Cobb cooker

G'Day Neville, If yours is a new stainless one some one was on here the other day talking about a bag that Cobb has bought out for helping with heat escaping through the stainless wire walls. Ours is the early one with the plastic bottom and generally if they say 6 beads i will put eight or so. After using it numerous times I dont beleive you would burn any thing very easily in it so i don't beleive it hurts putting a bit more heat in there. Keep trying I'm sure that you will be happy with it once you get the hang of it. Cheers .

Neville,

Doesn't sound like you are the one at fault mate.

I suspect you may have a Cobb Premier. The one with the stainless steel mesh base. Yes?

Apparently there has been problems with these when using outside as too much heat is being lost through the mesh.
I believe the solution is to place a "bra" around the mesh to stop the heat escaping and that such a cover is, or will be, available from the Cobb distributors.

The Mark II Cobb Cooker has a solid black bakelite base and this problem is non existent. The Mark II is still available I believe and is the one I have.

I also use the self igniting Heat Beads® brand of briquettes and only use 7-8 to cook a roast. 2 Hours should be ample time.

Next time, try covering the mesh to reduce heat loss and then see how you go.

Neville,

I have a Premier which could be the same as yours and haven't had the issue's described above. Cooks roasts with ease, scones and bread without issue....I suspect that you have the incorrect beads. In the hand book it is quite adamant about what beads you should use. I bought the beads that are pictured in the manual......Hope this helps......

PS: If they say 6-8 beads, I have always used the higher number of beads..........

Gidday Neville , we have had both types of Cobb ,have the stainless one now, I agree with what the others above have said regarding heat escaping with the stainless so it takes a little longer to cook, when we do a lamb roast (full leg with bone in) we allow 3 1/2 - 4 hours of cooking time, using 8-9 beads to start with and turn roast after 1 1/2 - 2 hours, check after 3 1/2 hours to see if cooked. However if doing veggies as well we add another 3-4 beads after about 3 hours, so we take out the roast , we lift it out still sitting on the cooking plate then put the Cobb lid over the top while the fresh heat beads are firing up, once they are ready add the vegies and replace roast and lid and cook for another hour. We have found a difference in cooking time if you stack the cooking plate right up, don't know if it is because your are blocking the holes in the cooking plate therefore limiting the heat that can circulate, we normally wrap the veggies in alfoil an place in mote, then turn them after about half an hour, have found this to be quicker than loading the plate right up.

We've got the Premier (stainless mesh one) model and I'm sure we did'nt have a problem with it. Only had it a couple of weeks so far. A good excuse to try it out again over the next couple of days :))))

I reckon its your heat beads - we were told when we bought it only to use the non igniting ones - and another couple who'd had theirs for a while said the same thing - also keep out of wind as this can dissipate the heat as well, I would think this would be especially so with the stainless steel mesh ones - the only time we have had any trouble with our old bakelite based one was in very cold weather in the wind, worked ok when we put it in a sheltered spot out of the wind.
Also you have got to have liquid in the moat, it is what helps the cooking process. And put the cooking tray on to get hot BEFORE you put the meat on to it, we also put our spuds etc in foil, and put them in the moat, taking them out just before we are ready to take the meat out, put them on the cooking tray, opening the foil, to let them brown up a bit. It's sort of like par boiling spuds I think.

jules

The problem is probably the heat beads you're using. The self igniting ones are not much good IMO.

I've tried several types and only found one I really like. Can't remember the brand name off hand but can check tonight if you like. Cooked a roast and vegies last night in 2hrs.... Yummmyyyyy!!!

Hi Nev,
First up you must use the good quality heat beads this makes a huge difference. The ones they recommend in the book, you did read the book didn't you :), are the ones called Heat Beads

Secondly there is an issue with the impact of breezes cooling the oven. Mick O in an earlier post told of this fellow Klaus from infrontcamping who makes a range of canvas products www.infrontcampinggear.com.au/
At the moment he and and I are having some fun getting the sizes right but he has developed canvas bra which covers the mesh base. I used one this afternoon to cook some chicken pieces and there was a sturdy breeze blowing too. It seems to have worked very well.

I contacted him using the info email on the site and he was very prompt with his reply. A really nice bloke to deal with as well.

I also spoke to Brian Sinclair of Cobb at the 4WD Show in Sydney last Friday and he says that they are developing a similar product made from wetsuit material that also anchors the lid to the base for use on boats.
So that says they acknowledge that there is a problem and have a fix in the pipeline.

The plastic based model is now discontinued. The Premier is the one model they make now. So when (not if) you owners of plastic models break yours i guess you will have to replace it with the stronger mesh ones

Mr. Bitchie & Julie,

I have not experienced a difference in heat between the self igniting (Easy-Lite) and standard type of genuine Heat Beads® brand of briquettes.

They are both of good quality. I generally use the easy-lite Heat Beads® and do not have an issue with heat quality.

Neville,

I would have to say that 1.5 hours is generally sufficient to cook a roast (we like our meat a little on the rare side) but if I "forget" two hours or so and the meat is still moist but cooked to our liking. I also put the veggies in at the same time (in the moat) and they are not under or overcooked when the meat is ready.

So I would say the Heat Beads® brand of briquettes is the important factor, rather than whether one variation of them also has a "easy start" property added.
I have also noticed that after the packet has been opened for some time, the "easy start" capability is diminished somewhat and you are then back to a "standard" briquette.

The Easy-Lite briquettes are a little dearer than the standard type and you can only buy them in a smaller quantity. (3 kilo bag, which still lasts quite a while)

The standard Heat Beads® can also be "encouraged" along with a dose of methylated spirits before igniting, but in either case you can also whack them on a gas burner for a few minutes to get them going properly. I do this if the beads have absorbed moisture which they tend to do over time.

Nev,

I too had my troubles,
use genuine 'heat beads' get to ash colour, put in roast..vegies and cheap red in moat.......good red is for drinkin;

2 hours or so,,,,,,yum

The trick is in the heat beads...

Cheers
Michael

ours is a good one but its gotta get used in the right condition....it took me a few chooks to get it right and then some more!!!

nathan, hwmbo , reckons to add a few more heat beads, never take the lid off and never use t when its windy!!!

the only thing i can cook successfully in the cobb is porcipine meat balls!!

dont give up , just keep on cooking at home before going anywhere with it!!

Laura

It's almost too late in the thread to draw a response, but , for those with the new , flash Cobb, why not simply wrap the mesh in foil?
GEES, don't smother it, and,[ on legal grounds], please don't interpret my question as a solution. Ferdinand.

Thanks for the multitude of information everyone, I will continue experimenting.
Cheers, Nev