Our home has always been the hosting venue for family barbecues thanks to our sizable garden. And they really are the highlight of my summer, having everyone round for a few cocktails and a burger or two with music playing on the Echo Dot.
So when meeting up to socialise was illegal during the pandemic, our throng of 10-15 family members and five dogs in the garden quickly dwindled to my parents and I, with our two greedy Staffy crosses begging for an overcooked sausage. It took the sparkle out of it quite a bit.
It hit my mum pretty hard, really, not being able to have my siblings round to host them for tea, along with their partners, children and pets, nor could my boyfriend just pop round for a bite to eat.
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This summer is the first where everything really feels back to ‘normal’ for the most part, without restrictions or caveats of social distancing. But our barbecue had taken a bit of a battering having been abandoned up the corner of the garden for 18 months.
We’ve probably spent a small fortune on barbecues over the years, £100 one year, £150 the next, because they just don’t seem to hold up too well in the frost or rain, with strong winds and storms bowing poorly made legs in on themselves.
But to welcome the warmer weather, celebrate the return of family garden parties, and enjoy some al fresco dining, we’ve now got a Landmann barbecue I’m convinced will outlive me, so we’ll never need to buy another barbecue again.
The Triton Maxx 3.1 - 3 burner gas BBQ is an investment at £629.99, but in the last five years or so, we’ve probably spent the same on cheap charcoal barbecues that inevitably end up in the back of a scrap van.
It arrived in a huge box, I half hoped it would be pretty much set up and ready to go, but despite wishful thinking, it took my dad around four hours to leisurely put it together. With help from a second pair of hands, it could have been done in around two, he thought.
He built most of the Landmann inside the house before carrying it outside to add the cupboard doors and side pieces.
Once it was all set up, mum, dad and I headed into the garden to admire my pops’ handiwork, and the Triton Maxx 3.1 BBQ really is a thing of beauty. It’s undeniably impressive and really looks the part - I’d say it actually looks more expensive than it’s £630 price tag.
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The barbecue offers some pretty impressive features you simply don’t get with bod-standard charcoal barbecues, with three adjustable stainless steel burners with automatic ignition to allow for the alteration of cooking speed and temperature.
Once we’d figured out the type of gas bottle we needed for the kit, it was easy to attach and fire up, ready to christen it with its first burger of the season.
We set the barbecue up on the patio and allowed it to heat up before we started laying down meats. There’s a thermometer on the front of the double skinned hood of the barbecue which lets you know when it’s ready to go while the lid itself retains heat within the BBQ.
Lifting the lid, grillers can find a cast-iron grill, which Landmann say are more durable, cook faster and retain heat longer. They added: “It distributes it [heat] more evenly, food sticks to it less and it’s an all-round better grilling experience.”
As we were testing the BBQ for it’s first run, it was just the four of us dining in the garden on this occasion - my parents, my partner, Jake, and myself - with the two dogs still very much begging for scraps.
We’d been to Aldi to pick up the essentials, including four burgers, eight sausages, bacon, cheese halloumi and added extras such as pickled gherkins and sauces. We placed the meat straight onto the cast iron grill, which has enamel coated steel flame tamers below to protect food from getting burned if fat drips onto the burners while cooking, and put the halloumi on some tin foil and drizzled it with honey.
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The BBQ has a stainless-steel infra-red side burner which Landmann say is ‘ideal for searing steak to perfection’, but we also thought it would be handy to save it for diners with allergies or dietary requirements, as my niece and nephew both have dairy allergies, while my sister is vegan, meaning we can keep their food totally separate.
The food all cooked surprisingly quickly, but evenly. In other words, we weren’t all standing around holding empty plates asking dad when the burgers were done, because they only took about 7 minutes to cook. We popped them on the enamel coated steel warming rack while the sausages, bacon and halloumi finished off
The family all enjoyed a plate of freshly cooked food from the barbecue, all of which was perfectly done, alongside salad, onions and added extras.
Cleaning the barbecue was really easy with a removable fat tray, and what’s more is that because it’s gas, our clothes and the laundry that was hanging out to try didn’t smell like a bonfire either.
The Landmann - which comes with a five year warranty - was an absolute dream to cook on, and certainly won’t blow away in the next storm. While it does weigh in at a hefty £629.99, it’s worth every penny. It’s big enough to cook for around eight people, should you be throwing on sausages, burgers, lamp chops and more meaning guests won’t have to wait too long to get their helping, making it ideal for big families or those who love to entertain.
You can get the barbecue for £520 at Wickes, which is the cheapest we've seen it on offer.
