Casa Libelule is an electricity-only property so cooking is a bit of a frustration, electric hobs being what they are. So, as well as a BBQ, which really needs to be gas to avert any fire risk in the tinder-box-dry Spanish hillsides, I was interested in a flexible cooking solution [arghhhh!]. Space is another issue in that we don’t have much. There are plenty of gas BBQs around but most are rather large on trolley devices and they don’t do much else. I settled upon a Cadac Carri Chef which is very popular amongst the camping community, these days.
Though I’m not sure I’d want to cart this much kit around with Guillaume, it is compact and performs a variety of cooking tasks, coming with a pot stand, a ridge BBQ surface and a so-called chef’s pan (flat surface). As an option, I’ve also bought the paella pan so this should now do both BBQs and paellas.
We carried it out in the car and it is now assembled. My next task was to equip it with a gas supply. I’d already bought a 12.75Kg butane cylinder for our room heater but I didn’t want to keep disconnecting and moving that, so I went to the local garage for a second cylinder. 12.75Kgs is a lot of gas for a BBQ but the only smaller option would apparently be the exhorbitantly expensive small Camping Gaz cylinder of about 2Kgs (it’s about the same price, I was told).
I went to the local garage to fill out the required paperwork. When I bought my first cylinder, I thought that was cheap at a shade under 18€. I nearly fainted buying this second cylinder – the price has dropped to about 13€. 13€ for 12.75 kgs! In the UK, the Calor gas maffia charge £20 for just 6kgs of propane. That’s about four times the price.
Anyway, here it is neatly tucked into the corner of our balcony, all set up and ready for its first trial with friends tomorrow evening.
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