Hey all-how long do you let the charcoal heat up to cook steaks/burgers? How do you know when its ready. Chick here. Do the coals cool down-if so, how do you get the heat back up?? Getting a Weber kettle grill, looking at wood charcoal!! Excited. A bit to learn!!
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Fire up your briquettes. I use a charcoal chimney. I NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER use lighter fluid or match light charcoal. Let the coals burn until they are covered with grey ash, and you are ready to cook. Read here for lots of info on charcoal fires:
http://amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_gu...coal_fire.html
and here for grill setups:
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_tech...ill_setup.html
read up on these two articles and you will be well on your way! -
Welcome to The Pit!
I like the Weber starter cubes. Been hooked for a couple years now. I watch for the blue smoke to stop, and only heat waves are visible....then I know the charcoal is ready. If the charcoal is lying in the kettle grill (not in a chimney), you can watch for the 'ashed over' look, but that's harder, and I think not specific enough (and therefore wasteful) when using a chimney.
A half chimney full of Kingsford original, once well-lit, will burn at 325F for about 90minutes...if you monitor and adjust your vents to maintain that temp, that is. Other types of charcoal and other cooking temps will of course vary.
Check out the Slow 'N Sear for that kettle (if 22" or 26") it really amps up your efficiency and makes things easier at the same time.Comment
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McDaniel1909, The Conventional Wisdom seems to be You wait until the Charcoal has ashed over before Cooking! The temp you Control with the bottom vent and the top vent! If you are going to get a S 'n S by www.abcbarbecue.com You might want to look at their Site in the recipe and technique sections they have an Excellant Tutorial on Weber Temp Vent Control! It was prepared by Huskee a Moderator on the Pit, the owner of abcbarbecue is David, Pit Boss here!
Eat Well and Prosper! From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan
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McDaniel1909 Check out this link here. It's a clever device that helps you get low & slow smoking as well as hot & fast searing from a kettle grill.
Thunder77 I'm wild at heart!Comment
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McDaniel1909 good question as well as the advice you've received! Since your question's focus is charcoal in a Weber Kettle, I'm moving it over to the Grills and Smokers / Charcoal / Kettle Cookers sub-forum. Here's a thread that is helpful when deciding which channel to post in. Even though you've been a member for while, we'd still love to get an intro from you here in the Introduce Yourself channel when you get a minute. Thanks!Comment
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McDaniel1909 'Sup, Mac? Welcome to th' Pit!!!
Y'll be makin' great food in no time, an' learnin' along with th' rest of us!
Glad y've joined us here, enjoy, an' fire off alla th' questions that arise; that's how it works here!Comment
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Welcome McDaniel1909 ! I look at the color of the smoke and the smell. You're looking for thin blue, almost invisible smoke that smells "good" (no chemical odors). I would also consider using lump charcoal rather than briquettes. You can pick up a bag of Royal Oak at most big box stores.Comment
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Hello McDaniel1909 ,
First, I saw you mentioned wood charcoal. Stick with briquettes for the kettle, the results will be more predictable. After you've gone through a season with your kettle, you might want to give lump charcoal a try. My experience is that the briquettes work fine. Meathead uses briquettes, and that's good enough for me. I was at a church bbq and a guy had a smoker as big as a truck, and he was making the chickens for the chicken dinner; he lifted the lid to restoke the fire and all he was using was bags of Kingsford charcoal briquettes. They work fine.
I use a charcoal chimney to light my briquettes. Fill it with as big a fire as you want, light some newspaper or starter cubes underneath, and wait for it to be really roaring, top to bottom. That can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. Then dump them into your kettle. They'll stay hot for about 3-4 hours, plenty for a party where people might be asking for seconds! When they cool down, it will be because they are spent. Add more briquettes.
What I like about the 22" kettle is that it is big enough to set up a hot side/cold side, aka 2 zone. There is a lot of information on how to do that. The Slow & Sear helps with two zone; it makes it easier. But people used kettles for years without it, stacking bricks to isolate coals for example. When I bought my kettle I got the S&S at the same time. It's a good item, easy to use and intuitive in its understandability.Comment
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Lump charcoal burns hotter and a bit cleaner than briquettes. In my experience with it lump burns faster too (may need to refuel your fire when using it). I mostly use Kingsford Original. It's cheap, consistent and easy to use. In the week leading up to Memorial Day 2-packs (each bag weighing a bit shy of 20 pounds) can be had at Home Depot and Lowe's for a hair under $10.
Congrats on your introduction into charcoal cooking. A kettle armed with a Slow n Sear is a tremendously versatile cooker that will consistently produce good results.Comment
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I'm going to give another plug for the Slow 'N Sear. In December I upgraded to a Weber 22" Kettle with the Slow 'N Sear and the Drip 'N Griddle(both available at http://www.abcbarbecue.com/). I love this setup because the SNS makes the 2 zone setup Mosca mentioned a snap. The DNG catches the drippings AND works to push the airflow right up through the SNS. I recently did some steaks with that setup and the entire family agreed they were the best I've ever done. Slow cook the steaks on the indirect zone getting the steaks within about 10-15 degrees of the doneness you want then throw them over the SNS where the temps are significantly higher. Perfect reverse sear you can use on steaks and burgers. You certainly don't have to buy both of those accessories as you can use bricks and aluminum foil for a two zone setup but the expense of them was worth it for me for easy setup, cleanup, and temperature control. Danjohnston949's photos show you how nice it sets up.Comment
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McDaniel1909 It's approx 2129 11FEB17...
Did ya git yer new kettle already? Jus' wonderin', I wanted ta' share in th' moment with ya!Comment
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phoccer just plugged the Slow n Sear. I'd like to expound... don't underestimate how hot the sear zone is. I've been doing 2-zone cooking for years, usually with the charcoal baskets. I got the Slow n Sear for low/Slow and replaced the Smokenator. I kept reading posts by pit masters cooking steaks, burgers, etc using the SnS. I decided to try it and was astonished how hot the Sear zone was. I described it to my wife as "nuclear hot". The expensive gas grills include an infrared burner that exceeds 900 degrees for super fast searing. The SnS gets a lot hotter in the zone than a more traditional setup which only enhances this device's versatility. Now I read that the Drip n Griddle channels the air to the coals??? I guess Adreneline BBQ Co is shooting for surface of the sun temps for their Sear zone.Comment
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That's how David Parrish can challenge everyone to make a better steak than his regular sear one!
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