Serious Kono Test

We were determined to have a family BBQ yesterday, regardless of the weather, which turned out to be much warmer than expected.

Both the Neolithic and MkII Kono grills were duly lit at 1.30pm, about half an hour before the meal was to be prepared.

While the MkII proceeded to consume the charcoal as expected, the Neolithic remained smoky for rather a long time and appeared to 'catch' only a one end - the one with the ventilation holes.

The MkII, however, started performing like a professionally designed and manufactured item. The griddle did bow upward slightly due to the intense heat in the middle, but not sufficiently to cause any problems.

While the Neolithic took longer to reach the right cooking conditions, both performed admirably when the food was placed on them, but the MkII superseded all expectations to the extent that Hay wouldn't mind me making a 2nd one, but larger.

It coped well with sausages, chicken and all manner of marinaded veggies.

We reached the conclusion that the Neolithic requires some more vent holes at the other end of the unit to create a more distributed flow of air, but the lack of a damper might result in it burning too fast. Rather than trying to light it homogenously, it might be better to light it at a point furthest from the vent and allow the draught to pull the fire toward the holes. Using firelighters might be a solution too.

Both were still pumping out heat well after 6pm, when we retired indoors to hold surreal conversations with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law about things like 'wossisname and thingymajig - you know, the film stars who appeared in that film that I can't remember the name of; one of them was in that other film, which I also can't remember the name of - or was he?' They type of conversations only those over 60 have, where nothing is remembered clearly and everything is confused.

I may have a go at some different BBQ designs, but I first need to add to my saw collection - the next one is going to be a gas saw - or an oxy-acetylene torch, as we experts call it...