Have you come across a Cobb? We are newcomers to the Cobb scene, having first met one of these portable mini kettle barbecues while we were staying with our friends Peter and Etain in South Africa.
An unscheduled ‘load shedding’ episode threatened to put off our supper indefinitely, while we shivered unfed in a dark and unheated house but our friends were well used to such inconveniences. Candles were lit, and Peter came instantly to the supper rescue and cooked the chicken to a dream in their Cobb.
We were so impressed that upon our return from our great African Trek we immediately bought a Cobb for ourselves. This quite naturally heralded an extended period of unsuitable weather for barbecues. One triumphant evening last week enabled a tentative attempt to barbecue some sausage with excellent but undramatic results which we had to creep indoors to eat in better comfort.
This afternoon, staying in Devon with John (my brother, John Hall, who is a very talented and adventurous cook and enormous fun to cook with) the sun shone and we at last had the chance to give the thing a fair trial.
After an hour we had the most delicious roast chicken – crisp and very tasty outside, most succulent and moist inside. We sat in the sun with our chicken and salad and a glass or two of red wine, and unanimously awarded the Cobb 10/10. We shall keep it in the car, to whip out and enjoy whenever the arises.
By the way, in case you are wondering, we are a bit food orientated this weekend but the blog has not transformed itself into a food blog!
Like you, I had never heard of a Cobb. Having looked into it, I see it is good for roasts and slow roasts, but not for traditional BBQ. The chicken looks delicious!
Gill, hi from Devon! We all reckoned it was the best roast chicken we could ever remember having, although admittedly we were helped by John having bought a free range bird from a local butcher! We had done sausages the first time we used the Cobb and they were fine, but you could only do about 8 or so at a time, so it would be hopeless for a crowd. Also the special compressed block of charcoal (called a Cobblestone) lasts for about three hours so it is more suited, as you say, for cooking smaller amounts for longer. Apparently bread is good – I’ll try that next.
Marion, only seeing this one now I’m afraid.. that meal does look good!
Lovely to hear from you Tim! Have you got a Cobb? I really recommend them, and it’s so convenient being able to pop it in the back of the care or to wherever in the garden you fancy cooking/eating.