for the Imperial XL, which features six stainless steel burners, including side and rotisserie burners.

Those who want to go all out can spend $18,000 on a full outdoor kitchen.

Hasson says, "I think it all comes down to what you're doing on the barbecue. If they're using it more, people can justify spending a little bit more. People will say they've had Broil King for 15 years. It's more of a 10 to 20-year investment when you buy a Broil King or Weber, rather than a cheaper $300 barbecue that lasts two or three years."

Mitre 10 Mega supervisor Richard Baird says Broil King is also popular at his store, with New Zealand manufacturer Masport a close second.

The Gate Pa retailer also sells pizza ovens ranging from $500 to $2400. Customers with smaller budgets can pick up a portable charcoal barbie for about $70, or a baker's stone for $199.

"It works off the heat of the barbecue and does pizzas. It's become pretty popular. You can also cook bread and do steaks on it," says Baird.

Matua's Isaac Weston invested $650 and five days building a brick and concrete pizza oven with help from his dad.

Weston says the size oven he wanted would've cost about $4000.

"There's no way my wife would allow me to buy a pizza oven for four grand to use 10 times a year. It's probably 1200kgs. It's not going anywhere - it'll be sitting in the garden for many years to come."

HAVE BARBIE, WILL TRAVEL: Gate Pa's Lee Pearce says he likes the portability of his boat style gas barbie. Photo/George Novak

The former chef says the oven can take two hours to heat to 500C and cooks an amazing array of food.

"I use it for smoking and cooking pulled pork overnight and lots of slow-cooking. I do pizzas, which are good to feed the masses. People love making their own pizzas. It takes about 50 seconds for pizzas to cook."

But speed is not the aim of outdoor cooking, according to Lee Pearce and others 48 Hours spoke with.

"When we're inside, we tend to eat, clean up and move onto the next activity. Outside we're sitting together longer so we're connecting in and around food better. It's also attached to memories. That's what we do on holiday, which is a good feeling. Outdoor eating facilitates all that."