Cobb Barbeque Review
Thought I'd post a review of the Cobb BBQ, which I use loads when I
canoe.
A Cobb is a BBQ with an insulated base. The massive advantage
of this is that the base stays completely cool while you cook, so you can stick
it back into the canoe as soon as you've finished cooking and not worry about it
melting a hole. I've moved it about while its been alight, and also regularly
cook with it sitting on top of a wheelie bin.
FUEL. The
Cob uses heat beads (you can buy them in Tesco). I always use 7-8 heat beads,
which fit nicely in a small contents bag. You also need a couple of firelighters
to get them going. It's much less fuel to carry than you'd need for a normal
BBQ.
LIGHTING. To get the Cobb going you put the firelighters in the
bottom and the heat beads go on a circular grid that sits on top of the "fire
pit". Here there's a bit of a problem. You face a choice of trying to light the
firelighters through the layer of heat beads, or lighting the firelighters then
trying not to get burned putting on the heat beads. A pair of tongs would solve
this problem but I never take any! Having said this, I've never burnt myself so
its not that bad.
Once the Cobb
is lit it flames quite a lot as the firelighters burn up, so it shouldn't be in
a tent at this point! It's ready for cooking after about 30 minutes. Also,
because of the firelighters it makes quite nasty fumes while they burn up - I
have lit it indoors in a camping barn when the weather was too nasty to go
outside, and it made a thick black fug that floated round the ceiling... Outside
its not a problem, and its ok inside once its cooking-ready.
Cobb flaming
outside Swallow camping barn in the Lake District.
COOKING. As well as
cooking like a normal BBQ it's got a few handy features. There's a "moat" round
where the heat beads are. If you put water, wine etc in the moat it'll steam
your food. You can also put veg in the moat, though I haven't tried this. I have
roasted potatoes on it by par boiling them then making a foil bag for them and
sticking in some oil and herbs and putting the bag on the cooking
surface.
The cooking surface is a non-stick plate with holes in it and
channels that any fat from cooking runs down and into the moat. The holes mean
that as well as steaming food you can also smoke it by putting hickory chips on
the heat beads and the channels mean the food ends up moist but not too
greasy.
Using the dome lid means its possible to roast big bits of meat,
including whole chickens, and I've used it like an oven to cook pizzas and
bread. As an accessory you can buy a frying pan that fits in place of the plate
so you can fry/stir fry.
It's also possible to balance a saucepan on the
grid with the heat beads on, which has little upstands so the pan doesn't
directly contact the beads. It'll boil water in a couple of minutes, and means
you can also cook sauces, beans, soup, etc.
There's a variety of
accessories you can buy, such as a thermometer, roasting rack, griddle, etc. Its
also easy to buy spares.
It's important to note that the dome lid gets
very hot even though the base stays cold!
CLEANING. Here the Cobb loses a
few points. If you follow the guidelines of spraying the whole thing with spray
oil and pouring water into the moat and putting the lid on once you've finished
cooking most bits are easy to clean, as they effectively steam clean. The
problem comes when it comes to cleaning the base. Here you've got a moat filled
with greasy sludge surrounding a pit filled with ash. It took me a while, but I
found that if I use the contents bag that I brought the fuel in to scrape the
ash into the base is then easy to wash in hot water. If wild camping I use a
fistful of kitchen towel to get the sludge out the moat, then wash it (this way
avoids getting greasy sludge into lakes etc).
Admitedly it isn't the
easiest thing to clean, but once you've worked out a system it's be fine. Every
so often I spray all the parts with oven cleaner, leave for a few hours then
clean, which gives it a good spring clean.
STORAGE/TRANSPORT. The Cobb
came with a bag for it to go in that's very sturdy (it depends on the package
you buy as to whether the bag is included. I recommend you get it). If you're
going to move it as soon as you've finished cooking though because the lid will
be hot it can't go straight back into the bag. I haven't found this to be much
of an issue.
Before going on a trip I always split heat beads and
firelighters into contents bags, each with 8 heatbeads and 2 firelighters,
enough for 1 cooking session. You can get 10 or so of these bags packed into the
Cobb in its bag.
I haven't tried cooking with the Cobb in the canoe yet,
but on a still day I think you easily could. I think I'd put it on a seat rather
than on the bottom of the canoe while it was flaming so that the flames wouldn't
blow into the side of the canoe. You could then move it into the bottom of the
canoe once its ready to cook. You'd also need to make sure there was somewhere
safe to put the hot lit while you tend to the food, or to be on the safe side
cook without it.
Here's a couple of photos with it in the canoe, once in
and once out its (round black) bag. Sorry they're not ideal for a review - I
wasn't aiming to photograph the Cobb at the time!
PRICE.
Here's the bag bit. The Cobb isn't cheap. It costs £75 with a standard plastic
base, or £80 with a stainless steel base that apparently also stays cold like
the plastic one. The bag and accessories are extra, or can be bought in bundles.
The heat beads cost about £5 from Tesco for a bag that you'll get about 15
cooking sessions from.
CONCLUSION. Okay, it's expensive and not the
easiest to clean. But I LOVE it! I love going out for a paddle and stopping for
a quick BBQ lunch, then sticking it back in the canoe 2 minutes later. I love
being able to bake bread, cook pizza, roast potatoes, boil and fry things on it.
I love being able to put it on a wooden table or plastic groundsheet while I
cook. It's also good for car trips for the same reason - it can go back into the
boot as soon as you're done. Its the perfect size for one or two people.
Although you can buy really cheap BBQs, the Cobb's features mean I use it a lot
more than I would a normal BBQ, and the quality means it'll last for years of
use and abuse.
FOR MORE INFO...
http://cobb-bbq.co.uk/ - UK
http://www.cobbq.com/ - USA
http://www.cobbcanada.ca/ -
Canada
This review was first posted on our forum so if you have any comments or questions post them HERE