Just Bought a Weber Summit Charcoal

[carmines04]

Heck yeah man! I'm a little green over here but can't wait to see what you think. I'm sure it'll be awesome.

[Meathead]

Keep it coming! We really want to hear!

[kingdarb]

I did another charcoal burn (no food) yesterday to get a grip on the temperature control for low and slow cooking. This time what I did was put a scoop of Kingsford briquettes in a chimney and got them started (was about a half a chimney full). Then I dumped about three scoops of briquettes onto the charcoal grate and when the chimney coals were good and white hot, I spread them out on top of the other coals. Then I closed the lid, opened the top wheel to about 1/8 open and positioned the bottom damper somewhere between fully closed and the "smoke" setting. This got the cooker to hold nicely around 250, and once there it held fairly steadily for about twelve hours. Temperature was consistent and did not require a lot of management. Today I am going to try a brisket on the cooker (pics to follow). In the meantime, a couple pics from yesterdays control burn.

[Mosca]

Nice, thank you! One thing I really got out of your review is the photo of the unit on the tripod stand. Those legs are spread nice and far, and carry the weight comfortably, and look very stable; the table is not required to keep it from tipping over if the dog gets loose and wraps his leash around it!

I would wonder how it would work for smaller menus; can it do two hamburgers efficiently, or is it the kind of thing that is designed for families and parties?

Good stuff, good stuff. The perception of value is rising.

[Max Good]

With the charcoal grate up high, you can effectively create two zones and just use enough coal for what you need. One of Weber's Chefs piled hot coals in the center under the Gourmet Cooking system ring and used the outer edge for indirect.

[Craigar]

I am just wondering out loud here...I am wondering how the Soo donut would work with this grill? Just wondering...

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm also wondering how long some B & B would last in this dude......

[kingdarb]

What's a B&B??

[DWCowles]

B&B charcoal

[kingdarb]

Ah righto. Can only speak to the regular Kingsford stuff. Today I got about 10 hours of 250-ish, then opened the vents to full to burn it out. It got up to 500 and held there for about an hour. Thats with a bit less than two chimneys full of coals. Not sure if the two brands are comparable.

[Max Good]

Don't currently have a 26". From the inner wall of the kettle to the hinge it's about 5".

[Craigar]

Thank you! I know my 26" doesn't have that large of an opening, which would make it a little bit easier to refuel. Thanks again!

[JeffJ]

Great thread. We won't know the full potential and capability of this thing until real people use it and experiment with it. Keep it coming, please!

[kingdarb]

So I just finished my first cook on the Weber. So far, I am very happy with it. I did a 5lb brisket flat and it took 8-9 hours. Fire management was easy. Dumped half a chimney of kingsford briquettes on top of about 1.5 chimneys of unlit and spread them around a bit. I wanted to cook between 250-275 and it held easily in that zone all day. I haven't figured out how to hold it at 225 yet but I am sure I will with time. After the cook was done, I had enough coals left to open the vents and get the cooker to 500 for about an hour. After I shut the vents the cooker cooled down, there were still some coals left for the next cook. I am happy with the fuel consumption. In addition, the temp comes down very fast once the cooker is shut down. The Weber was cool to the touch about an hour (maybe sooner but I checked after an hour) after closing the vents, and the cooker have been around 450 at that time. By contrast I closed the vents on my kamado at the same time (it was about 200 at this time) and it was still warm to the touch an hour later.

As for the cook itself: I dry brined the brisket last night. This morning I coated it liberally with Meat Church Holy Cow, wrapped it (this was around 6AM) and put back in the fridge for a couple of hours. Had the Weber ready to go with a couple chunks of applewood around 8AM. Took the meat outta the fridge, injected with some beef broth, and into the cooker it went. I used the diffuser, and put a water pan on the diffuser under the meat. I used an igrill to monitor the meat temperature during the cook.

By around 2PM the meat was at 170 IT. I did not foil prior to this as I wanted to get more bark on the meat. I did have to flip the meat once around 12PM as the side directly above the water was not forming much bark. Foiled at 170. Did not add any liquid to the foil. Back on the cooker until it reached an IT of 203. Was very tender at this point, like butter to the probe. Took off the cooker, wrapped in towels and put in a cooler until around 8:30PM. At that point, took the meat out and sliced some up for a late dinner.

Long story short, the meat tasted awesome. I have done brisket before and it has been so-so. This one was great. My wife told me she didn't want dinner. I got her to try some of the brisket and she almost ate herself sick on it. Said she likes it better than any steak she's ever had. As someone who is by no means a brisket pro, I am very happy with it. The bark coulda been firmer, but I can sacrifice that to get the tenderness that this meat had.

Without further ado, some pics:




[URL=http://s1181.photobucket.com/user/kingdarb/media/Weber%20Brisket/20160413_143047.jpg.html][/URL

[fzxdoc]

That's a really pretty brisket, kingdarb! Congrats on a great first cook.

Kathryn

[Max Good]

Please share your experience on our review page: http://amazingribs.com/bbq_equipment...charcoal-grill

[kingdarb]

Mosca it is very stable.

I think it would be fine for smaller cookers. It comes with two charcoal baskets which are used for keeping the coals at either side of the cooker. They don't hold a tonne of coals, but could easily be filled with lit coals and used for indirect cooking or directly under food for direct without having to create a whole bed of coals. For a couple of burgers or dogs you could also raise the grate to the high position, and just use a small amount of coals under where you are cooking. Seems like there are lotsa ways to make it work for small cooks honestly, and the cooker also seems pretty good on fuel efficiency.

Nice, thank you! One thing I really got out of your review is the photo of the unit on the tripod stand. Those legs are spread nice and far, and carry the weight comfortably, and look very stable; the table is not required to keep it from tipping over if the dog gets loose and wraps his leash around it!

I would wonder how it would work for smaller menus; can it do two hamburgers efficiently, or is it the kind of thing that is designed for families and parties?

Good stuff, good stuff. The perception of value is rising.

[JeffJ]

Mosca it is very stable.
For a couple of burgers or dogs you could also raise the grate to the high position, and just use a small amount of coals under where you are cooking. Seems like there are lotsa ways to make it work for small cooks honestly, and the cooker also seems pretty good on fuel efficiency.

It seems to me that having 2 charcoal grate positions increases the grilling possibilities. In my kettle I bank the coals off to one side, cook indirect and reverse sear. The problem with that technique is that the entire grate cannot be used all at once. But, what if we were to move the charcoal grate to the lower position when entertaining load up the entire grate with burgers and dogs for a 4th of July cookout? The coals are far enough away from the food grate to create a bit of a PBC -effect and the entire grate can be utilized. On top of that it comes with a 'hover grill' that was custom-designed for this rig and we are talking about a lot of built-ini potential capacity.

I have GOT to get one of these!

[wbzipf]

Man, this review is great! Thanks so much for these detailed posts. I have the go ahead from my wife to get one of these, but before I do, I was curious to know what your preference would be if you could only have one of either your Kamado or the SCG, which would it be and why?

[fuzzydaddy]

Your brisket looks very very good, and moist. Thank-you for your posts! I'm wondering how the bark would be with no water in the pan (just use it for a drip pan). Since it's double-wall air-insulated maybe it won't need much water, if any.

[kingdarb]

I think that would have firmed the bark up for sure. Alternatively, next time I could crank the heat when I am about to serve and put the brisket back on for a couple min?

[Craigar]

Is it too early to start thinking about smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving in this bad boy?

[Flavorsavor]

Fantastic write up and pics. Your pics make me want to pick up a brisket on the way home..