ProQ RODEO KETTLE BBQ MANUAL
The ultimate guide to your ProQ Rodeo Kettle grill, this manual has everything you need to know from lighting up the fire to setting up to cook anything from burgers to brisket.
For more info, you can always get in touch with one of our experts, or visit our Facebook Group for advice from the pros.
SAFETY FIRST
- Do not use this unit with the side table in the down position. This is extremely important and could cause the table to burn.
- This unit is designed for outdoor use only. Do not use inside homes, vehicles, tents or enclosed spaces. Burning charcoal without adequate ventilation can cause fires, serious illness, injury or death.
- Burning charcoal creates carbon monoxide, which has no odour. Extinguish coals and ash after use and close all vents before leaving the BBQ unattended. Even a smouldering fire can create carbon monoxide.
- All parts of the BBQ can get hot to the touch when the fire is lit – including the handles. Always use suitable BBQ mitts for handling or making adjustments to your BBQ. Use extreme caution when adding charcoal or wood. Do not attempt to move the BBQ when lit.
- Only use the BBQ on a hard, level and non-combustible surface. Make sure there is at least 3’/ 1m clearance between the unit and any combustible materials such as bushes, trees, wooden decks and buildings.
- Do not leave the BBQ unattended and keep children and pets away from the unit at all times. Use common sense and caution when using this BBQ.
- Do not use instant lighting charcoal, or flammable liquids to light the BBQ. We recommend using a chimney starter with natural lumpwood charcoal or high quality charcoal briquettes.
- To clean the BBQ, a mild solution of warm, soapy water is all that is required. The use of abrasive cleaners or sharp objects can damage the coating, cause rust, reduce lifespan and can invalidate your warranty.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
On receiving your new Rodeo Kettle in the box, here’s what you’ll find:
- Lid – Comes with a sturdy handle, temperature gauge and vent to adjust the airflow.
- Bowl – In built ash cleaning system, lid cradle, probe eyelets, handle with hangers and a Whisper Vent
- Cooking grill – High quality stainless steel grill with folding sides to allow access to the fire
- Charcoal grate – Heavy gauge steel grate for your fire allows great airflow
- Trolley – Sturdy tripod design, with rubberised wheels and a handy storage rack
- Folding Side Table (Rodeo ST57 Model) – This beautiful side table is perfect for your tools, trays and chopping boards
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
You will need :
- A large Phillips head screwdriver
- 10mm | 3/8” Spanner/Socket
- 13mm | 1/2” Spanner/Socket
These are not included to reduce the number of single use items we supply in our products.
LIGHTING THE FIRE
Before you start, choose a safe place for your BBQ, following the safety warnings above. Decide what method you’d like to use , what temperature you’d like to cook at and for how long before lighting the fire, this will determine how much fuel you need to light.
Chimney Starter
- Open the vents in the base, take 2-3 fire lighters (or a couple sheets of scrunched up newspaper), place them on the charcoal grate and light them.
- Put your chimney starter above the fire lighters, fill with good quality lumpwood charcoal or briquettes and give it 10-15 minutes to get going.
- Once you see flames coming out the top of the chimney and your coals are turning white, carefully pour your lit fuel into the centre of the charcoal grate using some good quality BBQ mitts.
Under the Grate
- Take 2-3 fire lighters (or a couple sheets of scrunched up newspaper), place them in the base of the BBQ beneath the charcoal grate & light them.
- Open all the vents in the base.
Add a big double handful of good quality lumpwood charcoal or briquettes to the basket above the firelighters and give it 15-20 minutes to get going. - Once you see flames and your coals are turning white, top up your charcoal basket with unlit fuel & give the fire 5 more minutes to catch before setting up the BBQ to cook.
Tips
Always open your bottom vents & keep the lid off when lighting a fire, this will ensure the fire has as much oxygen as possible, and will reduce the smoke created.
If your fire is lighting too slowly, you can add a couple more fire lighters or sheets of newspaper once they’ve burned out.
CHOOSING YOUR FUEL
Using good quality lumpwood charcoal or briquettes is the key to a good fire. We recommend our premium Cocoshell Briquettes, restaurant grade lumpwood charcoal, or a combination of the two.
Lumpwood
Lumpwood charcoal comes in various forms, but for BBQ, we recommend “restaurant grade”. These usually come in bigger chunks that give you a better & more consistent burn.
Avoid anything that’s labelled “instant light”, as these fuels are impregnated with accelerants like paraffin and other chemicals that can taint the flavour of your food.
Lighting Time: 10-15 Minutes
Burn Time: 2-10 Hours
Burn Temp: Medium
Good lumpwood is 100% natural carbonized wood, it lights & burns faster than most briquettes, making it ideal for shorter cooks, but it works ok for longer ones too.
During handling it can easily break down into small pieces and dust that can reduce airflow resulting in a slow burning fire. Sometimes these unevenly sized pieces can create spikes or drops in cooking temperature which can lead to varying results.
Briquettes
We highly recommend our ProQ Cocoshell Briquettes which are an all-natural, high-performance fuel suitable for all outdoor cooking.
The quality of available briquettes can vary hugely, which can lead to varying results depending on brand.
The same applies to lumpwood charcoal, we’d avoid anything that’s labelled “instant light” due to the accelerant chemicals used.
Lighting Time: 15-20 Minutes
Burn Time: 4-12 Hours
Burn Temp: Hot
ProQ coconut charcoal is upcycled from coconut husks, a by-product of the coconut industry. It is widely acknowledged as being more sustainable and better for the environment than normal wood-based charcoal. It burns hotter, cooks cleaner & lasts longer than ordinary lumpwood charcoal and briquettes.
Smoking Woods
The basic rule of thumb is that wood chips are better for shorter cooks, whilst wood chunks are better for longer cooks. Fruit woods work well with more delicate dishes like fish or veggies, and other woods like oak or hickory work better with more robust flavours like beef – but don’t let that put you off experimenting!
When choosing woods, it’s best to buy wood specifically sold for food smoking, this avoids any risk of impurities, like chainsaw oil for example.
Chips
Chips produce a lot of smoke in a short amount of time, making them perfect for quicker cooks or adding some smoke whilst you’re grilling. Use a smoker box (or make a foil pouch) to get the most out of your wood chips.
We’d recommend no more than 1-2 handfuls of chips per cook, but you can add more if you prefer a heavier smoke.
Chunks
Chunks are a slow-release smoke source, perfect for longer BBQ or “Low’n Slow” cooks. 1-2 fist sized chunks will produce an ideal amount of smoke for around half an hour.
After putting your food on the grill, add your chunks to the hottest part of the fire for the best results. Once your chunks have burned out, you can always add a couple more.
Tips
Using the best features from different BBQ fuels can be advantageous, for example, you can light some lumpwood (faster lighting) and then add Cocoshell Briquettes as the main fuel for the fire (longer burn time).
Think of smoke like a seasoning, you can always add more, but you can’t reduce it once it’s on. Try a lighter smoke and add more to taste on your next cook.
Ideally you should be aiming for less smoke over a longer time, this will avoid acrid flavours and give you better results.
Cooking Configurations
GRILLING
Grilling is a timeless method of cooking – just food & fire. It’s defined really by direct heat as there is no baffle or barrier between the fire & the food.
Grilling can be done at a lot of different temperatures so consider the thickness of what you’re cooking and adjust accordingly.
Thinner, faster cooking food like seafood can take a higher temperature, whilst things like bone in chicken may need a lower grilling temperature to ensure they cook through completely.
DIRECT GRILLING
For thinner cuts that cook faster, we’d recommend direct grilling. Ideal for the classics like burgers & sausages.
- Light your fire using one of the fire lighting methods we described above, then pour the lit coals into the centre of the charcoal grate and add a little unlit fuel to the fire if required.
- Once the charcoal or briquettes are lit & turning grey, add your cooking grill, and pop the lid on with the top vent around half open.
- After 10 minutes, check the temperature on the lid gauge. You’re aiming for between 350-480°F/180-250°C. To bring the temperature down, close the vent in the base slightly, try a quarter closed, then a half if needed.
Tips
When setting up your fire, leave a safe zone around the edge of the BBQ to move food to if you see flare ups, this can be used to keep food warm too.
INDIRECT GRILLING
Another great way to setup your Kettle Grill is to offset the fire, so you have Hot and Warm cooking zones. This is perfect for things that you want to ensure are cooked through evenly, plus it’s amazing for reverse searing.
- Light a smaller fire (half a chimney) using one of the fire lighting methods we described above, then pour the lit coals right against one side of the bowl (usually the side with the lid so you have better access to the food).
- Add a little unlit fuel to the fire if required. Once the charcoal or briquettes are lit & turning grey, add your cooking grill, and pop the lid on with the top vent around half open.
- After 10 minutes, check the temperature on the lid gauge. You’re aiming for between 350-480°F/180-250°C. To bring the temperature down, close the vent in the base slightly, try a quarter closed, then a half if needed.
Tips
After each vent adjustment, give the smoker around 10 minutes to react to the change.
Use the lid when grilling – this helps to keep the fire under control, adds convectional heat for even cooking and will reduce any flare-ups.
Similar to indoor cooking, grilling is great when you need to sear something quickly without drying out the food.
ROASTING
BBQ-Roasting is a game changer, you can cook anything you’d normally cook in the oven on our kettle grills but with the added flavour of cooking over a fire. Ideal for salmon, veggies & whole joints of meat.
- Light your fire using one of the fire lighting methods we described above. Once lit, pour around half a chimney on each side of the charcoal grate, leaving a strip down the middle of the bowl – your food will sit over this. If needed, add a little unlit fuel to each side.
- Add a rectangular foil tray into the centre of the charcoal grate if needed, you can put a little water into this to stop flare ups.
- Add your cooking grate and lid, with the vent fully open. After 10 minutes, check the temperature on the lid gauge. You’re aiming for between 350-400°F/180-200°C. To bring the temperature down, close the vents in the base & lid slightly.
- Place your food in the centre of the grill, above the drip tray and close the lid to start cooking!
Tips
After each vent adjustment, give the smoker around 10 minutes to react to the change.
You can add a little smoking wood to the fire to give your food a lick of smoke whilst roasting.
SMOKING
The classic American BBQ setup, perfect for cooking cuts like pork shoulder, brisket & ribs low’n slow style. This method allows meat to become perfectly tender and some real smoky flavours to develop. The best way to do this in your kettle is called the “Snake Method”.
- Create a “snake” by making a ring of unlit charcoal or briquettes around the edge of the charcoal grate, with around a 6 inch gap in the circle. The ring should be around 10cm/4” thick.
- Light a handful of charcoal using one of the fire lighting methods we describe above, and put the lit coals onto one end of the “snake”.
- Add a rectangular foil tray filled with water into the centre of the charcoal grate, this will act as a drip pan, and add some moisture to the BBQ.
- Open the Whisper vent, and fully close the bottom vent. Add the cooking grill. Put the lid on and set the lid vent to around ½ open.
- After 15 minutes, check the temperature on the lid gauge, you’re aiming for between 220-250°F/104-120°C. Use the lid vent to increase the temperature by opening it or decrease the temperature by closing it.
- Add your food to the centre of the grill, and replace the lid, turning the lid 45° every 15-20 minutes to ensure even cooking.
Low’n Slow is a traditional method that helps to break down connective tissue & render fat for beautiful results from usually tough cuts of meat. Similar results can be achieved at higher temperatures (Hot & Fast BBQ). Aim for 300-350°F /150-175°C. You may need to slightly open the main bottom vent or increase the amount of charcoal you start with to achieve these temperatures.
Tips
After each vent adjustment, give the smoker around 10 minutes to react to the change.
Once your food is on the BBQ, add some smoky flavour with some wood chunks or chips – these can be placed strategically along the snake to ensure consistent smoke throughout the cooking process.
Spritz your meat with water or fruit juice to introduce moisture to the meat cook chamber, this can be done as often as every half hour.
MASTERING YOUR GRILL
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
The key to a successful cook is temperature control. The theory stands that the more oxygen your fire has, the hotter it will burn, and the opposite is also true. Some little tweaks to the vents can get your Kettle running at the perfect temperature for your cook.
In a Nutshell
With our kettles, you have 3 vents for airflow control which makes temperature control simple. Open the vents to increase the temperature and close them to bring it down.
Bottom Vent
The main vent in the base is the intake for fresh air to fuel the fire, when starting the fire, we recommend you open them all to ensure your fire has enough oxygen to get started.
Once your charcoal or briquettes are caught nicely, you can start to adjust the vents. Closing the vents will reduce air into the fire and slow the burn of the fuel reducing the temperature.
Close the vents a little at a time and allow 5 or so minutes for the BBQ to react to the change.
Whisper Vent
If you’re trying to achieve true Low ’n Slow BBQ temperatures (220-250°F/104-120°C), close the main bottom vent, and fully open the whisper vent. This allows just a small amount of air into the fire allowing you to run at really low temperatures.
The whisper vent is also the perfect size (25mm/1”) to allow you to connect a BBQ controller fan for precise temperature control.
Top Vent
The top vent acts as a brake to the airflow, closing it will slow the movement of air through the smoker, and reduce temperature drastically, usually the top vent can be left fully open, but if you find temperatures running high, close down the top vent around ¼ - ½ closed.
Tips
Adjust your vents slowly, a little tweak can have a big effect. Once you set your vents wait 10 minutes to see a true adjusted temperature.
COOKING TIPS
Use The Lid – This will create convection inside the BBQ, speeding up cooking times, increasing smoky BBQ flavours & ensuring an even temperature and reducing flare-ups.
Offset Your Fire – Put your fire on one side of the kettle and cook on the other side, this will give you a “safe zone” for cooking so you always have somewhere away from the direct heat to put your food if it’s cooking too fast.
Use The Vents – Close off the bottom vent to reduce temperature, and open them up to increase it. Same goes for the lid vent, this will act as a “brake” and slow the burn down.
Add Some Wood – Grab some wood chunks or chips and add them to your fire for a lick of smoky flavour.
CARE & CLEANING
Cleaning our Kettle Grills is pretty simple - all the parts are removeable and mostly porcelain coated or stainless steel.
Once you’ve finished cooking, close all the vents on your BBQ and allow it to cool down for at least 2 hours. It should be cool to the touch.
Grills
Remove the grills and clean using warm water, dish soap and a scouring pad if needed, then leave to air dry, or use a dish towel. Our grills are all stainless steel, so they are also dishwasher safe.
Base & Charcoal Grate
Once your fire is completely out (pop some BBQ mitts on just in case), give the grate a shake to get rid of ash & loose coals, set aside. Empty the base by moving the vent adjusting handle/ash sweepers backwards and forwards. You can use a brush to remove any extra ash in the base, then simply remove the ash catcher and empty into a bin or compost. Wipe down the outside with some warm water & a soft cloth. Leave to air dry or use a dish towel.
Lid
The Lid will only need a quick wipe down with some soapy water & a soft cloth, occasionally there will be some carbon build-up on the inside which can be removed with a brush – avoid metal bristles as this may damage the coating. Allow the parts to dry out fully where possible.
Storage
After cleaning, allow your BBQ smoker & all parts to dry fully before re-assembling & covering, then store somewhere dry like a shed or under a shelter. This will reduce mould build-up in long periods without use.
Tips
Once you’re certain the ash is completely extinguished, it can be a great addition to compost or bedding plants
It’s best to clean the grills as soon as possible after cooking, this makes it much easier to remove any burnt-on food
Don’t use harsh chemical cleaners or sharp tools that may cause damage to the porcelain coating on your BBQ
You can reuse any charcoal that’s left over to light the fire for your next cook
If you’re not using your grill for a long time, you may see some mould build-up – simply clean with warm soapy water and then light a fire inside to burn it clean
