Pedestal barbecue with 100 cm Ø griddle

When you make a fire for the first time, it is necessary to keep the fire small for the first 25 minutes before increasing it. Because the plate gets considerably hotter on the inside than on the outside, it will always be concave when heated. However, if the fire is too big the first time, the plate will be much more concave in the future compared with when the fire is built up gradually. The plate has to settle. This procedure is no longer necessary after the first fire.

The barbecue works best after it has been used once or twice and the oil has been burned into the plate. This simplifies the cooking process and protects the plate from rusting when it is not being used. If you do not use your griddle for a long time, it is advisable to rub vegetable oil over it evenly every 7 - 10 days.

Type of wood:

• Choose very dry wood, because wet wood produces smoke
• Opt for a slowburning hardwood variety, such as beech. This produces large coals when the wood burns.
• Oak wood is not recommended because it burns completely to ash, making it less convenient for cleaning.
• Make sure the wood logs are not too big, otherwise you won’t have enough oxygen in the fire bowl.
• Do not use tropical hardwood because it produces too much heat, making cooking more difficult.

Protect the griddle against rust:

• Use olive oil to grease the griddle the first few times: this will give the plate a nice brown/black colour.
• After you’ve used the plate a few times, it is then better to use sunflower oil. This oil has a higher combustion rate.
• Apply the oil to both the top and the sides.
• If you do not use your plate for a long time, you should rub oil over it every 7 10 days.
• Suffering from rust? This is easy to remove with fine steel wool. If the rust is persistent, you can always sand the plate.

Cleaning

• Before putting your food on the griddle, first make sure it is clean. Fortunately, a pedestal barbecue is virtually maintenancefree. Food residues and excess oil end up in the fire.
• The griddle is easy to clean with a damp cloth.

Using the griddle:

• First make sure the griddle is clean.
• Put the dry wood in the fire bowl and light a firelighter underneath. Wait for it to get nice and hot.
• Once the fire is burning well in the fire bowl, it will take around 3045 minutes to reach the maximum temperature of 300 °C. The temperature will then be 300 °C in the centre of the plate and 200 °C at the edges.
• During heating, the plate will become slightly concave. However, this will not affect the cooking process and when the plate cools down, it will straighten out again.
• When the plate gets warm, scrape the griddle clean with a spatula. In this way, you can remove any oil or fat residues from previous use.
• Once the plate is completely clean, you can rub it with oil. Put extra oil on the area you want to use for cooking. During cooking, you can always add more oil as needed.
• TIP: to cook more slowly or give your ingredients a smoky flavour, you can always lay strips of cedar wood on the griddle.

• Let the fire go out slowly. You can speed up this process by putting a lid on the fire bowl and removing the oxygen in this way.
• Once the plate has cooled down to a lukewarm temperature, scrape it clean with the spatula and rub oil over it again. This will provide the plate with good protection against rust so it is ready to use again.
• You can easily remove the ash from the fire bowl. Make sure the ash has cooled down completely before disposing of it.