Great price to stock up for summer BBQs. Works out at $1.24 per kg. Bunnings sells only the 7.5kg bags ($12.98 or $1.73 per kg) so no pricebeat unfortunately. Starts September 16 and runs two weeks. Stay safe, and enjoy :)
½ Price 4kg BBQ Heat Beads $4.97 @ Coles
1200
tightarse on 14/09/2020 - 14:35 shop.coles.com.au (1866 clicks)
Last edited 16/09/2020 - 19:43 by 1 other user
Last edited 16/09/2020 - 19:43 by 1 other user
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thnx bot
like the price but am trying to remember if these are the briquettes I got last time (purchased at bunnings). Can't remember the brand but I had a LOT of trouble getting enough heat out of them when using them in my bullet smoker, ended up having to combine them with charcoal whenever using it. Anyone else tried these and comment on how good/bad they are?
Excellent for low N slow. Not so good for high heat. I use these in my weber with the slow N Sear. Half bag lasts 8 hours at 225F.
But if you want to crank heat look elsewhere
Mind providing some more details about the Slow N Sear - where you got it from, how much etc?
I have heard about them but not really clear on if/how they are better and would be really keen to hear more
ThanksI use these for ribs, they last much longer than most other brands
Got it from adrenaline BBQ company about 1.5-2 yrs ago. They are the makers.
it's basically a supercharged charcoal basket… Thicker and bigger with a removable water well. I just got a fibreboard and fan for the kettle too and with those I can maintain 225f with ease.
There are plenty of review vids and how tos.
For me, strongly recommended.I'll have to check how much I got it for when I'm next on pc.
225F.
107.222C?
Yes.
You're possibly referring to Hot Shots from Bunnings? FWIW, I've tried a number of brands - Hot Shots, Weber, Redheads, Matador - and I keep coming back to Heat Beads. I've found them to be the longest burning and overall best quality of the lot. They fire up in no time in my chimney starter. Again, just my opinion. The only ones I'm yet to try are Kingsford, probably due to the higher price point :)
possible. You always think you will remember the brand to not buy again, then a year or so later you can't remember. Whichever one it was it struggled to get beyond about 80 degrees heating the water bath in the smoker. A similar amount of charcoal would quickly have it at 100 degrees+.
PS: I guess at this price I can just give it a go.
A good trick to get up to temp quicker is to add boiling water to the pan rather than cold. This means the energy generated by the burning heat beads is spent heating the smoker rather than the water. I use heat beads almost exclusively with a smokenator 5000 and they have to be well lit and ashed over before you drop them in. I set eight alight in a chimney and that has served me well over the years.
@Illtemperedseabass: yep I already do the boiling water trick, works a treat for lump charcoal, was not able to make the heat beads I had maintain temp though, will grab a bag of these for my next smoke to see if these work better (this weekend).
@tightarse I've been using Weber briquette for all my L&S but a lot of people recommend Heatbeads, at this price point, will definitely give it a shot. How difficult is it to get it lit and whats the ash like compared to weber's?
There's a number of ways to L&S cook. My favourite is to load up 25-30 briquettes across one side of the BBQ and put a single fire-starter at one end along with a couple of wood smoking chunks for flavour (pre soaked in water). Provided the beads are closely meshed together, they'll light fine. The ash has never been an issue for me across any of the brands. Hope this helps :)
Nah Heat Beads are the same. Good for low n slow but if you need to push the heat at all they are crap.
I have a fireboard with fan control and even that can't control the temp at even middling temps. Has no issue whatsoever with lump charcoal.
Garbage for searing as well.
Have compared multiple varieties of Kingsfords (seems to be the go-to briquette on lots of American BBQ forums) to Heatbeads and can confirm that Heatbeads burn for longer and hold temps more consistently in my ProQ bullet smoker.
Personally I use a steel deflector plate from JG, can easily hit and maintain 160 degrees required for smoking poultry no problems with Heatbeads. If you guys are using water it's going to be very difficult to go over 130 and it's going to burn through fuel extremely fast no matter what kind of charcoal you're using.
Tried these out a month ago on my bullet smoker too using the minion method. My cook struggled to maintain even 200F for some reason and ended up with a dozen or so partially burnt briquettes in the basket. They also take a lot longer to light than I'd like. Next time I won't get impatient and will let them get ashy in the chimney starter as well as use more than the 12ish I started out with.
I'm new to smoking and have only tried Kingsford briquettes so far. Kingsfords light much easier, produce billowy white smoke in the first hour, burn out much faster than Heat Beads and costed way more at $24.95 for 7kg (Barbeques Galore). I had absolutely no problem dialing in the heat/temp with Kingsfords so my first try with Heat Beads threw me through a loop. I'll nail it next time.
Don't know about minion, but I use these all the in a Kettle with the Snake method and work a treat, the trick is the cold coals overlap (on top) of the lit pairof coals. I usually use four hot coals to start.
exact same problem I was having, but I had them well and truly alite and full ash covered before putting them under the water bath. ended up having to compensate with charcoal to get heat. I have run my smoker more times than I can count but it was my first few times with briquettes and it left me very frustrated for the first few hours of each attempt with them, basically since then I have stayed with charcoal which I have no trouble with long 12 hour slow cooks/smokes.
Hey mate you guys wouldn't be using water in the water pan would you? That's usually why people have trouble getting their temps up in a bullet smoker.
I don't use any water in mine, just wrap it in foil for ease of cleaning. I'll dump about a 500ml in during the cook if temps start spiking but that's it. If you jump on the BBQ groups on FB you'll find this is how most people do it.
Also on an 18" Razzo I fill the charcoal basket up to the brim, take about half a chimney out from the centre, light that then dump it back in. I let it sit for about 5 minutes before putting the rest of the smoker back on. Then it's all vents open till I hit about 210f, then I start closing down the bottom vents till I'm sitting at about 280f with all bottom vents 1/3 open and the top vent all the way open.
@Cheaplikethebird: yeah I do use water, when using with charcoal it maintains perfect temperature, it is only problematic with the briquettes, incidentally I am also using the Razzo for last 2 years. I find without the Water you have to keep a really close eye on it as temp can runaway really fast. I try to run at a lower temp to you though, prefer around 225 max and a slow cook of around 10-12 hours with the first 4 hours or so with smoke then wrapped in foil for the next 8 hours
@gromit: Oh wow we're all using the Razzo haha. Same, I use water in the water pan. I'll try using an empty foil wrapped pan next time. Got a lot of work to do! The meat is a bonus!
@Jeffu: Both of you should jump on the Fornetto Owners Club on FB. It's a really great resource, quite a few guys from the bbq teams on there.
@gromit: Yeah 225, 280 it's all BBQ, you just bump through the stall a bit quicker on the higher end of things which helps avoid your cook time blowing out.
When you say you're using charcoal usually, do you mean lump charcoal?
@Cheaplikethebird: yes lump charcoal. will go and have a look at the owners club. bought my brother one last xmas as well, they are an awesome piece of kit for the price.
Never had any issues with these when cooking on our homemade, firebrick spit.
They're great as someone said for longer cooks where you can get the most out of your meat.
Like the other commenters have said, these are good for low and slow. Recently did an overnight smoked brisket and these held temp at 95c for 8 hours after dialling in the temp.
Don't expect these to get as hot as other briquettes though, and they do need a bit more time to get going.
How is the shelf life on these? Is it ok to stock up and keep in the garage for a year or two? Or do they degrade over time
Shouldn't be a problem if left unopen in an airtight bin.
I find that they absorb moisture over time and dont burn as well as they should. If you're going to store them for an extended period in a shed etc, make sure they're not lying directly on the floor as that seems to exacerbate the problem.
I've stocked up on these (20 bags) when they were $5 a bag at Woolies a fair while ago. I store on shelf in garage. haven't had a problem. Keep them dry and if possible air tight shouldn't have anything to worry about it. Like some others above I use a bullet smoker (Fornetto Razzo 18 and 22) , Weber 22 kettle and Weber Go Anywhere. I use these with combination of the Heat Beads Lump also. For my bullets I use something called a "SmartFire" (google it) which used a fan to regular the air into the pit very stable temps for a very long efficient burn. Once I'm done with a cook I simply starve the pit of oxygen to save the remaining fuel for next cook. Little tricks would be to use a clean empty paint can to transfer lit coals and put lid on to starve oxygen. Next cook just mix previous fuel and top up with new. The older fule lights up easier as well for minion method or for SmartFire to regulate. This IMO is best bang for buck.
Sweet just grabbed a weber, will give these a crack!
FYI, prices on these have slowly been increasing over the last 2-3 years. I remember buying a box of 4 from Bunnings for as low as $16, and also individuals from Coles/Woolies for $4.50. I usually buy about 20 packs once a year.
Yes I remember when $16 for a box of 4x 4kg. stocked up on those!
stocked up on those!
whabbbout now?
Oooh, can't wait to do the coal walking.
Can't wait to do coal shower.
Those in Melbourne's Bayside who are looking at buying Coal for BBQ.
Just so that you know there's a crazy thing happening with councils and proposal to ban Solid Fuel fires:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/nonsensical-bays…
https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/news/hold-fire-banning-solid-…
For those thinking of stocking up and living in Bayside. Just be aware of this nonsense.
Wow!!
I much prefer the blues (heat beads coconut shell) as they burn much cleaner and hotter, they've worked better for me doing both hot & fast and low & slow with minion method. At almost half the price though I might grab a couple bags of these.
link
Should just use natural wood. Light up quicker and give a better taste coz of smoking.
linkk
great timing. was at bunnings yesterday and just kept on looking at the larger bags and thought too (profanity) large.
I was going to stock up but now I don't know. I've got a Masterbuilt 560 so I need something that can cook low and slow and also handle getting pumped up to 370°C depending on what I'm cooking. Might have to do more research
Don't bother with them. Even with fan control they suck at getting to good temps.
How much did the 560 set ya back? Was chasing one a while back but availability wasn't there yet.
Barbeques Galore had it on sale for $999 down from $1300 as an introductory price. It's more than I would normally pay for something like this but when I saw the outcome of the reverse sear steaks I forked it out.
So far it's been fantastic so far but I've still got a lot to try on it
Why are Summer BBQs a thing? It's hot as shit already so you don't wanna be standing outside next to a furnace. Plus fire bans as well.
You're assuming it's the worst day of summer that people would be doing this on. Mid to late afternoon when the sun is behind the trees and the weather cools down. A slight breeze or the start of a late storm and standing on your verandah with a Bourbon or beer cooking good food is heaven to me
That's why you hold a beer.
Or you are in Melbourne where the heat is beautifully dry and the evenings are cool and pleasant. No icky humidity, unless you hit that rare 44 degree humid day like early this year.
I love cooking bbqs! Awesome Smokey meat mnnnnnnnnnn mnnn mmmmmmmmmm
Bunnings will match price per kg.
7.5kg @ $9.30 thus $1.24 per kg
Thanks OP, knew this was coming when I saw pallets of the stuff in store :)