Taste the Difference with Heat Beads

In case you haven't noticed, the quintessential Australian barbecue has undergone a change and we can thank the popularity of 'southern' style smoked meats in restaurants and cafes. Buffalo wings, beef brisket and pulled pork are just a few of these tasty treats and they are easy to do yourself.

Here at home we've had a gas bbq for a few years ( mind you, we haven't used it in quite a while mainly because it guzzles up the gas and its annoying to clean) - Seriously, who has the time!

So when the team at Heat Beads asked me if I wanted to try the good old fashioned coal bbq to taste the difference I got excited again about cooking outdoors. I was curious as to whether it did offer a noticeable difference in taste.

Heat Beads Chimney Booster & BBQ Starter Chimney - Far Left

Heat Beads are an Australian owned and operated company and I remember Dad prepping the heat beads coals to add to our home built bbq up the back when I was a kid. It always took what seemed like ages to get going!

I must admit, I had visions of us battling with rolled up newspaper and starters to get the coals hot. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that technology has advanced somewhat since I was a kid. 

The Chimney Booster and BBQ Starter 

The Heat Beads range now includes the high quality Heat Beads Firelighters and the Heat Beads BBQ Starter Chimney. The most recent addition includes the Heat Beads Chimney Booster which cuts BBQ lighting time to just 12 minutes. 

So with my Weber and Heat Bead accessories I got Pete on the case and I assisted, ahem, supervised...

Actually I marinated some delicious organic chicken wings in minced ginger, garlic, apple cider vinegar and a little raw honey. We also grilled and smoked some free range pork chops. 

The Heat Beads Chimney Booster was super easy to use and super quick! The coals and hickory smoked chips we added gave the wings and pork a delicious smokey flavour. Very different to the flavour that we usually get from cooking on our gas barbecue. 

I also found that keeping the flavours of the marinade simple allowed the smokiness from the coals and the wood chips to permeate the meat. The meat itself had a lovely subtle smokey flavour and remained tender and moist.

Preparing for deliciousness

Smoking it up

Smokey free range pork chops and marinated organic chicken wings

We served our smokey meats with a big tasty green salad of kale, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and carrot zoodles. 

Click here for more great BBQ tips and demos. 

This is a sponsored post.