Indirect cooking on a premium gas barbecue

What is Indirect cooking?

The indirect cooking method is used for roasting, baking, and low and slow cooking. Food is not cooked directly over a heat source but instead relies predominantly on convection heat, where the hot air created by the fuel source circulates around your food, cooking it evenly on all sides. 

Indirect cooking is recommended for foods that take longer than 20 minutes to cook to completion —for example, larger cuts of meat, like whole chickens, whole joints of meat, pizzas, and baked foods. These generally don’t need to be turned at all during the cooking process.

How to set up your premium gas barbecue for indirect cooking

We have tried and tested for every barbecue model to ensure you have the correct settings and instructions to achieve the best results. For the specific settings suitable for your barbecue, please refer to your user and recipe guide or quick start guide. 

Open your barbecue lid, ensure your cooking grills are in position (removing any hotplates), turn the gas on, then light all burners as per your owner’s manual. Set your burners to the recommended preheat setting, close the lid, and leave the barbecue to preheat for the directed time, generally 10-15 minutes. 

Once the barbecue has preheated, for most indirect cooking, we recommend cooking with the outside burners on, positioning your food in the centre of the barbecue, with the burners underneath turned off.

Recommended preheat and cook settings

Depending on what you are cooking, there is a range of indirect heat preheat and cook settings to use for the best results. Refer to your handbook or quick start guide for the preheat and cook settings for your barbecue.     The indirect heat temperatures below can help you determine the best cook setting for the food you are cooking.    

Indirect Medium-High Heat: (230°C to 260°C) 

Indirect medium-high heat generates intense roasting temperatures, ideal for dishes like chicken wings and racks of lamb. It’s also perfect for starting a pork roast, helping to crackle the skin, before transitioning to indirect medium heat for the remainder of the cooking process.  

Indirect Medium Heat: (190°C to 230°C) 

 Indirect medium heat is the classic roasting temperature, perfect for cooking a variety of meats such as whole chicken, leg of lamb, roast beef, and root vegetables. It ensures even cooking and brings out rich, savoury flavours in your favourite dishes. It is also the best setting for baking breads or pastries. 

Indirect Medium-Low Heat: (170°C to 190°C) 

Indirect medium-low (170°C to 190°C) is the baking setting. It is fantastic for baking cakes, biscuits, puddings or brownies.   

Indirect Very Low Heat: (105°C to 135°C) 

Indirect very low heat is a cooking method used for cooking at low and slow temperatures. This method is best for secondary cuts of meat like ribs, shoulder, shanks, or brisket, which become tender and succulent after hours of slow roasting.  

Hot Tips

• Avoid using baking trays or roasting dishes, as cooking directly on the grill allows your food to cook faster, become healthier by letting excess fats escape, and develop more flavour as the fats and juices create smoke. It’s also cleaner - no extra dishes to wash - and reduces the risk of flare-ups. 
• When arranging food on your grill, leave a small gap between each piece to allow air to circulate evenly around the food.

Our favourite indirect recipes to get you started

Simple Roast Chicken >

Duck Fat Potatoes with Rosemary Salt >

Roasted Leg of Lamb >