How in the hell is this video only 14k views after 9 months. A whole ass human could be created in that time! This is literally the most informative video on this topic I’ve ever seen by far. And beyond that, the quality of scripting, presenting, lighting, and camera work is on point. I look forward to seeing more videos from this channel.
I am watching this right now at 1PM, 2 July 2024. He has 87K views. This video is not time dependent so it is OK to not get 50K after 1 year. TH-cam viewers will eventually find this video as they browse the platform.
Years ago when I started grilling, I could get a roaring hot grill with charcoal with a Weber 22 inch grill. A few years back I added a thermometer to the lid. Recently, I have had little success in getting the grill as hot as I wanted it for sears or general cooking. Today, I learned that I had become impatient in my older age. I am not letting the briquettes get hot or fully ignited in the charcoal chimney. You can teach an old dog new tricks. I will see if I have learned patience this evening. Damn, I hope it doesn't take long to learn patience.
I litterally watched 30 other videos and this one is the only that addresses everything in a cohesive and comprehensive way! Thank you so much! This was very helpful ! Especially for a beginner! « Charcoal does not like to be alone » I mean what a game changer ? Litterally NO other video explains that it needs to be layered and why! Also loved the thermal imaging… such a great way to understand what’s going on! Great job!
When I finished watching, I wondered why this video has gotten so few likes, When I wanted to start typing I saw that the two top comments were also about that! Thank you for a very informative video, done professionally.
This is the best video yet.... Think my main issue was premature ignition and not using enough of it! I wish you would also address if you can reuse charcoal and how to incorporate them in your next grill to get a little more life. I would assume choke the grill and if you only using them for 10-20 mintues you could just give them a good shake and relight with chimney again
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I did a video on reusing charcoal. Check it out and our other content. Cheers. Can You Reuse and Grill With Old Charcoal | TESTED th-cam.com/video/4hZL1JKcfd8/w-d-xo.html
a picture is worth 1000 words. my pit barrel (with chimney) wasn't getting hot, nor staying hot. every video out there says do this, this, this, and it just works. but actually SEEing your chimney with the GOOD
Excellent video! I have the Weber Performer charcoal grille with the propane ignition system. I use a chimney starter with it and the combination works great. I have gotten impatient at times and dumped the charcoal too soon. Thanks for the tips.
I use a heat gum to light my charcoal when grilling anything that does not rely on the closing the lid, e.g. steaks, it takes less than 2 minutes and you can blast the lit coals with hot air and get all the coals ripping hot with a fierce glow and you're ready to cook in no time. If it cools down during the cook you can blast more hot air with the heat gun from a distance to heat things up again. Do it from a distance so you don't blow ash all over your food. This way you can use less fuel and reduce waste. (charcoal is expensive in the UK compared to the US). Maybe an idea for a future video? :)
Heat gun is a great idea! Issue with my first few was choosing a cheap briquette. They only lasted about 20 mintues at a searing temp, switched over to jealous devil and boy worth every penny! Last about 40 mintues and very consistent high temps
Great video.. and you are an awesome presenter and clear speaker . This is a great vid. I would like to see a vid on when you put the coals in from the chimney, how the heat builds up and when it is the hottest . I done it a few times and think it’s 1 hour and 15 mins after …
I'd like to see videos on "after you dump your chimney". Like how long should it take to heat up the grill and get to a stable temperature. With a special shout-out to Weber Kamado owners. 😊
My kettle grill only has three vents on the top, that's not enough air to keep charcoal burning so I put the top on leaving a gap for extra air. Full open on the bottom, full open on top and offset the top works every time. Happy cooking.
Awesome video! Glad you're getting views. I do have a few questions which others might find helpful: 1. Lump Charcoal - ready quicker, looks different when ready compared to briquette charcoal; is this correct? Would you say 15 minutes is ideal wait time for lump charcoal? 2. After dumping charcoal (or lump charcoal), do you wait for the grill grates to heat up, or do you put the food on without a specific wait time? 3. If you wanted to use a chimney and a half of charcoal, would you light the first one, dump it into the grill when it's ready, and immediately load another half chimney whilst cooking on the initial batch? This question sounds more confusing than it is. Essentially, what are your steps when using more than one chimney of charcoal? Thank you! Again, excellent video.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. 1) I would still wait ~20 mins until you get the hang of it. Different brands will act differently but yes, generally lump needs a bit less time 2) Depends on what I'm doing. If it's low and slow, I'll dump and dial in my temps before placing my meats by adjusting the vents. If it's hot and fast, I'll preheat the grill to 450F and then start cooking. Generally, you should always preheat your BBQ, Pan, and cooking tool before cooking. 3) If I'm using it all at once? I'll add the half chimney to the grill first then light the full chimney and dump it over that if I'm looking for a scorching grill (cooking pizza). If I'm looking for duration, I'll organize the half-unlit coals around the grill to delay their start. hope this helps
Excellent video. Thanks man, this is and has been my number one issue with my kettle. I'll try this today with the chimney starter and the Weber cubes that I just got today.
Yep, that was my question after inaugurating my baby SnS Kettle Grill. I waited long enough before transferring from the chimney starter BUT thinking it’s such a small size, just didn’t use enough charcoal for a proper sear. Thanks for doing this video!❤
Great video! For indirect/convection cooks, ive learned the amount of briquets in the chimney is like how much you turn the temp dial up in the oven. Though, Im getting too much acrid/dirty smoke when using the snake or Minion method and new briquets catch fire.
Never had issue with having too little heat until I got a 4mm thick carbon steel griddle for my charcoal grill (smoker). Will use Toms advise and try to use instead of 1 chimney of charcoals more of them!
If there's one thing cooking with charcoal has taught me, It's patience. I used to worry I was going to run out of fuel so I would dump coals too soon, add food immediately, etc. I found most times it took way longer to get food done and, when I finally pulled it off, the coals were at their hottest! So now my favorite part of EVERY cook is watching the chimney do it's thing. It's like sitting by a campfire for me. Especially with lump, you can hear it crackle and pop! So I've learned to slow down, start early, and enjoy the process.
Great and informative video. I might have just added that one should make sure to keep any bottom vents wide open to allow the coals to continue to breathe after they are dumped in the kettle. If you have the vents closed, or worse, you put on the lid and its vent is also closed, you are choking out your heat source!
I put a fan in the bottom vent. Nice and super hot for a sear. To prevent black sear and instead get golden brown sear, I baste in butter and keep flipping it. Nice flames.
8:00 Excellent tips. I was often noticing the moisture of foods extinguishing the top part of the lonely coals and not reigniting as easily. When the coals are touching each other then they help each other in staying lit.
Happy 4th. Yeah can definitely fill the entire chimney up and it should light just fine. Did you use a fire starter like the Weber cube? You may need 2 cubes and allow it to burn for at least 20-25 mins
Really helpful. I just used my Weber grill for the first time and I had the mistake of thinking the coal was ready in the chimney when it wasn’t. Do you have a video on what we should do once we’re done grilling? Do you typically just leave the coals in and wait to toss it or just put new coals over the old ones and wait till its ash.
Great quesiton, I dont have a video on it but if I know i'll use the coals within 2 weeks and weather permits, I leave them in the grill and the next time I want to cook something, I dump new fully lit charcoal ontop of them. The only time I dump them is if it was too humid or raining out and they were left in the grill for a month or more. Hope this helps
I don't know how this video has only just hit my suggestion feed, but maybe because I'm a relatively new sub. It was very helpful TY. My napoleon pro 22 comes with a convex, circular shaped "heat diffuser" plate. I haven't used it yet, but seen vids of it in use and it seems to disperse dumped charcoal to the point that they're sparsely scattered around the whole area instead of touching/ layered. I'm wondering if the workaround is to drop the cooking grate to ground floor for searing, but then I feel like either way the plate is not meant to aid searing and doesn't have a direct cooking zone and a cooler safe zone. Am I likely going to need s&s style charcoal baskets if I need indirect/ direct zones, and not use the heat diffuser plate? Maybe diffuser plate is better for low and slow cooking without zones. As soon as the persistent rainy days lift, I'm excited to find out! Hope I made an OK choice of grill. Thanks 😊
Thanks, I’m glad you found my channel. Great choice in grill. Diffuser plates are best for low and slow cooking. They help diffuse the heat to maintain low temps. Try the baskets. Cheers and goodluck
I bought a new 22 inch weber a month or so ago. It's maiden voyage was a disappointment as the grill didn't get particularly hot! And I couldn't work it out when the principal is so simple! 😂 question- when using a weber 22 like yours, should the vents be fully open underneath to get the coals going? (And should you keep them open!?) Thanks in advance!
Keep at it and you’ll get the hang of it. Yes, the bottom vent if your main oxygen source and will make drastic changes to the temperatures. For example, the first notch from closed is used for smoking (low and slow). The top vent is for fine tuning. Hope this helps. I’m thinking of doing a video on fine tuning
Charcoal requires patience. But good things come to those who wait. The way I've learned to manage the time is to light my chimney. I use the weber Rapid Fire and 2 RO Tumbleweeds. While the chimney is igniting the coals, that gives me a good 25 minutes to prep my food. Often I go in the house while the grill is billowing smoke and prep a salad, season my protein and get my food ready to be cooked. The rule "A watched pot never boils..." applies to a chimney getting charcoal ready. When I see the smoke stop, I add about 5 more minutes, and I dump my coals as soon as the top layer starts turning gray. Then I put the grate on, close the lid and let the grill heat up to 500. If I bank my coals to one side, which I often do and use a pure hardwood charcoal, I've exceeded the max on the dome thermometer. My guess is at the grate, I was probably around 800
That’s exactly what I do but often times than not, it’s doing the dishes while the chimney is igniting so my wife doesn’t kill me 🤣. I love what you said, “ A watched pot never boils” I absolutely love that. Mind if I use it? Thanks for watching!
I’ve always used Kingsford blue bag and had good results until recently. My Weber kettle always burned at 450 with both vents open and would sometimes peg the thermometer at 500. Something has changed and I believe it’s the charcoal itself. For the last year or so I’ve struggled to get the coals to even burn at 350, and they burn out very fast as in one round of food and that’s it. I’m reading Kingsford has cheapened their charcoal by adding more filler. I don’t know this for sure but it’s what I believe. Again I’ve been charcoal grilling for over 20 years now, and it’s only recently I started having this problem. This just happened again last night and it was a brand new bag.
It's definitely true, I bought a bag and it doesn't keep the heat long enough for a meal.Kingsford dropped the ball on the quality. Im done with Kingsford.
@@madhatter5331 Yep it’s definitely the charcoal. I bought some no name “Cowboy” briquettes from Walmart and they burned real hot at 450+ degrees. We had some nice steaks tonight. Again I changed nothing. Same chimney heaping to the top with Walmart no name charcoal just like I did the Kingsford I used for years. Kingsford is shit now. Walmart has a smoking deal in this charcoal right now. $18 for two 20 pound bags. I’m going to buy some more tomorrow
@@madhatter5331 Better yet buy 4 bags and Walmart will ship it to your door free! I just bought 4 more 20 pound bags delivered to my front door for under $40. My Fed Ex guy is going to hate me lugging 80 pounds of charcoal to my door. LOL. Just be prepared, because it’s ……well……Walmart. One of the bags was broken open inside the box. Happy grilling!
This video might be helpful in explaining how to use the vents. How to Adjust Your Weber Kettle Grill Temperatures th-cam.com/video/pDk47LL455U/w-d-xo.html
Great video! I was impatient the other day when I was Grilling. I had too few coals and dumped em too early. The food was still good but it must have taken 30 minutes longer to get it done that it usually takes. Sometimes being impatient actually slows you down I guess 😂
How much fuel do I need to cook a 3kg lamb in the kettle using two baskets (full)? If the temperature drops after one hour, what should I do, as I have this problem all the time.
One full chimney starter for a 22 in kettle should be enough. I don’t know the specifics of what you are using or what your trying to do ( low and slow, high temp, indirect). If you follow the video, you should get great heat for 1.5 hrs and low and slow heat for 4 hrs plus.
Soooo.. take the coals from the last cook and put them in the chimney, and top up with fresh? Or estimate new and old on top, or just dump some new lit onto the old?
Go for it, I do most my meat on the weber in the warmer months, I've gat a pizza stone as well, trying a rack of ribs tomorrow for a bbq with home made burgers and butchers sausages.
I have an issue with my weber kettle not getting up to temp using the snake method. Three cooks in a row now the temp as read by my probe are only reaching 150-160°f. In the summer i was pumping out beautiful ribs and pork butts with a great crust so is it just the cooler fall weather? I also had my kettle tip over and distort a few months ago. The lid wasn’t fitting properly but I worked to get it round again and it appears to be sealing properly… but I can’t be sure without a thermal camera i guess. Any thoughts?
Give the snack method some time to catch. Open the lid and vents to allow max air flow. Once the temps go above 250-300, then fine tune the vents to drop to your desired temps. It sounds like to me the coals are not catching yet before you put the lid on. Give it some more time
Chimney started my lump wood today instead of briquettes. Looked fully alight, was searing hot. Put lid down with vents open to heat up and instead it lost so much heat and almost put itself out. Is lump wood different as my briquettes would have stayed alight. Confused.
Funny enough I got to the conclusion after my first couple attempts regarding the (lack of) amount of charcoal, but not that i should really wait to properly heat it up. Also have to invest a chimney starter I guess.
It seems to me, not only should you have an igniter beneath the chimney starter, but there should be one in the middle as well which would eliminate this whole conundrum of not being fully lit.
If you are preparing a few thin pieces of meat that will be ready quickly, but you want to use a small amount of charcoal, you can reduce the distance to the charcoal, which will ensure that a small amount of charcoal generates a lot of heat.
I feel like if i let it go for 20 minutes in the chimney then the top portion of charcoal gets hot and the bottom part starts dying out... Im still new and i use kingsford briquettes. I feel like ive had my entire pit go too cold too quickly.. I have to be doing something wrong here but does everyone really let it go sbout 20 minutes?
I just got a new grill, and decided to just run it once to get the grill "seasoned". I had a bunch of coals from a pile of ash wood from a tree I cut down and put 7 charcoal briquets in the hot coals, let them go 15 minutes, dropped them in the grill. Not even getting to 200. Do I open the vents to get air through? Or just wait for the charcoal to get completely gray? (I feel stupid, but I'm 66 and this is my first grill).
Was the fuel you used wet? I would get a chimney and some kingsford. Fill it up, use a lighter cube, wait 20 minutes and dump them. Temps should be 400+
@@tomwadek No brand new grill, brand new briquets. I put aluminum foil over the briquet tray...could that be the problem? No air flow? Vents are wide open now. (Oh it's a charcoal grill, not gas.)
No choice. It's the bottom of the grill. Expert Grill. Think I need more than 7-8 pieces of charcoal and some hot wood. The wood seems to be already exhausted and charcoal isn't enough to create real heat. Lesson learned. Thanks.
The not enough coal / coverage thing is exactly the mistake I was making. Not sure why I’ve picked up the idea from various videos that I should only add a single layer of briquettes, even lay them out… next time I’m just gonna pile them in! 😂
I’m not going to say those charcoal igniters don’t work, and I’m not even going to say they don’t work better than newspaper. However, they definitely aren’t 100% necessary to get good base of hot coals. The chimney starter pre-dates those products by quite a few years.
@tomwadek definitely dude here. Amazing and helpful video. I've done the newspaper...and fluid...what a disaster. Heard dryer lint is a good burner...haven't tried. That may be great for open air cooking but who wants hair on your burgers? 🤢
Thank you, the woman i hope to marry is coming home from working afar and I wanted to make her some good food for a coming home lunch. Just couldn’t figure out exactly what I was doing wrong with keeping my briquettes going.
I just bbq’d chicken and steak yesterday and now I think I realize why my grill wasn’t getting as hot as I wanted it to be 325-350.. all of the meat had liquid marinade!! I did notice as soon as all the meat was done and I removed it from the grill, closed the lid, the temperature went up to where i wanted it 🤦♂️
@@Dmapper-px2wo lump is great but inconsistent. I use both but prefer briquettes usually. Check out this video I made. How Much Charcoal Does My Grill Need? | A Beginner's Guide th-cam.com/video/L7W8Wj_1FHE/w-d-xo.html
My best advice is don't used Kingsford charcoal. It is not hardwood but crappy pine and cornstarch. It likes to go out if not getting a great amount of air. The bit about deep layers of charcoal is true. If you have 3+ inches of glowing charcoal under fatty food it is very hard to keep the flame down with a squirt bottle. I used over a pint trying to tamp down a flare up.
Having switched from using a Traeger+ to an Asmoke, I can confidently say that the Asmoke grill has completely transformed my grilling experience. The precise temperature control that the Asmoke grill offers is impressive, and it allows me to cook my food just the way I like it. What I love most about the Asmoke grill is the flavor. The wood pellets used in the grill give my food a distinct smoky flavor that I could never achieve with the Traeger+. Even more, the Asmoke grill is portable, perfect for my camping trips or tailgating. It's battery-powered, so no worries about finding a power source outdoors. The Asmoke grill is also lighter and smaller, making it easier to carry around. I can't recommend the Asmoke grill enough for anyone who loves grilling as much as I do. #Asmoke
If your grill is that deep and isn’t getting hot just stop. It’s the thin grills where you can’t stack the charcoal where folks would have this problem. Chimney starter idea I like though.
When someone needs help, the last thing I need is to start off the video detailing everything what's gonna b in the video... Why waste that time? Just get to it
![🔥4 BEST WAYS TO LIGHT CHARCOAL GRILL 2021🔥 [ NEVER use Lighter Fluid Again ]](/img/n.gif)
How in the hell is this video only 14k views after 9 months. A whole ass human could be created in that time! This is literally the most informative video on this topic I’ve ever seen by far. And beyond that, the quality of scripting, presenting, lighting, and camera work is on point. I look forward to seeing more videos from this channel.
Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad you’re enjoying the channel. Cheers!
TH-cam algorithm
I was literally just thinking this is the dumbest most waste of time video, but maybe I'm being too critical.
3 months later its at 100k, I'll never understand the youtube algorithm
TH-cam is a crazy platform! 14k view??? This guy deserved a medal!!!
Haha. Thank you.
I am watching this right now at 1PM, 2 July 2024. He has 87K views.
This video is not time dependent so it is OK to not get 50K after 1 year. TH-cam viewers will eventually find this video as they browse the platform.
Years ago when I started grilling, I could get a roaring hot grill with charcoal with a Weber 22 inch grill. A few years back I added a thermometer to the lid. Recently, I have had little success in getting the grill as hot as I wanted it for sears or general cooking. Today, I learned that I had become impatient in my older age. I am not letting the briquettes get hot or fully ignited in the charcoal chimney. You can teach an old dog new tricks. I will see if I have learned patience this evening.
Damn, I hope it doesn't take long to learn patience.
😂😂😂
Hahaha
I litterally watched 30 other videos and this one is the only that addresses everything in a cohesive and comprehensive way! Thank you so much! This was very helpful ! Especially for a beginner! « Charcoal does not like to be alone » I mean what a game changer ? Litterally NO other video explains that it needs to be layered and why! Also loved the thermal imaging… such a great way to understand what’s going on! Great job!
You made my week! That’s my goal, to be as informative as possible while being fun to watch. I’m glad you’re enjoying the channel. Happy grilling!
Cheers brother, super helpful, especially for my first charcoal brisket
Glad it helped
Excellent video. This should be the first video that comes up when searching for grilling with coals for beginner
Glad it was helpful!
When I finished watching, I wondered why this video has gotten so few likes, When I wanted to start typing I saw that the two top comments were also about that!
Thank you for a very informative video, done professionally.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the video
This is the best video yet.... Think my main issue was premature ignition and not using enough of it! I wish you would also address if you can reuse charcoal and how to incorporate them in your next grill to get a little more life. I would assume choke the grill and if you only using them for 10-20 mintues you could just give them a good shake and relight with chimney again
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I did a video on reusing charcoal. Check it out and our other content. Cheers.
Can You Reuse and Grill With Old Charcoal | TESTED
th-cam.com/video/4hZL1JKcfd8/w-d-xo.html
a picture is worth 1000 words. my pit barrel (with chimney) wasn't getting hot, nor staying hot. every video out there says do this, this, this, and it just works. but actually SEEing your chimney with the GOOD
Thank you, I’m glad I could help. Keep at it and keep me updated. Cheers!
Yes. I've been dumping my chimney starter too soon. Thx man.
Best top tips video for charcoal kettle grills. Well done
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the video
Excellent video! I have the Weber Performer charcoal grille with the propane ignition system. I use a chimney starter with it and the combination works great. I have gotten impatient at times and dumped the charcoal too soon. Thanks for the tips.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for the support.
I use a heat gum to light my charcoal when grilling anything that does not rely on the closing the lid, e.g. steaks, it takes less than 2 minutes and you can blast the lit coals with hot air and get all the coals ripping hot with a fierce glow and you're ready to cook in no time. If it cools down during the cook you can blast more hot air with the heat gun from a distance to heat things up again. Do it from a distance so you don't blow ash all over your food. This way you can use less fuel and reduce waste. (charcoal is expensive in the UK compared to the US). Maybe an idea for a future video? :)
Thanks for the suggestions. I usually use my propane torch to do the same. Great way to start leftover coals too
Heat gun is a great idea! Issue with my first few was choosing a cheap briquette. They only lasted about 20 mintues at a searing temp, switched over to jealous devil and boy worth every penny! Last about 40 mintues and very consistent high temps
Thank you so much as a new charcoal bbq owner this was brilliant!!
As always, excellent advice and recommendations. I still do not know why you do not have a million+ subscribers already.
I still have a lot to learn and grow but thank you so much for the nice words. Happy Father’s Day to you and your loved ones.
Dude honestly this is the best video ive ever watched about lightning bbqs , the information you provided is priceless thank you 👌
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video.. and you are an awesome presenter and clear speaker . This is a great vid. I would like to see a vid on when you put the coals in from the chimney, how the heat builds up and when it is the hottest . I done it a few times and think it’s 1 hour and 15 mins after …
Great suggestion! Thanks for watching.
I'd like to see videos on "after you dump your chimney". Like how long should it take to heat up the grill and get to a stable temperature. With a special shout-out to Weber Kamado owners. 😊
I’m jealous lol
My kettle grill only has three vents on the top, that's not enough air to keep charcoal burning so I put the top on leaving a gap for extra air. Full open on the bottom, full open on top and offset the top works every time. Happy cooking.
Great tip!
Awesome video! Glad you're getting views. I do have a few questions which others might find helpful:
1. Lump Charcoal - ready quicker, looks different when ready compared to briquette charcoal; is this correct? Would you say 15 minutes is ideal wait time for lump charcoal?
2. After dumping charcoal (or lump charcoal), do you wait for the grill grates to heat up, or do you put the food on without a specific wait time?
3. If you wanted to use a chimney and a half of charcoal, would you light the first one, dump it into the grill when it's ready, and immediately load another half chimney whilst cooking on the initial batch? This question sounds more confusing than it is. Essentially, what are your steps when using more than one chimney of charcoal?
Thank you! Again, excellent video.
Hi there, thanks for your comment.
1) I would still wait ~20 mins until you get the hang of it. Different brands will act differently but yes, generally lump needs a bit less time
2) Depends on what I'm doing. If it's low and slow, I'll dump and dial in my temps before placing my meats by adjusting the vents. If it's hot and fast, I'll preheat the grill to 450F and then start cooking. Generally, you should always preheat your BBQ, Pan, and cooking tool before cooking.
3) If I'm using it all at once? I'll add the half chimney to the grill first then light the full chimney and dump it over that if I'm looking for a scorching grill (cooking pizza). If I'm looking for duration, I'll organize the half-unlit coals around the grill to delay their start.
hope this helps
Thanks for a nerdy explanation 😃. My kind of stuff so new subscriber here.
Welcome aboard!
Excellent video. Thanks man, this is and has been my number one issue with my kettle. I'll try this today with the chimney starter and the Weber cubes that I just got today.
Thanks for watching, Goodluck and keep me posted. Happy grilling.
Great instructions for lighting charcoal.
Yep, that was my question after inaugurating my baby SnS Kettle Grill. I waited long enough before transferring from the chimney starter BUT thinking it’s such a small size, just didn’t use enough charcoal for a proper sear. Thanks for doing this video!❤
Great video!
For indirect/convection cooks, ive learned the amount of briquets in the chimney is like how much you turn the temp dial up in the oven.
Though, Im getting too much acrid/dirty smoke when using the snake or Minion method and new briquets catch fire.
Great tip!
Never had issue with having too little heat until I got a 4mm thick carbon steel griddle for my charcoal grill (smoker). Will use Toms advise and try to use instead of 1 chimney of charcoals more of them!
Haha, been there lol. Good luck, cheers!
Yup, that’s me 👍 thanks!
If there's one thing cooking with charcoal has taught me, It's patience. I used to worry I was going to run out of fuel so I would dump coals too soon, add food immediately, etc. I found most times it took way longer to get food done and, when I finally pulled it off, the coals were at their hottest! So now my favorite part of EVERY cook is watching the chimney do it's thing. It's like sitting by a campfire for me. Especially with lump, you can hear it crackle and pop! So I've learned to slow down, start early, and enjoy the process.
Sounds like wisdom to me! Perfect summary. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for this 100% informative video helping me understand my charcoal cooking. 👍👍🌟
Glad it was helpful!
Great and informative video. I might have just added that one should make sure to keep any bottom vents wide open to allow the coals to continue to breathe after they are dumped in the kettle. If you have the vents closed, or worse, you put on the lid and its vent is also closed, you are choking out your heat source!
Thank you, I also made a video on the vents if you’re interested th-cam.com/video/pDk47LL455U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JKW7ZllsQ5wla040
Thank you Sir.
Your a great communicator.
Glad you enjoyed the video, cheers!
I put a fan in the bottom vent. Nice and super hot for a sear. To prevent black sear and instead get golden brown sear, I baste in butter and keep flipping it. Nice flames.
Solid vid my guy.
Thanks
8:00 Excellent tips. I was often noticing the moisture of foods extinguishing the top part of the lonely coals and not reigniting as easily. When the coals are touching each other then they help each other in staying lit.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
Happy 4th! I think i made that mistake today by filling my chimney to the top. It took forever to burn. Prob because not enough airflow
Happy 4th. Yeah can definitely fill the entire chimney up and it should light just fine. Did you use a fire starter like the Weber cube? You may need 2 cubes and allow it to burn for at least 20-25 mins
Really helpful. I just used my Weber grill for the first time and I had the mistake of thinking the coal was ready in the chimney when it wasn’t. Do you have a video on what we should do once we’re done grilling? Do you typically just leave the coals in and wait to toss it or just put new coals over the old ones and wait till its ash.
Great quesiton, I dont have a video on it but if I know i'll use the coals within 2 weeks and weather permits, I leave them in the grill and the next time I want to cook something, I dump new fully lit charcoal ontop of them. The only time I dump them is if it was too humid or raining out and they were left in the grill for a month or more. Hope this helps
Great video ! So heat all coals. Pre heat for 15 mins, then clean. Then start cooking or preheat again?
heat the coal in the starter for ~20, dump, let the BBQ preheat up to 450F-550F and start cooking. Adjust vents as needed to manage temps.
Dude you video is a masterpiece, thanks for your great tips
I appreciate that! Thanks for watching, cheers!
Thanks man. You made my day.
Awesome! Thanks for watching.
I don't know how this video has only just hit my suggestion feed, but maybe because I'm a relatively new sub. It was very helpful TY.
My napoleon pro 22 comes with a convex, circular shaped "heat diffuser" plate. I haven't used it yet, but seen vids of it in use and it seems to disperse dumped charcoal to the point that they're sparsely scattered around the whole area instead of touching/ layered.
I'm wondering if the workaround is to drop the cooking grate to ground floor for searing, but then I feel like either way the plate is not meant to aid searing and doesn't have a direct cooking zone and a cooler safe zone.
Am I likely going to need s&s style charcoal baskets if I need indirect/ direct zones, and not use the heat diffuser plate?
Maybe diffuser plate is better for low and slow cooking without zones.
As soon as the persistent rainy days lift, I'm excited to find out!
Hope I made an OK choice of grill.
Thanks 😊
Thanks, I’m glad you found my channel. Great choice in grill. Diffuser plates are best for low and slow cooking. They help diffuse the heat to maintain low temps. Try the baskets. Cheers and goodluck
I bought a new 22 inch weber a month or so ago. It's maiden voyage was a disappointment as the grill didn't get particularly hot! And I couldn't work it out when the principal is so simple! 😂 question- when using a weber 22 like yours, should the vents be fully open underneath to get the coals going? (And should you keep them open!?) Thanks in advance!
Keep at it and you’ll get the hang of it. Yes, the bottom vent if your main oxygen source and will make drastic changes to the temperatures. For example, the first notch from closed is used for smoking (low and slow). The top vent is for fine tuning. Hope this helps. I’m thinking of doing a video on fine tuning
@@tomwadek great stuff 👍🏻 appreciate you taking the time to reply and keep the excellent videos coming for us coal grilling noobs! 🤣
@@redcoat192 no problem! I’m glad to help
Thanks much - picked up a coupla tips about the chimney starter -
Glad it helped
Charcoal requires patience. But good things come to those who wait. The way I've learned to manage the time is to light my chimney. I use the weber Rapid Fire and 2 RO Tumbleweeds. While the chimney is igniting the coals, that gives me a good 25 minutes to prep my food. Often I go in the house while the grill is billowing smoke and prep a salad, season my protein and get my food ready to be cooked. The rule "A watched pot never boils..." applies to a chimney getting charcoal ready. When I see the smoke stop, I add about 5 more minutes, and I dump my coals as soon as the top layer starts turning gray. Then I put the grate on, close the lid and let the grill heat up to 500. If I bank my coals to one side, which I often do and use a pure hardwood charcoal, I've exceeded the max on the dome thermometer. My guess is at the grate, I was probably around 800
That’s exactly what I do but often times than not, it’s doing the dishes while the chimney is igniting so my wife doesn’t kill me 🤣. I love what you said, “ A watched pot never boils” I absolutely love that. Mind if I use it? Thanks for watching!
@@tomwadek you're free to use that! A watched pot never boils. Watched charcoal never ignites
@@pj.pavadore thank you.
Having a chimney is an absolute must. But I really, REALLY like the Fogo Blaza ball. That thing is really awesome
Oh cool, I never used them. I’m a huge fan of FOGO so I have to check them out
@@tomwadek yeah it’s pretty neat for lighting especially lump. It’s ripping hot in 10-15 minutes
Also, keep the the ashes off thr charcoal. Use the the tool at the bottom of the kettle to clear the ashe so the coals don't smolder.
Great advise
Beautiful back yard! and thanks for the info!
Our pleasure!
Great video, i enjoyed watching it.
Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it
Off topic…but that Camaro in the background looks nice…IROC ??…it’s giving me a flood of great memories from HS in the 90’s.
Yup
I’ve always used Kingsford blue bag and had good results until recently. My Weber kettle always burned at 450 with both vents open and would sometimes peg the thermometer at 500. Something has changed and I believe it’s the charcoal itself. For the last year or so I’ve struggled to get the coals to even burn at 350, and they burn out very fast as in one round of food and that’s it. I’m reading Kingsford has cheapened their charcoal by adding more filler. I don’t know this for sure but it’s what I believe. Again I’ve been charcoal grilling for over 20 years now, and it’s only recently I started having this problem. This just happened again last night and it was a brand new bag.
It's definitely true, I bought a bag and it doesn't keep the heat long enough for a meal.Kingsford dropped the ball on the quality. Im done with Kingsford.
@@madhatter5331 Yep it’s definitely the charcoal. I bought some no name “Cowboy” briquettes from Walmart and they burned real hot at 450+ degrees. We had some nice steaks tonight.
Again I changed nothing. Same chimney heaping to the top with Walmart no name charcoal just like I did the Kingsford I used for years. Kingsford is shit now.
Walmart has a smoking deal in this charcoal right now. $18 for two 20 pound bags. I’m going to buy some more tomorrow
Thanks for the heads up on this, guess I'll be heading to Walmart for better briquettes.
@@madhatter5331 Better yet buy 4 bags and Walmart will ship it to your door free! I just bought 4 more 20 pound bags delivered to my front door for under $40. My Fed Ex guy is going to hate me lugging 80 pounds of charcoal to my door. LOL. Just be prepared, because it’s ……well……Walmart. One of the bags was broken open inside the box. Happy grilling!
The chimney don't fill up well with lump as opposed to brickets,
Cooking with charcoal using your tutorial. Wish me luck! Thanks for the education!
you got this! goodluck
Should i open the bottom vent when cooking or leave it open to allow air flow?
This video might be helpful in explaining how to use the vents.
How to Adjust Your Weber Kettle Grill Temperatures
th-cam.com/video/pDk47LL455U/w-d-xo.html
Thx for the video, it's helped me learn how to BBQ better.
Glad I could help
Great video! I was impatient the other day when I was Grilling. I had too few coals and dumped em too early.
The food was still good but it must have taken 30 minutes longer to get it done that it usually takes.
Sometimes being impatient actually slows you down I guess 😂
I know the feeling. I use to do it all the time. I’m naturally an impatient person and sometimes I get in my own way lol
This was a great video very informative 👍🏾💯
Glad you enjoyed it
How much fuel do I need to cook a 3kg lamb in the kettle using two baskets (full)? If the temperature drops after one hour, what should I do, as I have this problem all the time.
One full chimney starter for a 22 in kettle should be enough. I don’t know the specifics of what you are using or what your trying to do ( low and slow, high temp, indirect). If you follow the video, you should get great heat for 1.5 hrs and low and slow heat for 4 hrs plus.
Soooo.. take the coals from the last cook and put them in the chimney, and top up with fresh? Or estimate new and old on top, or just dump some new lit onto the old?
Just dump the new one from the chimney on the old
Great video very informative. There's always something te learn. Thank you 👍🏻
thank you!
This summer I'm vowing to grill as much as humanly possible this summer so I can get better at this.
You got this 💪
Go for it, I do most my meat on the weber in the warmer months, I've gat a pizza stone as well, trying a rack of ribs tomorrow for a bbq with home made burgers and butchers sausages.
I have an issue with my weber kettle not getting up to temp using the snake method. Three cooks in a row now the temp as read by my probe are only reaching 150-160°f. In the summer i was pumping out beautiful ribs and pork butts with a great crust so is it just the cooler fall weather? I also had my kettle tip over and distort a few months ago. The lid wasn’t fitting properly but I worked to get it round again and it appears to be sealing properly… but I can’t be sure without a thermal camera i guess. Any thoughts?
Give the snack method some time to catch. Open the lid and vents to allow max air flow. Once the temps go above 250-300, then fine tune the vents to drop to your desired temps. It sounds like to me the coals are not catching yet before you put the lid on. Give it some more time
Thanks
Welcome
Thank you so much!
Glad it helped!
You’re awesome, thank you
Glad you liked the video, cheers!
Chimney started my lump wood today instead of briquettes. Looked fully alight, was searing hot. Put lid down with vents open to heat up and instead it lost so much heat and almost put itself out. Is lump wood different as my briquettes would have stayed alight. Confused.
how long did you leave it in the chimney to start for before dumping and was the chimney full?
Ok, h ow about this. Can you wait too long / keep the charcoal in the chimney too long and then not have enough cook time?
Yes you can, it’s a balance and you’ll learn that balance as you gain more experience and the type of cooks you’re doing.
Air is the key when keeping it hot
I watch your video by my not-ready charcoal kettle! Glad I watched this video before I am so angry and start to fire my house!
Glad I could help! 😂
Thank you bro 💯
No problem
Funny enough I got to the conclusion after my first couple attempts regarding the (lack of) amount of charcoal, but not that i should really wait to properly heat it up. Also have to invest a chimney starter I guess.
You'll get the hang of it and I highly recommend a chimney starter with the Weber cubes, Royal Oak, or FOGO starters.
Rare AND Well Done Video! Thanks.
Thank you!
great guide!
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks, that is a perfect instructions
Glad it was helpful!
It seems to me, not only should you have an igniter beneath the chimney starter, but there should be one in the middle as well which would eliminate this whole conundrum of not being fully lit.
Great info, thanks!
Thank you very much
You are welcome
If you are preparing a few thin pieces of meat that will be ready quickly, but you want to use a small amount of charcoal, you can reduce the distance to the charcoal, which will ensure that a small amount of charcoal generates a lot of heat.
I have the opposite problem. My charcoal grill gets too hot when I sometimes want to keep it at a lower temp.
I feel like if i let it go for 20 minutes in the chimney then the top portion of charcoal gets hot and the bottom part starts dying out... Im still new and i use kingsford briquettes. I feel like ive had my entire pit go too cold too quickly.. I have to be doing something wrong here but does everyone really let it go sbout 20 minutes?
I just got a new grill, and decided to just run it once to get the grill "seasoned". I had a bunch of coals from a pile of ash wood from a tree I cut down and put 7 charcoal briquets in the hot coals, let them go 15 minutes, dropped them in the grill. Not even getting to 200. Do I open the vents to get air through? Or just wait for the charcoal to get completely gray? (I feel stupid, but I'm 66 and this is my first grill).
Was the fuel you used wet? I would get a chimney and some kingsford. Fill it up, use a lighter cube, wait 20 minutes and dump them. Temps should be 400+
@@tomwadek No brand new grill, brand new briquets. I put aluminum foil over the briquet tray...could that be the problem? No air flow? Vents are wide open now. (Oh it's a charcoal grill, not gas.)
Don’t use the tray
No choice. It's the bottom of the grill. Expert Grill. Think I need more than 7-8 pieces of charcoal and some hot wood. The wood seems to be already exhausted and charcoal isn't enough to create real heat. Lesson learned. Thanks.
The not enough coal / coverage thing is exactly the mistake I was making. Not sure why I’ve picked up the idea from various videos that I should only add a single layer of briquettes, even lay them out… next time I’m just gonna pile them in! 😂
Great video
Man, you should get more likes. You have my like and subscription!
Thank you.
I’m not going to say those charcoal igniters don’t work, and I’m not even going to say they don’t work better than newspaper. However, they definitely aren’t 100% necessary to get good base of hot coals. The chimney starter pre-dates those products by quite a few years.
My hero
My man! (Or woman?)
@tomwadek definitely dude here. Amazing and helpful video. I've done the newspaper...and fluid...what a disaster. Heard dryer lint is a good burner...haven't tried. That may be great for open air cooking but who wants hair on your burgers? 🤢
Hey bro, blur out the street signs & house numbers.
Thanks man, that’s a good idea.
For all you beginners, you’ll figure it out in time. I’ve done this since I was 16, practice makes perfect
Thank you, the woman i hope to marry is coming home from working afar and I wanted to make her some good food for a coming home lunch. Just couldn’t figure out exactly what I was doing wrong with keeping my briquettes going.
Best of luck! You got this!
I just bbq’d chicken and steak yesterday and now I think I realize why my grill wasn’t getting as hot as I wanted it to be 325-350.. all of the meat had liquid marinade!!
I did notice as soon as all the meat was done and I removed it from the grill, closed the lid, the temperature went up to where i wanted it 🤦♂️
That will do it. Put them on a wire rack and baking sheet to allow them to drip dry for a bit before cooking.
@@tomwadek do you have a preference for charcoal, lump vs briquettes? They say lump burns hotter then briquettes.
@@Dmapper-px2wo lump is great but inconsistent. I use both but prefer briquettes usually. Check out this video I made.
How Much Charcoal Does My Grill Need? | A Beginner's Guide
th-cam.com/video/L7W8Wj_1FHE/w-d-xo.html
@@tomwadek subscribed!
My best advice is don't used Kingsford charcoal. It is not hardwood but crappy pine and cornstarch. It likes to go out if not getting a great amount of air.
The bit about deep layers of charcoal is true. If you have 3+ inches of glowing charcoal under fatty food it is very hard to keep the flame down with a squirt bottle. I used over a pint trying to tamp down a flare up.
LOL! i've done that before, dont ask me why! thanks for watching
Keep the charcoal in house instead of summer HUMID air in a garage or shead.
Good tip!
First thing to do should be touching the coals to see if they're hot enough
Preach...💯👍🎉🎉🎉new sub
Thanks for the sub, cheers!
if you do it right the fat juice will have the flames kissing the meat that what you want
Sec 53, my wife just LMAO.... xD, she taught we were talking about pen** issues 😅 xD ! Good video man ! Even tough is not for our wives xD
that's exactly what the video is actually about. LOL
Having switched from using a Traeger+ to an Asmoke, I can confidently say that the Asmoke grill has completely transformed my grilling experience. The precise temperature control that the Asmoke grill offers is impressive, and it allows me to cook my food just the way I like it. What I love most about the Asmoke grill is the flavor. The wood pellets used in the grill give my food a distinct smoky flavor that I could never achieve with the Traeger+. Even more, the Asmoke grill is portable, perfect for my camping trips or tailgating. It's battery-powered, so no worries about finding a power source outdoors. The Asmoke grill is also lighter and smaller, making it easier to carry around. I can't recommend the Asmoke grill enough for anyone who loves grilling as much as I do. #Asmoke
More are equals hotter charcoal if it's too hot then give it less air😂
🤘👍
Because I live at 8,400 feet 😢
Don't bother buying fire starters. Use pieces of the charcoal bag , you're gonna have to throw it out eventually anyways.
They generate a lot of dirty smoke. I have bad allergies
@@tomwadek
Ok
If your grill is that deep and isn’t getting hot just stop. It’s the thin grills where you can’t stack the charcoal where folks would have this problem.
Chimney starter idea I like though.
When someone needs help, the last thing I need is to start off the video detailing everything what's gonna b in the video... Why waste that time? Just get to it
Or, chapters are included and you can skip around as you like and pay attention