Hi Everyone,
At a competition cooker buddy's reccomendation I recently purchased a PK360. What a machine! For indirect low and slow, this thing just goes and goes. Have done brisket, ribs, pork butts with outstanding results. This thing will hold 225 for 6 hours+ without being touched. However, I was wondering if I might get some advice on best results for two other types of cooking.
1. Direct cooking: Those coals are hot hot hot! I have trouble not burning fajitas and burgers and other items cooking direct with the lid open. Would it be safe to say that you just can't cook direct over charcoal on this grill with the lid open due to the short distance from the coal basket to the grill? It's only a few inches so just a single layer of briquets is only maybe 2.5 inches from the top of the coals to bottom of the grill grate. Closing the lid tamps the coals down and I'm guessing that's how you do it. Does it just take practice to maintain a good direct grilling temp?
2. Indirect High temp roasting for items like Chicken/Turkey: I really struggle to hold above 280 degrees. Even using a chimney fully lit and then letting another half chimney light on top on the right side and leaving all vents open the grill will usually spike up to 325, but within 20 or 30 minutes will stabilize between 250 and 280. Closing the right top vent about 1/2 way (direct side) and leaving everything else full open seems to yield the best results. Leaving everything wide open seems to drop temps about 20 degrees. I've tried lump mesquite and Weber and Kingsford Briquettes. I've cleaned out the ash and tried both with and without a basket, but nothing seems to make much a difference. I would love to be able to get it really hot for a pizza or other high temp roasting, but it seems like maybe this just wasn't designed for that kind of oxygen flow.
Anyhow. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!
At a competition cooker buddy's reccomendation I recently purchased a PK360. What a machine! For indirect low and slow, this thing just goes and goes. Have done brisket, ribs, pork butts with outstanding results. This thing will hold 225 for 6 hours+ without being touched. However, I was wondering if I might get some advice on best results for two other types of cooking.
1. Direct cooking: Those coals are hot hot hot! I have trouble not burning fajitas and burgers and other items cooking direct with the lid open. Would it be safe to say that you just can't cook direct over charcoal on this grill with the lid open due to the short distance from the coal basket to the grill? It's only a few inches so just a single layer of briquets is only maybe 2.5 inches from the top of the coals to bottom of the grill grate. Closing the lid tamps the coals down and I'm guessing that's how you do it. Does it just take practice to maintain a good direct grilling temp?
2. Indirect High temp roasting for items like Chicken/Turkey: I really struggle to hold above 280 degrees. Even using a chimney fully lit and then letting another half chimney light on top on the right side and leaving all vents open the grill will usually spike up to 325, but within 20 or 30 minutes will stabilize between 250 and 280. Closing the right top vent about 1/2 way (direct side) and leaving everything else full open seems to yield the best results. Leaving everything wide open seems to drop temps about 20 degrees. I've tried lump mesquite and Weber and Kingsford Briquettes. I've cleaned out the ash and tried both with and without a basket, but nothing seems to make much a difference. I would love to be able to get it really hot for a pizza or other high temp roasting, but it seems like maybe this just wasn't designed for that kind of oxygen flow.
Anyhow. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!
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