Buschbeck Wellington Masonry BBQ

A great Barbecue - with a few buts …..

Yes, we really enjoy this barbecue, we’ve been thinking about one for years, so decided to buy one this summer. Gardensite is DEFINITELY the seller of choice, they are by far the best price and, when you have a problem, their customer service is excellent. Delivery was OK, but realise it comes direct from Buschbeck without passing through Gardensite, so don’t blame Gardensite if there’s a problem with that. We dismantled the shrink wrapped delivery and moved the individual parts around to the back of our home - they weigh a lot! We stacked the parts and inspected them and noticed a corner off the ‘C’ shaped part and a hole where the concrete cast had been finished off. Additionally, the left hand firebrick which runs rear to front was not a true rectangle (it ran out on one side by ~20mm) so I photographed both parts and emailed them to Gardensite. The prompt reply said ‘I’ve never seen one as bad as that, I’ll contact Buschbeck’ which they did. In due course, I received a call from a bloke at Buschbeck (the sole UK importer) who did his best to tell me there was nothing wrong! I persevered as it was, patently, obvious that the firebrick was so out of true, the grill would slope down on one side. I was successful on that point, but not on the chip to the ‘C’ ring which I filled with a concrete patch and concrete dye as I didn’t want to look at that every time I used the BBQ. To assemble is no easy task, the instructions are schematic and bewildering, there are videos on the internet and I found one by a Canadian family which was very helpful. The Buschbeck videos are ridiculous, they look like they were filmed 50 years ago, the quality is grainy and unclear and gives detailed shots of blokes carving meat or pouring wine for their frauleins. Also, don’t be fooled by the vids, they make it look so easy to assemble, two guys pick up pieces at arms length and lift them above their heads - it’s just not possible, I reckon the ones they show in the film are made of polystyrene not concrete. There are no dimensions mentioned anywhere on the interweb, so I’d suggest buying the base to raise the whole thing 300mm so you’re not bending down to turn your sausages over. It took us a few days to assemble due to levelling the base and letting concrete set before we progressed, then I needed a second pair of hands to give me a lift with the heaviest parts, the whole thing assembled probably weighs half a ton, so you need strength / assistance and a sound base to build upwards from. Also, don’t try to reach up to put the parts together, I used two of those wooden crates that paving slabs come in and a couple of battens to stand on which worked well. Final dissatisfaction is - poor stacking of the parts by someone at Buschbeck meant a heavy, concrete, part was resting on the polished stainless apron at the front of the BBQ, so during transit, the parts had moved and rubbed against each other - consequently I see these dints every time we use the unit. However - do we like it? Yes! Does it do the job? Deffo! Does it do Pizzas? Don’t know, we wanted a BBQ, not a pizza oven, but they make one that fits. Are we glad we bought this model? Absolutely, we’ve used it many times already, hot days, cold days, wet days with us standing under a gazebo. Additional benefit? When we’ve barbied, I stick a few logs on and we sit around the unit to keep warm - they kick out some right heat without the outer hood becoming too hot to the touch. Hope that helps you to decide.

By Jim in Sheffield, From Tameside - Manchester, on 17th, October, 2022