Barbacoa Electrica

Engineer Jansen loves a barbecue. Charcoal, of course. But, here, open fires are FORBIDDEN, and thus charcoal barbecues too. A very old gas barbecue came with the house, but the insides are all rusted beyond repair. 

25 years ago we had an Ilve-Boretti (gas) stove where you could choose two options: an electric barbecue with lava stones, or a fish burner. We chose the fish burner, as burning fishes inside the house seemed more a thing to do than barbecueing. We never used the fish burner, it was just a nice space on the hob to put pans to the side.

Bosch 

What to do. Engineer Jansen is not keen on gas barbecues anyway.  Electric? Searches for Ilve or Boretti did not yield any barbecues. His engineer's eye was caught by a very nice Bosch, model PKU375N14E:

PKU375N14E

And an older model, the PKU375CA1:

PKU375CA1

He quite likes that the heating element is under the lava stones, not on top. So the fat and juices can't directly hit the very hot heating element.

Unfortunately, none are available.  Not second hand either.  That saves us choosing between a PKU375CA1 and a PKU375N14E! 

(Yes, Gaggenau has a similar one too, but we’re not going to pay €1000+ for a barbecue)

TFB4650 

Then this one turned up, the TFB4650:

TFB4650

Only found in Spain. But not in any shop. Unavailable, agotado,  Grmbll.

Wallapop

But, Wallapop, a second hand online shop, like Marktplaats and ebay had this one for €50! "Almost new". Well, for €50 you cannot complain. Ordered it, it arrived promptly, €3,95 delivery cost to the nearest post office. Only disappointment: Wallapop adds €4,40 compulsory "protection" costs to the bill.  

"Nice barbacoa you got there, gov. Shame if something would happen to it.."

You can take the TFB4650 apart:

Take the heating element out, everything else is inox, and could even be cleaned in the dishwasher!

Let's try it out! 

Big advantage is (should be) that  you don't need to light the barbecue. Just switch it on, and it's hot in a few minutes. No preparation, no mess! 

Hm, it's 2100W, so you need to unroll your electric extension cord. Can't leave it rolled up.

No mess

No mess, at all, honestly!

Chicken thigh and courgette, a chorizo, followed by waffles.

Verdict

It's not hot enough. Engineer Jansen expects sizzling and the need for asbestos suits. But, it only just manages to make the chicken skin crispy. The courgette and the waffles are reasonably okay. The chorizo was fine, chorizo needs subtle cooking, no atomic blasting. (There is no photo of the chorizo, as it was devoured before the idea of a photo happened.)

What does get hot (warm) is the electric plug. Apparently 2000W is near extension cables maximum, and also of regular sockets.

Next step: lava stones

The TFB4650 is just a heating element suspended in the air in a metal tin. Not sure if heat is reflected or lost. Lets try adding lava stones. They use them in many barbecues, so there must be a purpose. Maybe they absorb and reflect the heat, diminishing losses.

There is no room between the heater and the grid for lava stones. The stones cannot touch the heater, that will damage the element. It's just a thin metal tube with a coiled heating wire inside.  So, even though Engineer Jansen does not like that, they have to go under. There is sufficient space under the heater. So here goes:

Next try: tomorrow!