Having toiled under a canopy of Michelin stars – at Rhodes 24, Chez Bruce and Pennyhill Park – Neil Rankin was a founding chef of Barbacoa, a Jamie Oliver operation presided over by "the daddy of American barbecue" Adam Perry-Lang. The restaurant marked the consolidation of a British taste for US-style barbecue, where the source and quality of the meat is as important as the "low and slow" technique. Rankin has been slaving over hot coals ever since, as head chef at Pitt Cue Co, John Salt and now the Smokehouse in Islington, north London.
His kitchen is an industrial maze of chimneys and furnaces, but Rankin is adamant that barbecue is, at heart, a low-tech discipline, no more macho than baking. "Everyone wants to see flames and fireworks, but barbecuing isn't like that, it isn't sexy. It's about low heat, gentle cooking, patience, time." For Rankin, it is an amateur's pursuit, best enjoyed at leisure with loved ones. "You can cook much better food at home than you can in a restaurant," he says, and is a mine of advice for realising this ambitious claim: lumpwood charcoal is best, rather than briquettes, which smell bad. For smoking, big chunks of wood are preferable to chips, which burn too quickly. Coals should only be partially lit, so they burn longer and provide a range of heat across the cooking surface. Most importantly, the chef must differentiate between direct cooking – a grill set immediately above hot coals – and indirect cooking, in which the heat and smoke travel and cool before reaching the meat.
"If you really want to enjoy barbecuing, then slow-cooking gives you much more satisfaction," he expounds, tongs in hand, "that's how it becomes a hobby. Sticking a couple of ribs on a barbecue on a Sunday, then sitting around with friends drinking beer; that's what cooking is to me.If you could bottle that and put it in a restaurant – and I don't think you can – you'd get two Michelin stars."
Napoleon PRO22K
22kg, h107cm, w60cm, bbqworld.co.uk, £233.99
"I've never seen these Napoleons before, but I think it's one of the best. It's a kettle-style grill: one cooking surface, with the airflow coming from the bottom to the top. If you wanted to do indirect slow cooking on it, you'd just have to move the coals to one side and cook on the cooler half.
"It's big enough to cook for 20 or 30 people, or a topside of beef for Sunday roast. It feels very solid, and the composite handle doesn't conduct heat even when the grill is scorching hot. But what I love most are the thick, cast-iron bars, which are hinged so you can easily add charcoal.
"For what most people want – steaks, burgers, sausages – this is ideal. For smoking, it's probably not as good as a tower barbecue, it would be harder to maintain the right conditions, but you could still do it."
Verdict A serious hobbyist's barbecue, with a professional cooking surface.
Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker
Small 18kg, h79cm, w38cm, bbqs2u.co.uk, £239.96
"The Americans call this the Weber Bullet, and it's really for slow smoking. You put charcoal in the bottom, with some wood to add flavour, and the heat and smoke have to travel around the sides and cool. There's a bowl in the centre, which you're supposed to fill with water to add moisture to the smoker. I think if you need extra moisture it's because you're overheating or overcooking stuff, but it works well for pork ribs.
"This would be brilliant for smoking big cuts like a large côte de boeuf. You could colour it on the direct heat and then switch to the indirect smoker for 40-50 minutes so it's medium-rare with that smoky flavour. Or you could cook a whole brisket and spend the week eating it; put it in sandwiches, make a pie. I just like it."
Verdict It keeps the heat well, and it's thoughtfully constructed.
Landmann Tennessee Smoker
24kg, h110cm, w108cm, landmann.co.uk, £169.99
"This is an offset barbecue: you fill the smaller chamber with coal and wood, the airflow comes in through the vent, cools in the main chamber, and leaves through the chimney. Alternatively, it can be used as a direct grill, with the left section as a 'firebox' to keep your charcoal hot, so you can keep topping up the fuel in the main chamber. It's a really good system.
"It's made of thinner material than the Napoleon and the Egg and it's only got tiddly bars, but for slow cooking it's excellent: brilliant for ribs and briskets. There's loads of space – it could fit three pork shoulders or whole birds. You just have to keep adding wood and keep it closed up. If you wanted a cold smoker you could feed a tube from the chimney and pipe the smoke into a box with some trout or salmon. I just enjoy cooking on something like this."
Verdict Once you're over how fancy this looks, it's a really fun thing to use.
BBQ Tower
26kg, height 101.5cm, width 41.2cm, bbqtower.co.uk, £170.99
"I get what they've done – they want to save space if you've only got a little balcony – but I get the feeling it's been designed by somebody who doesn't cook. They've misunderstood a fundamental principle of barbecue: airflow: it's about limiting the amount of oxygen to keep it going at a particular rate. The lower two sections of this are completely open to the air, so only the top bit is really useful – the rest is messy and awkward. I'm showing a bit of bumcrack already but you can image your dad leaning down here and putting you off your barbecue instantly."
Verdict It's not terrible, but they need to come up with a better idea.
Big Green Egg
Medium, 43kg, h69cm (without base), w46cm,biggreenegg.co.uk, £700
"The advantage of this over the others is it's ceramic, so it holds the heat and it's incredibly controllable. With one handful of charcoal you can cook for 20 hours at a consistent temperature, so it's the only one you can easily cook pulled pork on.
"The ceramic platesetter inside can be used as a plancha to cook pizzas, fish or burgers. The other way up, it creates a slow cooking environment by acting as a heat barrier. You can even use the Egg like a tandoori oven. Take the grills out, get the heat right up and throw stuff right in there with the coals. Aubergines, fennel, crabs; anything you can peel when it's ready.
"The only trouble with the Big Green Egg is it's so expensive. But it's is the only one sturdy enough to be used in a restaurant kitchen."
Verdict If you're only going to cook twice a year, then this is a bad idea. If you want something for life, it's brilliant.
