Hi Helen! Charcoal baskets are key! For low and slow cooking also look into the snake method! You have almost all of the basics figured out already but there's one thing missing: distance between the charcoal and the cooking grate is key! Although it may seem like only a couple of inches, if you reduce the distance by half you will get 4 times the heat! This is because radiant heat (which is the primary source of heat with charcoal) follows the inverse-square law. So if you want a hot zone and a medium zone, you want one area with charcoal bunched up close to the cooking surface and another area where it's more spread out and further away! The amazing thing about charcoal is that you build your own burner every time you cook! Also don't be afraid to throw some aluminum foil in there when you want to block some of the radiant heat. Position the charcoal, the lid, and the vents to create a path for the airflow to enter the bottom, feed the fire, and come back to the food for natural convection cooking!
I'm not sure about the inverse-square law for this case .. like, where does the heat spread out to? It'll just bounce off the side edges and come back.
@@H4KnSL4K The interior of the Weber kettle is painted black. It's shiny when brand new (so does reflect a bit of heat) but after a bit of use it gets dulled by grime (unless you're meticulous about cleaning it). Dull black is very good at absorbing radiant heat. Some of it will then be re-radiated back inside the cooking chamber but much will also escape to the outside. It is not a very efficient cooking device. For that you want a kamado (which is well-insulated)
@@chongli297 An object at a temperature of few hundred kelvin emits mostly in the 5micron ... 100micron (Deep IR) window. Visible light (by which you judge "shiny" or "grimy" is between 400nm and 700nm. One ought not judge one by proxy of the other. A dull piece of steel or in the visible spectrum is extremely shiny (therefore non-radiative) in the deep-IR window (which is why steel shovels left in the sun get so hot - they catch visible light as energy and are unable to get rid of it radiatively.) Also - judge carefully if you desire reflection (i.e. no radiation) or radiation (therefore also absorption). Very rarely can you have your cake and eat it too.
@@ziddship as an American, I'm really confused by the fact that our national cookout staples are Burgers and Hot Dogs. Burgers cook fast on direct heat; sausages cook slow on cooler heat-even a bit of char, while nice, still has to wait on the links cooking through. Five times slower, easily. Meat tubes rather than meat discs. Cook them separately xD
I'm a Weber 22 guy and you're doing everything I did when I first got my 22. There's a bit of a learning curve but when you learn how to do direct grill versus offset you'll have 95% of all the techniques you'll need. Question one- cool cool down and one to two hours average time. It depends on how big your charcoal heat load is. Question two - I'm clueless on squid . Question 3- heat control over direct grilling with burgers. The best techniques I've seen are roughly a single layer of lit charcoals replenished every 15 minutes the 20 minutes and use only half the grilling surface so you can flip them around to a cool side during flare-ups. The problem with heat control with that is the flare up. It adds direct flame to what is already hi radiant heat affect which can lead to burning if you let it go on too long. And you are correct this takes a lot of attention but when you master it gets a lot easier. Pro tips on your thermometer use. I prefer to stick the thermometer just inside the top vent, it allows better heat control by preventing the gap on the lid from letting in more air which causes more the heat to rise. You'll have to measure the offset temp from the grill great to the top vent and just track it as an offset temperature it should be about 20 or so degrees. My last pro tip is marking the positions of your bottom vent at the cracked, 50% add wide open positions. This way you can learn to approach your target temps with ease. If I was to say shoot for a 300° temp, I would monitor the temps after I dump my charcoal load while leaving the upper and lower vents wide open. Also note that the lower vent is the macro control the upper vent is the micro control. Upon getting within 20 degrees off of 300 I'll close my bottom vent to just above cracked open position and then put my top vent at 300 to about 2/3 open while putting the bottom vent add crack open position. This should maintain that temp for about 30 minutes give or take depending on how much charcoal load you have in there. Look up minion method for charcoal load on long low and slow cooking when you're ready to do the smoke ring and diffuser plate or Justin general. Also check out the Weber 22 club in FB. Good luck and bon appetit.
Cooking with Ry is a good channel to get great Weber Kettle advice and ideas. Definitely helped me with my learning curve. I could never go back to gas!
I think you are doing very well! You have the right idea. I have learned so much about my kettle grill from TH-cam. 50 years ago all I did was burn the hell out of everything. Experience is a great teacher.
This was an excellent departure from the typical expert-Helen! Seeing you learn, and asking for advice, was very relatable and I’m sure many people have the same struggles/questions. Thanks for the ever-awesome content and happy grilling 😊
Right on! I love charcoal grilling. Gas grilling is great too. I was lucky to find a 22" Weber at a thrift store for $16. ...Bought several accessories. : Slow 'n Sear deluxe. : Rotisserie with motor. : Grillgrates(mainly use the flat side) : heat gloves, thermal temp pen, dual temperature thermometer for doing BBQ. : Pyramid charcoal starter : metal skewers : charcoal baskets : half moon riser(allows for two levels of cooking) : spinning grill grate(comes in handy for the reverse sear/cold grate method) As soon as I'm done grilling, I close vents and get the lid on. Then I use that old charcoal mixed with new charcoal. Greatly extends the uses of a bag of charcoal. I love using some wood chips, small wood chunks for flavor smoke.
I've evolved more into doing a combination type grilling. ...I use the flat side of my GrillGrates accessory to get a great Maillard reaction, nice overall browning without the black acrid char.(not a fan of that flavor) ...Cook the food item about half way on flat side of the GrillGrate, then after spinning the regular grate, finish cooking directly over the hot coals. Two zone cooking is key with charcoal grilling. Another method of cooking I like to do, especially with an item like chicken. ...Directly cook the chicken over hot coals to get the chicken skin rendering. Then move the chicken to the indirect zone and get the lid on, vents and lid vents about 1/2 way open. Finish cooking to desired internal temperature.
...The Reverse Sear method for cooking thicker cuts of meat/steaks is great also. Search Reverse Sear/Cold Grate technique. T-Roy Cooks and SNS grills have good videos demonstrating. ...I also like Rotisserie cooking directly over hot coals with lid off technique. Self basting and some drips of of cooking juice falls on the coals and the magic flavor smoke comes back up over the food. (I am not a fan of 'lid on' rotisserie where the charcoal baskets are off to the side.)
I love the longer tongs and the long set of heat resistant gloves!! Save those fingers, wrists and forearms!!! Briquettes run cooler that hard-wood charcoal. And I like the charcoal instead of briquettes. You have to be careful with the hotter charcoal! They burn off faster than briquettes so if you are BBQing for a longer period you have to add more charcoal sooner. Yes, on the heat control- having the cool side of the grill and using the vent is perfect for heat control. If you want to grill really fast (say for searing steaks), you can use a small wire rack over the top of the chimney starter with hot briquettes or hardwood charcoal in it! That is really hot but creates a very fast sear!! Have fun!!
@@helenrennie if you are doing half direct heat and half indirect (no coals) then you are "supposed" to have the vent on the indirect side so the heat goes across
Hi Helen! You've gotten plenty of advice already, so I won't offer any more. a couple of my subscribers mentioned your video here and said they recommended me, so I wanted to say hello. All I use are Weber Kettles on my channel and I cook for only 2 people most of the time. There's no such thing as too big, only too small, lol! I always use a well defined two-zone set-up for both grilling and smoking. That means I have a divider of some kind separating my zones. For a long time I just used two bricks and put my charcoal behind them. I have many videos that show me doing this. Lots of people have gone on to do it this way after watching my videos and had great success. Eventually I bought a Slow-n-sear, which is really just a much bigger charcoal basket with a couple of features that make it burn more efficiently and, when smoking, help you maintain low temps over a long period of time. I'd say the two-zone set up with a chimney full of coals enables you to do just about anything you want to do. And, since charcoal is reusable, all you need to do after a cook is close both vents. They'll go out quickly. Next time you're ready to cook just give the basket a good shake to get rid of excess ash and pour fresh coals on top. If you set it up correctly and learn vent control, Webers work a lot like a convection oven in the way the air circulates. Good luck!
I use the charcoal as soon as the charcoal is lit much like your second batch on Day 1. Day 2: Love the reverse searing technique. When you sear your steak allow the fire to sear the meat. I usually will leave steaks on the hot side of the grill for 45-60sec. Don't be afraid of the flames, allow them to create that mallard reaction you are looking for. Day 3, The grill will have hot spots especially if your coals aren't uniform. I rotate the meat that I'm cooking so I get a more even cook. The char baskets you use should be aligned by the grill handles. That will allow you to add charcoal to them for extended cooking times. Separate the baskets to both sides and cook the meat in the middle of the grill not on one side. There are some great benefits to charcoal grilling but I've found I can get a similar result using gas and smoking wood chips. Great job Helen and you will continue to learn the tips and trick of charcoal grilling.
I'm a Big Green Egg guy and I think you're getting a good start. Two things I might suggest though. Rather than using paraffin as a starter, you might use a sheet or two of wadded up newspaper. This is something many people simply throw away, so it's a win-win if you still subscribe or if you know someone who does. Also briquettes are compressed charcoal dust combined with binders that hold it together. Some people can detect the difference in the flavor of the food as a result. Briquettes are very popular because they're convenient and many don't notice the flavor difference. I prefer lump charcoal because there are no binders whatsoever and the flavor imparted to the food is quite different to me. Good luck with your new adventure.
Ditto on the newspaper. I just go to the grocery store and get one of their advertising fliers, crumple it up into a ball, and stick it under the chimney. In 10-15 minutes, all is good to go.
My first quick tip to help you manage the surface temp is to use your hand as a gauge. Just place your open hand palm side down about 2-3 inches from the surface and start counting, if you have to snatch your hand away immediately its way too hot, 2-3 seconds is ideal. Also use this trick to find your hot spots (works on gas grills too of course). You can use your hot spots to help you cook, work with them or around them as needed. /edit - I wouldn't put the lid on when searing the reverse sear burgers, traps the heat and smoke, diminishes the flame, and cooks through.
Use the briquette baskets to make direct zones on either side of your indirect zone. Sear over the direct zones then place in the middle and place cover on to finish cooking over the indirect zone for desired doneness. Trying to grill that amount of Zucchini all at once on a charcoal grill would be challenging to say the least. When you place the lid on a charcoal grill, you are closing off some of the air so your grill will cool down quite a bit, leave it off for high, searing temps. Close the lid and all the vents when finished and you will have some usable briquettes for next time. I really loved your video on corn tortillas!!! I have been making my own for a little while but haven't had the guts to do the second cook on them yet.
Part of the smell at the beginning may be from the starter cubes which are made with paraffin. You can start your chimney of charcoal with one sheet of crumpled newspaper which is free if you pick up the free ones. Just don't use magazines.
Когда я заканчиваю с грилем, я режу крупными кубиками имеющиеся овощи, грибы, что есть в холодильнике. Помещаю их в корзину для гриля, и оставляю под крышкой, пока гриль остывает. Периодически помешиваю. Они готовятся медленно, но достаточно хорошо, пока гриль держит температуру и остывает. Затем их можно заправить специями, маслом, или есть просто так. Удачи!
The Weber is wonderful! I smoke stuff on it all the time (The Snake Method - simply stack two rows of briquets two briquettes high around 50-80% of the way around the edge of the bottom, then put wood on top at certain intervals for smoke and add some lit starter briquettes at one of the ends - leave bottom air intake almost closed and top one almost closed, adjust for temperature) As for hot and medium, have the divider baskets with lots fo coal on one side, have some loose coal under the medium side, experiment until desired temp
Thank you for using a Weber and charcoal chimney! You're already doing better than most "grill experts". Yes, fill the chimney UP slightly above the top even because the charcoal will crumble down when heating. You won't need more than that. Yes, wait longer for the oil to heat up. Yes, the charcoal didn't need to be totally white on top before pouring, just a little white to indicate the heat made it's way all the way up. Just use 1 lighter cube, it'll be fine. You used 2 and that's why it was so stinky. You can also add smoking woods for better smell (and flavor!) Don't abandon the grill more than a few minutes when cooking but you can absolutely leave the grill when done as long as it's a safe distance from the house and covered. It'll take hours to cool down. Don't spread the coals with the tongs, just get better at more evenly pouring the coals out 😉 Just please, make sure to use your coal bag up before winter - it won't be nearly as good the following year. Happy grilling!
I believe the stinky part is the cubes you are using to start the fire. I was taught to use newspaper in the bottom of the chimney. It might take a little longer to get the coals ready, but there should not be any stink, just the smell of charcoal of burning.
I have a bag of shredded paper, I stuff a handful in (over the grill, some will fall out) and light the dangling bits, it burns longer than wadded up paper. If I have no shred, I use wadded up newspaper (3-4 pages). My buddy squirts olive oil on his, I light mine dry, whatever is easiest. FILL the starter with charcoal or briquettes, especially with a grill that's way up off the floor where the charcoal will sit.
I love charcoal, and learned how to grill using charcoal before gas. Charcoal is really stinky and smokey especially when first lighting. Whether you use newspaper, sticks, starter cubes.. it's very smokey at first. Maybe stinky isn't the right word, it doesn't smell "bad" but it's too much when you are close by.
Kingsford briquettes are maybe the smokiest (not good smoke) and stinkiest I've used when lighting up. B&B oak briquettes put off less nasty smelling smoke on startup and produce less ash. The regular B&B hardwood lump charcoal though produced no nasty smoke on lighting and is very clean burning. I've also found cotton balls soaked in alcohol work better than any firestarters I've bought, cheaper also. Using paper to light a chimney just adds to more bad smoke on light up.
Helen, I love this! I'm new to charcoal too (about a year); I bought a 22" SNS kettle (similar to the Weber), and after some trial and error it is now my favorite grill. You made some good progress in just a few days!
Hi Helen, please try lump charcoal, it’ll last longer than brickets. It also is more controllable and tastes better. I love your videos. You have a great demeanor and I love the way you speak. You articulate every word perfectly.
Hi Helen, I have been using 22" Webers for 40 years. For a long time, I've been using 2 zone heating and wood chips (often soaked) almost exclusively. I close the vent on the bottom about 2/3 of the way and on the top about halfway. Depending on what I'm cooking, I'll use either mesquite, cedar or applewood. If I'm cooking something for a while, I'll also add a chunk or two of oak that has soaked for a few hours (I also soak the chips). I also use hardwood lump coal (although ATK likes briquettes). Steaks, burgers, sometimes fish get cooked direct. Cut up chicken, fish that gets smoked goes in the cooler area and cooks longer to take up the smokey flavor. That covers most of my grilling. Whole turkeys get some different specifics but the same general approach (coals on the side, smoking wood that has been soaked), the coals need recharging in the middle. (I'm thinking of going to gas because my tracheostomy makes being around smoke difficult.) Good luck with the grilling!
Hi Helen 👋 I'm happy that you're giving charcoal another chance. It does take time and experimentation to find out what works for you. I'm surprised you hadn't called your friend Chef John for some advice. He uses charcoal quite a bit.
great tips in the comments! this one wasn't one of your questions, but the ends of the grate that fold up/down are for accessing the coals during cooking. you can open them up to add cold coals to keep the fire going, toss on some wood for smoking, etc - it's like a window. helps to think of it this way as you position your coals and the grate on top of them. also, would recommend experimenting with dumping the coals directly into the sides of the grill so they pile up on a slant. that's how i get a super reliable 3 temp zone with just 1 chimney of coals that go for hours.
It was fun to see you try charcoal after recently taking your Grilling Fish class (and being the only charcoal griller in the group!). You've got all the basics and advice you'll need for the grill you have. I have a Char-Griller smoker-grill, so the longer rectangular grill space is different from the round Weber and creates different heat zones. I manage them differently so my advice wouldn't be helpful. I have to say that once again your class gave me great cues and I was able to grill some beautiful striper today (NO STICKING!) along with some little sirloins (I'm able to do a variation on your reverse sear by leveraging the larger grill and the warmup time). And I sprinkle my coals and save and dry anything left to throw in the next fire.
I use charcoal almost exclusively, and it is a learned skill, kinda like cooking on a wood cookstove. Its an ancient skill most have lost. But you are on the right track, with your skills in the kitchen I have no doubts your learning curve will not be as bad as mine. To get more smokiness use wood, chips are probably the easiest, I collect my own. I use birch with out the bark, mountain ash, alder, and occasionally apples. NEVER use evergreens like pine,larch,spuce,ect. And never use poisonous plant like poison oak, ivey, lucas,ect. I have smoked fish on a webber before, worked good, but smaller quantities, only side without charcoal, or cold side. I have no doubts in your ability to master this skill and thank you for all you've inspired me to learn, especially your dumplings and pasta, I now make a pretty good salmon dumpling that i cook often. I thank you, my friend.
It’s wonderful to see how passionate people are about their Weber kettles. Aside from the flavor that charcoal imparts, there’s a degree of skill necessary to produce quality food that requires practice.
I have Webber's Art of the Grill book. It does a really good job of showing how the heat circulates within the grill and how to change heat flow, particularly with the use of the charcoal baskets and the upper and lower dampers. For me, understanding parts of this was not exactly intuitive, but I used the diagrams, and they nailed it. Most of the time, I do use the charcoal baskets. I have a lot of control that way. Me personally, I just will not use a gas grill. I use either charcoal or wood in the fire pit with the iron swing grill.
Standard way to do steaks on charcoal grill: Put coals to one side with a vent under them. Sear steak over coals. Move steak to other side over indirect heat and place lid on with lid vent on the same side as the steak on open. This creates an updraft where the air enters the vent, is heated by the coals, and then moves over the steak to leave through the lid vent. It creates a oven like environment. Pro tip: if you want to use a probe thermometer string the probe through the lid vent without the thermometer attached. After the lid is on attach the thermometer. You can also start less charcoal and put some unlit charcoal on top when you dump it out. It helps even the heat out a bit, but you need to get used to it.
Soooo many questions. My grandfather started to show me how to grill a steak when i 5 years years old. That was 60 years ago. I started using the classic Webber 22" kettle about 35 years ago. I hhave 4 of them and yes i occasionally use two or three at a time ( beer brats using a dutch oven for the beer cooking then finishing on the grill. Another kettle doing a vegetarian dish, my white kettle is dedicated to only vegetarian meals. And a 3rd kettle baking a pie.) Bottom line anything you can do in a oven you can do in the kettle. So you need to learn fire management. How much fuel and placement of your fuel. Latter you start to add different types of wood chunks for more and different smoky flavors. Grilled salmon, baked breads and even smoked Turkey or Texas style smoked brisket, hmmm. Good luck, learn your fire and everything else will fall in place. FYI, beware of folks who say "you have to do it this way". There are so many ways to use these cookers. Folks have been after me to start a channel for a few years now so I'll post up something in the next week or so. Heck I'll be salmon fishing week so maybe a salmon catch and grill video. Have a great day 🌤 🎣🐟🔥
Cool to see a great chef trying something new! Charcoal baskets are the right idea. Several products out there that improve on those. The Slow N Sear "SNS" I think has been around the longest. Briquets are easier to manage than lump, but lump has a nicer burn. All natural briquets I think give you the best of both worlds.
I love my Weber kettle grill. I hate the factory cooking grate and so I got online and ordered a nice heavy duty American made stainless steel grate that is much heavier and durable. I like to use a grill basket for doing vegetables. There isn’t the fuss of them falling through and it’s much easier to turn them and move them around so that they brown evenly without some being burnt and others nearly raw. Your comments about the coals being lit but not fully white is correct. For slow and long cooks the ‘snake’ method is great. It’s just practice and being observant. I love charcoal over gas even though it’s not as convenient.
I've achieved temperatures of 900F using a "vortex" in a Weber 22" charcoal grill. For the record, I also have gas and pellet grills which I use for different purposes. I've been refining my grilling (and smoking) techniques for many years. I'm a big fan of your kitchen tutorials and would be honored to share my experiences with you.
Love your channel Helen! When I first started charcoal grilling I used kingsford and the smoke output when first lighting them was so horrible and stinky, I felt bad smoking up my neighborhood. Switched to B&B briquettes and they are far better - significantly less smoke, less ash, and last longer. If you want even less initial smoke, try hardwood lump charcoal which has no binders. From my research online it seems to be the binders in briquettes that are the cause of the initial smoke
Regarding getting higher temp on one side and slightly lower but not cold temp on the other, when cooking with coals to one side for direct and indirect, I like to orient the lid so that the top vent is on the side that does not have the coals. This will cause the hot air trying to escape to have to go over the side of the grill that doesn't have coals, meaning that it won't just escape out the top and leave the "off-side" without the coals running cold. I usually start with a chimney that is only 1/3-1/2 full of charcoal, get it to be flamey/orange without all white and then dump it into a pre-laid bed/rows of unlit coal onto the one side I'm putting the coals on. The unlit coals will get you longer time grilling as they will light over time, and it won't burn out as fast as if you start all the charcoal in the chimney. This is great for when you're doing longer barbecue type cooking where you need to cook something for 6 or more hours (ribs done this way are great, to get a nice tender rib the internal should be in the 190-200 range, best to wrap at some point to prevent over-darkening of the bark and retaining moisture for juicier ribs) I don't bother with baskets or slow'n'sear or vortex or any of those things, just dump on one side sort of against the wall of the grill so they pile up there. I usually just watch for which parts of the grill are hotter than others and rotate the food through the hot and cooler spots to get a more even doneness, as long as your hot spots aren't too hot you can have time to rotate them all through without burning, I find it easier/reliable to just understand where the hot parts are based on the look of the coals and then sear things more slowly than I might on a stovetop, that way each wing, brat, burger, whatever gets its turn in the heat and is done evenly. Then heat control is done via the vents, both the top and the bottom vent. Yes that charcoal ash cleaner thing at the bottom is also an air vent, so you can control temperature by adjusting that as well. My usual process is to light charcoal in chimney, wait until lit enough, dump into grill, put grate and lid on, set vents to be maybe 1/4 to 1/2 shut on top and barely open on bottom, then wait 20-30 minutes and gauge/measure temperature of the dome (I have the weber with the built-in dome thermometer, those aren't super accurate but any method measuring inside the grill will work whether its dome, grate thermometer, etc) If it's too hot, close vents more, if its too cold, open vents. Once the grill is ball-parked to the right temp, then I clean the grate and put food on. Watch and adjust vents as you go, if you're going for a while, you'll want to make sure you open up the vents at some point so that the unlit charcoal in your bed can light faster and to maintain the temp for a long time. Remember also that opening the lid is going to give it way more oxygen than just opening all your vents to full blast, so by looking at what you're cooking, you're also raising the temperature of the grill you're cooking over, so don't try to over-adjust the food once it's on. When I'm doing a rack of ribs and also doing some burgers or hot dogs or brats for lunch, I keep the grill dome temp lower for the ribs around the 300-350F range and just let the burgers, brats, etc sit on the direct side and close the lid. They'll take longer to sear and brown but they'll still do it eventually, be patient with it and they'll still get the nice darkened color, you'll just want to start them earlier than you might expect since you're not searing them right over an open flame like if you're cooking with the lid open. This is where patience helps and not trying to cook it all fast will help. Oh and flare up control? Just put the lid on, fire can't burn if there's not enough oxygen so unless I'm trying to really hard sear a steak on flames, I sear everything with the lid on. Can't have a flare-up burn your food if there's not even extra oxygen for the flames to use to flare up. This is one place where the charcoal grill is exceptional compared to gas, flare-up control is as easy as putting the lid on and closing the vents further, you can walk away for 3-5 minutes at a time while searing if you're vents are closed enough and the lid is on without much concern because it'll only burn as hot as there is oxygen for it. That makes it so you can easily put burgers on, close lid and go into the kitchen to grab a plate to put them on, even if it is farther away from the kitchen. For safety to leave the grill, once vents are closed and lid is on, it can't burn any hotter, so if the lid is securely on, and grill is on steady ground at no risk of being knocked over, then I consider it fine to leave. It may still be hot to touch on the side for quite some time if you cooked for a while in it, but it's mostly safe after 20-30 minutes as long as the lid stays on and vents stay shut (don't open it to check if its out though, that'll add more oxygen) If you're really concerned though, don't be afraid to just douse the charcoal with water though, it will get stinky and smokey and all that, but then you know its 100% safe. I'm sure you'll be cleaning the grill with water, and it's a weber with enameled paint so it's not going to rust or anything.
This! I was almost yelling at the video in the beginning when the vent holes were wide open, the vent was all over the place, and the lid kept going on and off! LoL. I would have done the steak and squid the opposite way - sear the steak first, then move it to the cooler spot to finish, and cook the squid (which cooks FAST) on a medium hot area. Use the thermometer and it will tell you how you need to adjust the vent holes and location.
@@bjones9942 - She's new to charcoal grills so I might give her some latitude. No one is borne with the skill. We all have to learn. I'm sure she'll learn quickly.
@@wickedcabinboy Did I say otherwise? No, I didn't. But - she did say she did research beforehand so I'm surprised she didn't see anything that mentioned air flow/control.
For lighting a chimney of charcoal you dont have to wait for it to completely ash over, when you pour the charcoal out the unlit charcoal on top will now be on the bottom underneath the lit charcoal. Lump charcoal will not put off any "stinky" smells while lighting up. You trade consistency for having just straight natural wood, briquettes are just compressed shavings mixed with binders/starches. Ive used briquettes a lot but I'm finding the cleaner burning lump charcoal more to my liking now. The B&B hardwood lump is a good one to try. Using charcoal baskets was a good move to create a more concentrated 2 zone cooking setup. They also help the charcoal burn longer. If you want a lower temperature then you can fill the baskets with unlit coals and just light up a small handful and disperse them in one end of the baskets to slowly burn through. As far as getting a medium heat zone, that can be a bit more challenging trying to setup different areas of charcoal. The easiest way I can think of is to have a normal hot and cool zone and get an elevated cooking rack accessory that sits above the regular grate. There are quite a few available and they arent expensive. That way you can raise the food above the hot zone and have a more gently direct heat. As far as shutting your grill down, its completely safe to walk away from the grill. It seems you already have it on concrete, I guess if youre really worried just make sure if the wind happened to knock it over with a strong gust the grill wouldnt land anywhere that could potentially catch fire. I think this is highly unlikely though. If you shut all the vents the coals should snuff out in about an hour or so. Through trial and error you will learn to love the kettle, it is extremely versatile. Ive completely quit grilling on gas and soley use Weber charcoal grills and don't ever see myself changing from that.
I’m going to say this in the off chance that I have the amazing opportunity of giving YOU a tip for a change. You’ve helped me so much that I hope this helps you. That paper towel you used to oil the grill? Toss it into the cooled chimney starter and use it next time you use your grill. Place it under the starter and light and it will get your coals going. No fluid or other starters needed.
1) When cooking burgers, the grease drip can (and did in your video) cause direct flame. An overcooked burger can be the result of a mini grease fire. I normally use 85/15 but one time I cooked 70/30 burgers and stepped away for a few minutes and the grease drip caused a massive fire that cinderized all the food on the grill. Lesson learned! 2) I also prefer wood lump charcoal for a cleaner smoky taste. I typically use lighter fluid instead of a chimney starter - but I've seen friends give their chimney starters a small shake a few minutes into the lighting process to shift and settle the lighting coals for more even results. 3) have you thought about grilling planked fish on your new grill yet? Remember the cedar planked salmon craze? 4) for heat zones sans basket, I used to just spread the coals 60/40 on two halves to create a hot and a medium area. You could also use a grilling basket to lift more tender items up a bit.
They have grill “table” attachments which you clip into place on the side of these kinds of grills. Very helpful to have a convenient place to put prepped food. I pile the charcoal on one side of the grill. Heat goes from very hot to cool on the other side. Point is to sear the meat on the charcoals, then move to cool side. Once everything has the exterior color I like, I cover the grill and it basically turns into an oven (like with your day 3 ribs). Time foods so they finish about the same time, else taking them off one by one has that opening the oven door effect. You can buy separate wood chips for grilling (cherry, hickory, etc) to impart smoke flavor. You soak the chips beforehand, and toss them into the hot coals for smoke. Gets extra smokey if you do this before you cover the grill.
Used to be a newspaper to start chimney guy, but didn’t like how dirty and ashy my newspapers would get. Tumbleweed is a good alt, but when I’m lazy, lighter fluid is good and really fast. Will cut those light times way down. Lump charcoal is very nice, but more finicky. Briquettes light and burn evenly imo, but can burn out faster as they are small. One other thing I found is that lump charcoal can mold, so keeping them from one season to the next is tricky. Briquettes didn’t have this problem.
Use a thermometer attachment. Use lump charcoal not briquettes for better flavor. A Slow N Sear attachment is awesome to reverse sear. You should put your to either side and a drip pan in the middle to smoke ribs add wood for extra flavor.
I'm on a brazilian backyard bbq at this exact moment. We started discussing the heat issue, the expert opinion here is that we have easy access to better charcoal here. Ours usually come in different sizes, the smaller pieces are easier to start, the bigger ones maintain consistent heat for a long time. The other thing that is common here are tall grills with multiple different distances to the fire in order to have different temperatures at the same time
Just came inside ironically from my charcoal grill where I did lamb, T bone, soy chicken, and pork tenderloin, mmm. -topped with cilantro pesto and a cucumber and watercress balsamic side salad, and a beer😅 -it is more art than science, but so worth it. Yup have to move food around more to cook perfectly. -briquettes burn less hot but for longer than wood charcoal, which is why your zucchini didn’t cook. Learn wood charcoal though, much better flavour. -several paper towel lightly soaked in olive oil, or other oil starts a fire well and no smell or toxicity. I don’t use a fire box, just make a hole in the charcoal pile with a few charcoal pieces over top of the oil soaked napkins and light. -I dump water over my charcoal when done, and re-use while adding a few more fresh lumps each time. Happy grilling, fire 🔥 🔥 🔥
Well done Helen, I found the Acorn komado style BBQ's/smokers very very efficient and have stable temp control. Also I use two types of charcoal depending on what I'm cooking. I use fast burning light weight (cheap) charcoal for searing and Japanese Binchotan white charcoal for super intense searing or low and slow cooking. The flavour is much better with natural charcoal than the bricks. I also use an electric starter so no stinky kero smell. I hope this helps!!
I prefer lump coal. I really like that it doesn't leave ash. I'm not going to pretend that it makes any of this easier though lol. it get hotter faster and burns out faster, making cooking certain food a more hectic. The only real advice I have is, I personally rarely use the lid. I want my food to cook from direct heat on a grill, not by steamy convection. A lid is needed for gas, since they have trouble getting up to the needed temp, but charcoal actually seems to get a bit hotter when it is off. When it is off it is also easier to shuffle things around, so nothing sits in a hotspot for the entire time.
I second the lump charcoal. I find the starting smoke to be more manageable and it has a pleasant burning wood smell rather than a horrible chemical odor. I also feel like it imparts a better smokey flavor to the food.
@@helenrennieYes, burgers don't need the lid at all. Most thinner cuts of meat I wouldn't use the lid (like a skirt steak or carne asada). You will find that without the lid, it will get extremely hot. Charcoal gets so much hotter than gas and that's probably its biggest advantage in my opinion. Although my new gas grill has an infrared burner and it works so well.
I moved, so now I don't have a grill or all the tools, but I think I had the same model of grill from your video. That being said, if you want to learn from scratch, get a hibachi, or a smaller grill, so you are closer to the heat but can adjust the distance from flame to food. And try smaller batches... you don't need to use the whole grill surface to learn. Paper wads don't stink as much as blocks of stuff for lighting your grill, and actual charcoal smells better than briquettes. Here in Hawaii we have kiawe (mesquite, an invasive species introduced to make animal feed) on the dry side of most islands and people make and sell kiawe charcoal, its a little more money than briquettes but smells better and burns hot. I had a big ceramic planter pot to dump coals into, which I could cover and walk away from without any worry about fire. You could put some pavers on your wooden deck (and set your grill on top of those) if you are worried about heat from the grill affecting the wood. I did the line of coals on one side to do hot zone/cold zone, and I tried hot/cold/hot setup but the big round grill wasn't as suited to that, I think its easier with a rectangular grill setup. Honestly, If I get another grill I'll do a hibachi and simplify my list of grilled food options to things that fit the small form factor.
Love your videos! I hope you create a follow up video on what you've learned from subscribers about charcoal grills and update us on what you've learned first hand.
Nothing beats experience!!!!!! Use up 1,000 lbs of charcoal and you will have some skills. How long did it take you to learn to be proficient with your oven????? Same thing with the grill. I love your videos as they flatten my learning curve!!!!!!!
I've been grilling on a 22" Weber kettle for decades. Here's my two cents. 1. Add wood chunks to your grill. You can buy Oak, Hickory, and various fruit woods at pretty much any hardware store or big-box store. I live in Somerville, and I get mine at Tags (the Ace hardware store in Porter Square), Home Depot, or Lowes. Put wood chunks on whatever you use for the hot zone. Some folks use a little charcoal at the bottom of the chimney and fill the rest with wood chunks -- I prefer to add the wood afterwards. 2. Get yourself some "Charcoal Rails". They clip onto the charcoal grate (the lower grate), and make it easy to pour charcoal on each side, making two hot sides and a warm zone in the middle. You can do something similar with your basket -- the two sides separate so that you can make a hot zone on each side. I find the rails easier to manage. 3. For two-zone cooking like you tried, position the rails side by side a little towards one side of the center. They'll hold your hot coals in the hot zone and leave the cooler zone clean. 4. Keep at least one side of the moveable parts of the grate over the hot zone -- if you use two hot zones, then align the grate so that the opening on each side is directly over the hot zone on that side. Then just add more charcoal or wood chunks during the cook if your grill is not hot enough. 5. Most steaks don't need the cover. For regular grocery-store steaks -- less than an inch thick -- temper the steaks inside for an hour or so. Salt them the night before and leave them in your fridge overnight uncovered. Then temper them for an hour. Mine are usually around 50 deg F when I put them on the grill. Put them on the hot side, and use a timer (I never worry about a temperature probe). For a typical 3/4" steak, 3-4 minutes a side is about right for medium rare with nice browning. I like a a long-handled spatula. I set a timer for 1.5 minutes, then rotate the steak 90 deg and restart the timer. Then flip the steak and do the other side. Adjust the time to your taste -- you'll get lovely grill marks. A timer is MUCH easier than mucking with a probe, and gives very reproduceable results. 6. Oil the item to be grilled, not the grill. Any oil you put on the grill immediately burns off. For veggies like zucchini, I use a stainless steel bowl and olive oil I cook veggies on the hot side, no cover, and turn them until I get the char I like. I think the char is delicious. My family LOVES grilled onions. Get large sweet onions (Vadalia while they're in season) and cut them into thick (1/2") slices. Oil each slice, and put it on the hot side. They go great with steak -- just use a spatula to move them to the cool side while your grilling the steak on the hot side. 7. With two hot zones, one on each side and wood chunks on each hot zone, you can do fabulous roasts. I routinely do chicken, pork roasts, lamb shoulders, beef roasts, and so on. Put a temperature probe in the roast, get the grill going. put the roast on the grill, and cover it. Use the vents on the top and bottom to adjust the heat up and down. I usually just open the top and bottom vents all the way and let it go. A 4 pound whole chicken takes about an hour to an hour and a half, most similar sized protein roasts take about the same. 8. When you're done, close the vents, put the cover on, and forget it. It takes an hour so for the coals to go out -- I'm not sure, I never babysit it. 9. Before you start, be sure to clean out any old coals, ash, and accumulated junk. The metal sides of the bowl reflect heat and all that stuff acts as an insulator. There's a tray underneath the grill that will collect the juices from fatty proteins like chicken. You can get foil liners that make it a breeze -- just discard it after it's cool. 10. Pay no attention to the naysayers and dogmatic types. The paraffin cubes work great, I use them all the time. They burn off almost immediately and don't add any flavor that I've ever been able to taste. Paper is a royal pain -- it's harder to start, less reliable, and you'll end up with paper ash flying all over the yard. Finally -- perhaps most importantly -- charcoal NEVER starts properly unless you sit near it with a refreshing libation. I'm partial to higher-quality lawnmower-swill like PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) or Miller. Drink it from a glass, never a can. Bottled beer (in glass) is a favorite of mine. My German-born wife swears by Campari and soda. By the time your libation is finished, the chimney is probably ready to go.
One tip I'd say is start piling your charcoal up high and on top of each other. I know you want them evenly spread out, but you also want to kake sure your heat source is close enough to the thing you want to cook. One layer of brickets at the bottom is like if you started a gas stove but then lifted you pan up above the fire expecing it to cook. You need to close that distance so try and get your coals to be closer to the grate.
Helen, have you check to see if your Grillgrates fit into this Kettle grill? This really is a good application for it (if it fits correctly). No advice for me as far as charcoal goes, as I’m a lifelong gasser :) This isn’t a grilling channel but I love your enthusiasm on it. Makes me want to grill this weekend too.
1. You can use junk mail to start the charcoal and save some money. The cubes probably work better, but it generally takes 1-2 wads of paper to get the coals going for me and I look forward to stocking the good paper for BBQ now! 2. Put the hot coals in a pile on one side for searing leaving the other side as "indirect" heat like an oven. Make sure the coals are by the side that opens so you can throw in more if you need them. 3. To control the temp, I generally leave the bottom wide open and just mess with the top vent. For steaks I like between 400-500 degrees. 4. Flip, flip, flip every 1-2 minutes depending upon how hot the grill is to avoid burning the surface and cook through faster. 5. I like lump charcoal flavor better, but regular charcoal is easier to control when you're learning. Regular charcoal tastes bad on longer cooks in my opinion. 6. You gotta keep at it and go with the flow because it is definitely more hit and miss than gas. I often find I adapt to conditions, if it's too hot, I do indirect heat until the coals cool off and then sear. Sometimes I just open the lid to let the heat escape.
Best tip I can offer other than keep at it and trust your gut is to use cotton balls soaked in denatured alcohol for your starter. It's a very clean burn and it only takes three to get a full chimney lit (very cost effective). I put them on a folded up square of aluminum foil under the chimney. Other advice, which goes for grilling in general would be to get a pair of welding gloves. The Weber kettle exposes you to more of the cooking surface so even with the long tongs you have they are great to have. Harbor Freight has some pretty cheap ones. I would also try to avoid using the oven as you learn because it is way possible to do long cooks. I cook the Thanksgiving turkey every year on my Weber kettle. I sometimes use the oven to finish depending on weather conditions but the whole point of using the grill is to impart flavor. Best of luck, it's worth the effort in my opinion.
Place the vent on the top of the grill over the direction you want the heat to travel. You can get medium and high heat by setting up your grill for indirect cooking and put a grill gate over the chimney starter with lit coals in it, essentially turning it into a mini grill.
Haha, wow I was just checking your older Charcoal v. Gas videos the other day so this is a nice surprise. My pennies: -Getting to know your hotspots every firing is much easier than trying to achieve a perfectly even temp across the entire grill every time. -Try the brown fiber firestarters. They don't have the gross chemical smell of those white weber cubes or liquid starter and avoidddd using paper or cardboard - this will just send paper ash flying everywhere. -Different charcoal makes a big difference. Royal Oak sells a great charcoal that is just actual chunks of charred wood instead of briquettes and the flavor and heat it gives is noticeably better than Kingsford and those style briquettes that can have a slight petrol smell. -Charcoal + Smoking is where it will really shine, or anything slow-cooked, especially vegetables. For quick cooking, marinate those things in oil, acid and whatever you like - it will let them cook longer without burning the surface. You can even try slow-cooking burgers under a low flame and the smokey taste will be much more pronounced. They won't develop a crispy crust, instead it is more of a reddish skin, keeping all the juices locked in. -Get long sword skewers - Remove the grill grates and kebab and brochette everything over open flame - this is great for veggies, since they'll cook more evenly if they're not touching the hot grates.
Try a smaller table top BBQ grill. Easy to manage. Or buy 2, or 3. Set them up for different Temps if you like. You can use Kingsford charcoal. You can throw in some of your favorite woods also. Table Top BBQ grills do not require a lot of fuel for quick cooks.
Helen, it's the same as gas grill. The fuel source is different and imparts a wonderful primal taste. And you don't need alot of charcoal. Close vents leave grill alone, use coals next time.
Since I believe you're in Newton, I should add there's a good store for all things barbecue that you can talk to for advice. Bar-B-Que Barn is in Arlington. I forgot to answer another question you asked. After grilling, I close both the top and bottom vents. The fire goes out and there's generally some wood to dump the hot coals over the next time I grill.
Other folks are already pointing out plenty of things to watch and methods for gaining more control, like the use of coal baskets you noted. But a major thing to keep in mind is that heat from burning solids is simply less controllable. This means you have to monitor your food closely, especially for high heat grilling. I don't even bother putting the lid on for direct heat with charcoal, only for indirect heat cooking so I can direct and control the airflow. It requires a little experience to judge how hot the grill is running, just like learning to judge a gas range or a broiler.
I recently discovered Frontier (brand) Tumbleweeds as charcoal chimney fire starter material. Works great! I've dabbled with a Weber 22 for decades. Lately I've been trying to learn to do it "right" and consistently. I'm far from an ace, but I think (at least in my case) using it frequently so that one remembers what happened 'last time' and why it likely happened - is crucial.
Grilling is visceral and the simple connection of man to the food and heat is all one needs to be successful. Watch out for flare-ups from fat dripping as this can lead to a fuel-like flavor on meat. Cheers from Tejas
Concerning your very first attempt with the zucchini, was the bottom vent to your grill open? It looks to me as if you snuffed out the charcoal when you placed the lid on. Regardless of having the top vent open, if the bottom vent(s) are closed there is no air intake and as such the fire goes out. Otherwise you look like a person who bought a charcoal grill and is learning how to use it. You're doing well, enjoy the process and don't sweat the small stuff. I would've eaten anything you pulled off of your grill. Happy grilling!!
You can blow air by any means if you want to get really high heat and after you stop tempature wont stay as high so its good to make crust with its also good to realive the mostly burnt coals
My wife and I love your videos. Grilling is an art and takes a lot of practice. You have to get to know your equipment, each grill is different. Charcoal brands make a difference as well, some burns better than others. Some grills you can adjust the height of the food from the coals. You are doing the right things, messing with the vents (both top and bottom) to get the temperatures correct, letting the grill heat up, etc. It is just going to take practice to become a grilling virtuoso. I personally use a combination of smokers, grilling, and Dutch ovens anymore.
I put my charcoal chimney over the side burner of my gas grill to light my coals. The minimum amount of charcoal I'd use is a three quarters full chimney. (up to the highest air holes on the side of a webber chimney), however I usually use full chimney. I also tip out my briquettes a bit early like you. I do it once the top layer of charcoal has some ash visible on it.but before they are totally ashed over. I want all impurities to be completely burned off before I put food on, and I get the benefit of the hottest possible fire to preheat my grill grates, without wasting charcoal. If you are a night grilling maniac like me there is another visible cue. I like to wait til I don't see flames jetting out the top of the chimney anymore. I have used a sharpie to mark where the bottom vent is closed, just barely cracked open, 50% open and full open, I admit I mainly use the grill either full open, or open just a crack for a low and slow cook. I reccomend you google the snake method of arranging charcoal. I like to arrange two rows of briquettes around the circumfrence of the charcoal grate where the briquettes are nearly vertical, and I put an additional two rows stacked on top of the first two rows.. with propr vent management I've been able to get 7 or 8 hours of uninterupted unattended (mostly) heat for a low and slow cook. You are already using a two zone fire, but occasionally I use a three zone fire.one side has no fire, the othr half has charcoal but the charcoal has two zones. a large even layer as a base and a second layer of more charcoal at the outer edge of the grill away from the cool zone. I do have a suggestion when things are going too hot and fast, like with your blackened zuccini, for example. Instead of moving each piece of food individually while singeing all the hairs off your hands and forearms, use your tongs to grip the cooking grate and rotate it 180 degrees so your food is over the cool zone. You can then rearrange the food without it continuing to burn and you wont burn yourself either. Then rotate the grate back. Charcoal grills are a bit diffrent than gas grills. Gas grills get hotter with the lid closed. Carcoal grills burn hottest when the lid is off, because there is a more oxygen reaching the coals. Think of the bottom vents like the gas pedal in your car. wide open vent is like mashing the gas pedal down. The top vent on the lid is like the brake pedal in your car. The more you close the vent, the slower the combustion gases can escape, the slower the fire. I find the top vent gves you the most control out of the two vents. Lid open? Fuggeddaboutit. Blazing heat is the result. I try to keep the lid on for the majority of my cooks. Nice choice on the Webber. I love my Webber performa grill, (nifty built in table) but I've barely used it since I bought a big ceramic egg shaped kamado grill.
Good counsel from most. 1. Lump charcoal is good, but I keep going back to briquettes because of their easy arrangement and predictability. 2. Want some more flavor? Just keep a bag of apple, cherry or mesquite chips nearby. Throw them on top of the coals and close the lid. It will add a nice smoke flavor to your food. 3. Lid off when searing fatty meats. Flip to another spot when they start to flare up. Move to the cold zone to finish with the lid on. Otherwise, you will be smoking with fat vapors that resemble a petroleum smell and taste. This is often mistaken for lighter fluid starts. 4. Buy another bottom, charcoal grid and turn perpendicular to preserve more of your charcoal. 5. Yes, I close up all the vents and preserve the extinguished charcoal for the next grill. No need to stay and babysit if there’s nothing flammable nearby. 6. When searing steaks make sure you have at least two layers of charcoal underneath. Add the grill and don’t put those steaks on for 10 minutes. You’ll get some nice grill marks then. I’ve always enjoyed your videos because you bring the scientific approach. Charcoal grilling is a science and an art. Welcome to the adventure.
Heat zones will depend on how you bank your coals - the closer they are to the grate, the higher the heat will be. With regard to the smell when lighting, I have found (consistently!) that lump charcoal lights faster and smokes less than briquettes, but it's less consistent and more expensive.
For moving food from High heat to low(er) simply rotate the grill inside the kettle by using handles - you don’t have to handle the food and you can move back and forth and get right combinations of heat/cool. Use spatula for fish and burgers, tongs for veggies and steak, ribs, etc.
I have an egg style grill, so this may be a little less applicable, but I start by building a mound of (lump) charcoal in the middle. Make a little crater, like you would with flour, place starter in there and build up some charcoal around it, enough to make use of the starter, but not so crowded it cuts off airflow. After the starter burns down, the surrounding charcoal should start to glow red or turn white. If so, close the lid and open up the airflow (throttle back once you get near desired temp). The rest of the charcoal will start to catch as the grill preheats (preheat time will be a smidge longer with this method, but worth it). Once preheated, you now have a central hot spot and can "adjust" your heat by moving food from the center (for browning) and to the edge (for staying warm). Only take the lid off to move food around, or if you just really want to ramp up the heat (think of it as a big smoky oven. The air is your fuel, the charcoal just holds the heat). I've found this method gives me consistent & delicious results each time. Happy Grilling! :)
You can create three heat zones by dividing the grill into thirds where 1/3 has no coals, the middle third has a single layer and the final third has two layers or more of coals. It significantly reduces your cooking area, but does give you three heat zones. I’ve never needed to use it.
Please make a tutorial on how to smoke meat with one of those. Play around with different types of wood (and cold/warm smoking) whenever you feel like experimenting. Some friends smoked pork loin to make Canadian Bacon and it turned out divine, way better in comparison with what we find at the store for a fraction of the cost. It was one of the best treats I have ever had, to be honest. Keep us posted. I hope I can do the same again. I only had it once and it was an unforgettable experience! I wish I took notes back then!
Oh my. Been there, done that. Until I got my Kamado Joe Konnected. Worth every penny. Made the best pizza and chicken I ever produced. It is a charcoal barbecue but with a ceramic lining. The 'Konnected' part automates the starter and fan for very precise temperature control. Grill, roast, make pizza that is as good as a pizza oven. And an app....so you don't have to stay outside when you start and monitor your grill. No, I don't sell them. Just love my Kamado Joe Konnected.
I have Barrel Type Grill made by Kingston. Its is on my back porch (concrete) I use large Charcoal Starter to light charcoal. Grill has two racks one directly over charcoal and other is attached to lid and pivots over bottom rack. I love this grill. I cooked everything on it, fish, softcrabs, burgers, steaks and hotdogs. Always great results; especially burgers and steaks. I usually LOAD the gril with all kinds of meat, onions etc. and share with daughter and friends; although not recently since she travels for work : ( Charcoal Grill has produced some of "most memorable" meals. ; ) Sorry no tip, just experiment and learn "your" grill, with your knowledge I am sure with more experimenting you'll produce better results than me. ; )
Briquettes: slow ignition, long, slow burn, ideal for recipes that take longer. Charcoal: quick ignition, lots of heat, ideal for quick grilling and to get a nice crust. I always use charcoal in baskets. Ash: if the charcoal/briquettes are covered in ash then you lose some heat, with briquettes this is not so bad, with charcoal IF you need a lot of heat just stir the charcoal a little and you have full heat. Lots of fuel -> lots of heat (just for the sake of completeness) Baskets: very good with a combination of charcoal. The distance from the charcoal also plays a role, since I can't adjust the distance on my kettle grill, I just put something under the baskets if I need a lot of heat (for example 2 stones on the sides under the baskets). In addition, you need very little charcoal for quick grilling, such as when preparing 1-2 steaks, I need about half of a starter. Try not to leave the steaks on one side for too long, then you will avoid burnt grill marks hot grill grates. That was my experience :)
The flavor you get with charcoal is amazing. I'm no expert but none of my friends use a lid to cover the grill. I assume that is reserved for thicker cuts of meat etc. I would love to get a grill, but I live in an apartment. Maybe some day 😊
The smell you’re experiencing is likely from “easy light” briquettes of coal, those are pre-soaked in lighter fluid that can produce a nasty odor. I always opt for the charcoal without that descriptor. Using the chimney and the webber starters you’ll have no issues lighting the charcoal (Easy light is for a park, camping, or beach BBQ situation in which you probably don’t have access to better tools / equipment)
Hi, I have a Webber Grill. I suggest closing the lid and paying attention to the temperature dial on the outside of the lid. When I cook steak or picanha I put them on the grill when the temperature reaches 450 - 500 degrees. I've never done vegetables because I am on more meat based diet. However, I'm guessing veggies taste better on a quick high heat too. When cooking something very fatty, I don't recommend a grill hotter than 500 degrees. The fat will drip fast and cause flames. I'd suggest going on Webber's website too. They have lots of information.
There are electric elements sold that you place in the charcoal lumps to start them burning, no smelly starter or chimmney needed. It looks kinda of like a stove element. Place your lumps evenly when cold. Gently lift out element when the charcoal is 25 percent white.
How to fire management on a weber. If it's not windy, leave the bottom vent completely open. Control temp by location of fire, size of fire, and exhaust vent. If windy, place fire inside kettle downwind and close off bottom vent half way, continue control with exhaust. You always want very thin smoke. Billowing clouds of smoke = dirty combination = lighter fluid taste.
I personally think it’s safe to close both vents when done and leave the house. As long as there isn’t anything flammable close to it. I’ve done it for 40 years. Also, I use a product called a slow and sear. It is like the Weber baskets but with a built in water pan. And it seems to be more durable stainless Steele. I enjoyed the video.
On a propane BBQ, you control the flow of the fuel. On charcoal, you control the intake of air. So being careful with the vents, and when you take the lid off, is important to manage.
I may have missed it but the single best advice i can give you: do NOT clean your grill with a wire brush. the wires can dislodge from the brush and find their way in your food causing real harm. Use a leftover piece of flat wood or small scrap piece of 2x4 (something you can hold in your hand) and just run it across the hot grate. Works like a charm, is much safer, and shouldnt cost you anything. (its the same concept as those shaped wooden scrapers you spend too much for at the store)
More smoke flavor: buy wood chunks and put 2-3 in the baskets before dumping the charcoal. Airflow: place the vent over the cool zone to draw heat and smoke over the food from the hot side.
Best charcoal experience is easily those ceramic eggs, with a small torch for lighting. The small ones are only about $200 and make getting a consistent temp easy and give you amazing smoke flavors. Torch gets the charcoal lit in under 10sec.
You'll never fall in love with charcoal using briquettes. Lump or bust, get oak and mesquite mix. I pile my charcoal all the way to one side, up a little higher like a mound to get the heat closer to the grate. that gives me a very hot side to sear, even without a ton of charcoal, baskets are unnecessary, but not harmful. The kettle is more than one tool simultaneously, a griller and a smoker. At any moment, it could be either or both. Ribs are great because they are almost impossible to mess up, and if your coals finish before they are done you can move them to the oven, although I have pretty much switched to oven only ribs because they are soooo easy and less production. Chicken thighs are awesome, marinate them as you please, sear them on the hot side, move them to the cool side, sauce them, cover with the vents open over the chicken, let the sauce caremalize, sauce again, let caremalize, and repeat. Thighs are hard to overcook and making them sticky with layers of caremlized sauce is the key. Steaks on the grill are another favorite or porkchops. I think thick steaks are best because you can get amazing crust without overcooking, and the smokey flavor is better than anything you can get cooking indoors. For a nice thick steak, make sure you pat the meat as dry as possible, dry brine with kosher salt in advance if possible, add medium coarse black pepper prior to cooking if desired (you can also season post cook with a finishing salt, or coat with melted seasoned herb butter when serving). the key to crust is to cook it over the hot secton only, and once it goes down keep flipping it often, if its nice and thick you wont overcook it while you develop the exterior crust, and if you flip it often it wont burn. when the fat starts to render and it drips on the coals, cover it as always with the vents over the meat, this makes the smokeyness mingle with the beef fat and the flavor engrains in the crust. remember, the coals are cooler when covered because its getting less oxygen, so you can leave it slightly longer between flips at this point without it burning. Now, the real magic happens when you cook with both sides at once, you can cook alot of delicious food all at once, but you cant walk away from it once the meat goes down. My approach is not very scientific like yours, Helen, but if I'm grilling, I'm drinking, which increases my intuition and allows me to cook better meals than a novice like myself has any business cooking. If you're ever in California, bring your family over and I will show you my approach and cook a feast! I learned most of what I know about charcoal cooking from watching my dad, who makes the best bbq salmon ever. He's self taught. I've also gleaned alot of invaluable insight about cooking in general from watching yours and others videos. Thanks for the awesome content! and good luck with charcoal! Stick with it and search for intuition within yourself because all the cooking knowledge you already have plays when grilling. Once you grill with intuition you will LOVE to go outside to cook, especially on a nice evening. And for the love of all things holy, dont use briquettes from a factory.
For optimum grilling you should do a two zone cook. Coals on one side only and spin the grate during the cook. You also should have a thermometer gun to let you know how hot your fire is. Two zone allows meat to grill and sizzle so you get that delicious smoke fat flavor that everyone wants from the grill. I find that lump charcoal is better than briquettes, much better flavor as briquettes use lots of fillers. Grilling veggies for me doesn’t yield the best results unless I’m doing skewers. Have fun and good luck!
If you want to get more smoky flavor from your grill, just lay in some of those 'hardwood chunks' at the edge of the fire. The larger ones can last for many sessions. Available in oak, hickory, mesquite, etc from HD. I avoid the smaller chips as they don't last even through one session. And I don't bother to wet my wood either....smokes just as well.
My preference is to use a Hibachi-type grill for my charcoal grill. They uses far less Charcoal. I still use a gas grill for some cooking but if I have got a really nice cut of meat, it's going on the charcoal grill. Mostly I use the gas grill to start the charcoal. I use the chimney starter filled with charcoal set above the gas grill side burner (set on high) to start the charcoal. Takes about 1/2 the time to get the charcoal ready to use. The other main use I have for the gas grill is that the Hibachi grill fits inside the gas grill, when I'm done cooking, I take the Hibachi cooking surface off the charcoal and then simply close the gas grill lid.
Hi Helen! Charcoal baskets are key! For low and slow cooking also look into the snake method! You have almost all of the basics figured out already but there's one thing missing: distance between the charcoal and the cooking grate is key! Although it may seem like only a couple of inches, if you reduce the distance by half you will get 4 times the heat! This is because radiant heat (which is the primary source of heat with charcoal) follows the inverse-square law. So if you want a hot zone and a medium zone, you want one area with charcoal bunched up close to the cooking surface and another area where it's more spread out and further away! The amazing thing about charcoal is that you build your own burner every time you cook! Also don't be afraid to throw some aluminum foil in there when you want to block some of the radiant heat. Position the charcoal, the lid, and the vents to create a path for the airflow to enter the bottom, feed the fire, and come back to the food for natural convection cooking!
I use snake for smoking my peppers, works great.
Briquettes.. don't hit back
Apologies, Bloodsport is a "core memory" for me.
I'm not sure about the inverse-square law for this case .. like, where does the heat spread out to? It'll just bounce off the side edges and come back.
@@H4KnSL4K The interior of the Weber kettle is painted black. It's shiny when brand new (so does reflect a bit of heat) but after a bit of use it gets dulled by grime (unless you're meticulous about cleaning it). Dull black is very good at absorbing radiant heat. Some of it will then be re-radiated back inside the cooking chamber but much will also escape to the outside. It is not a very efficient cooking device. For that you want a kamado (which is well-insulated)
@@chongli297 An object at a temperature of few hundred kelvin emits mostly in the 5micron ... 100micron (Deep IR) window. Visible light (by which you judge "shiny" or "grimy" is between 400nm and 700nm. One ought not judge one by proxy of the other. A dull piece of steel or in the visible spectrum is extremely shiny (therefore non-radiative) in the deep-IR window (which is why steel shovels left in the sun get so hot - they catch visible light as energy and are unable to get rid of it radiatively.)
Also - judge carefully if you desire reflection (i.e. no radiation) or radiation (therefore also absorption). Very rarely can you have your cake and eat it too.
Helen swearing at a kettle grill is my new favorite thing
Same! I started grilling last summer, and the cooking speed caught me by surprise too. I feel the pain lmao
@@ziddship as an American, I'm really confused by the fact that our national cookout staples are Burgers and Hot Dogs. Burgers cook fast on direct heat; sausages cook slow on cooler heat-even a bit of char, while nice, still has to wait on the links cooking through. Five times slower, easily. Meat tubes rather than meat discs. Cook them separately xD
I'm a Weber 22 guy and you're doing everything I did when I first got my 22. There's a bit of a learning curve but when you learn how to do direct grill versus offset you'll have 95% of all the techniques you'll need.
Question one- cool cool down and one to two hours average time. It depends on how big your charcoal heat load is.
Question two - I'm clueless on squid
. Question 3- heat control over direct grilling with burgers. The best techniques I've seen are roughly a single layer of lit charcoals replenished every 15 minutes the 20 minutes and use only half the grilling surface so you can flip them around to a cool side during flare-ups. The problem with heat control with that is the flare up. It adds direct flame to what is already hi radiant heat affect which can lead to burning if you let it go on too long. And you are correct this takes a lot of attention but when you master it gets a lot easier.
Pro tips on your thermometer use. I prefer to stick the thermometer just inside the top vent, it allows better heat control by preventing the gap on the lid from letting in more air which causes more the heat to rise. You'll have to measure the offset temp from the grill great to the top vent and just track it as an offset temperature it should be about 20 or so degrees.
My last pro tip is marking the positions of your bottom vent at the cracked, 50% add wide open positions. This way you can learn to approach your target temps with ease. If I was to say shoot for a 300° temp, I would monitor the temps after I dump my charcoal load while leaving the upper and lower vents wide open. Also note that the lower vent is the macro control the upper vent is the micro control. Upon getting within 20 degrees off of 300 I'll close my bottom vent to just above cracked open position and then put my top vent at 300 to about 2/3 open while putting the bottom vent add crack open position. This should maintain that temp for about 30 minutes give or take depending on how much charcoal load you have in there. Look up minion method for charcoal load on long low and slow cooking when you're ready to do the smoke ring and diffuser plate or Justin general. Also check out the Weber 22 club in FB. Good luck and bon appetit.
As someone in a similar place as Helen, this is great, especially the vent tips. Thanks!
Cooking with Ry is a good channel to get great Weber Kettle advice and ideas. Definitely helped me with my learning curve. I could never go back to gas!
I think you are doing very well! You have the right idea. I have learned so much about my kettle grill from TH-cam. 50 years ago all I did was burn the hell out of everything. Experience is a great teacher.
This was an excellent departure from the typical expert-Helen! Seeing you learn, and asking for advice, was very relatable and I’m sure many people have the same struggles/questions. Thanks for the ever-awesome content and happy grilling 😊
Right on! I love charcoal grilling. Gas grilling is great too.
I was lucky to find a 22" Weber at a thrift store for $16.
...Bought several accessories.
: Slow 'n Sear deluxe.
: Rotisserie with motor.
: Grillgrates(mainly use the flat side)
: heat gloves, thermal temp pen, dual temperature thermometer for doing BBQ.
: Pyramid charcoal starter
: metal skewers
: charcoal baskets
: half moon riser(allows for two levels of cooking)
: spinning grill grate(comes in handy for the reverse sear/cold grate method)
As soon as I'm done grilling, I close vents and get the lid on. Then I use that old charcoal mixed with new charcoal. Greatly extends the uses of a bag of charcoal. I love using some wood chips, small wood chunks for flavor smoke.
I've evolved more into doing a combination type grilling.
...I use the flat side of my GrillGrates accessory to get a great Maillard reaction, nice overall browning without the black acrid char.(not a fan of that flavor)
...Cook the food item about half way on flat side of the GrillGrate, then after spinning the regular grate, finish cooking directly over the hot coals.
Two zone cooking is key with charcoal grilling. Another method of cooking I like to do, especially with an item like chicken.
...Directly cook the chicken over hot coals to get the chicken skin rendering. Then move the chicken to the indirect zone and get the lid on, vents and lid vents about 1/2 way open. Finish cooking to desired internal temperature.
...The Reverse Sear method for cooking thicker cuts of meat/steaks is great also. Search Reverse Sear/Cold Grate technique. T-Roy Cooks and SNS grills have good videos demonstrating.
...I also like Rotisserie cooking directly over hot coals with lid off technique. Self basting and some drips of of cooking juice falls on the coals and the magic flavor smoke comes back up over the food.
(I am not a fan of 'lid on' rotisserie where the charcoal baskets are off to the side.)
I love the longer tongs and the long set of heat resistant gloves!! Save those fingers, wrists and forearms!!! Briquettes run cooler that hard-wood charcoal. And I like the charcoal instead of briquettes. You have to be careful with the hotter charcoal! They burn off faster than briquettes so if you are BBQing for a longer period you have to add more charcoal sooner. Yes, on the heat control- having the cool side of the grill and using the vent is perfect for heat control. If you want to grill really fast (say for searing steaks), you can use a small wire rack over the top of the chimney starter with hot briquettes or hardwood charcoal in it! That is really hot but creates a very fast sear!! Have fun!!
Put your lid on with the vent centered over the indirect zone (convection). Leave it fully open unless you're doing a low and slow roasting.
Ah -- cool. I haven't paid attention to how I am putting the lid on. Thanks :)
@@helenrennie if you are doing half direct heat and half indirect (no coals) then you are "supposed" to have the vent on the indirect side so the heat goes across
@@helenrennie If you're smoking, the smoke travels over the food that way too, instead of just going up the vent if over the hot side.
Hi Helen! You've gotten plenty of advice already, so I won't offer any more. a couple of my subscribers mentioned your video here and said they recommended me, so I wanted to say hello. All I use are Weber Kettles on my channel and I cook for only 2 people most of the time. There's no such thing as too big, only too small, lol! I always use a well defined two-zone set-up for both grilling and smoking. That means I have a divider of some kind separating my zones. For a long time I just used two bricks and put my charcoal behind them. I have many videos that show me doing this. Lots of people have gone on to do it this way after watching my videos and had great success. Eventually I bought a Slow-n-sear, which is really just a much bigger charcoal basket with a couple of features that make it burn more efficiently and, when smoking, help you maintain low temps over a long period of time.
I'd say the two-zone set up with a chimney full of coals enables you to do just about anything you want to do. And, since charcoal is reusable, all you need to do after a cook is close both vents. They'll go out quickly. Next time you're ready to cook just give the basket a good shake to get rid of excess ash and pour fresh coals on top. If you set it up correctly and learn vent control, Webers work a lot like a convection oven in the way the air circulates. Good luck!
Thanks Ron!
I use the charcoal as soon as the charcoal is lit much like your second batch on Day 1. Day 2: Love the reverse searing technique. When you sear your steak allow the fire to sear the meat. I usually will leave steaks on the hot side of the grill for 45-60sec. Don't be afraid of the flames, allow them to create that mallard reaction you are looking for. Day 3, The grill will have hot spots especially if your coals aren't uniform. I rotate the meat that I'm cooking so I get a more even cook. The char baskets you use should be aligned by the grill handles. That will allow you to add charcoal to them for extended cooking times. Separate the baskets to both sides and cook the meat in the middle of the grill not on one side. There are some great benefits to charcoal grilling but I've found I can get a similar result using gas and smoking wood chips. Great job Helen and you will continue to learn the tips and trick of charcoal grilling.
I'm a Big Green Egg guy and I think you're getting a good start. Two things I might suggest though. Rather than using paraffin as a starter, you might use a sheet or two of wadded up newspaper. This is something many people simply throw away, so it's a win-win if you still subscribe or if you know someone who does. Also briquettes are compressed charcoal dust combined with binders that hold it together. Some people can detect the difference in the flavor of the food as a result. Briquettes are very popular because they're convenient and many don't notice the flavor difference. I prefer lump charcoal because there are no binders whatsoever and the flavor imparted to the food is quite different to me. Good luck with your new adventure.
Ditto on the newspaper. I just go to the grocery store and get one of their advertising fliers, crumple it up into a ball, and stick it under the chimney. In 10-15 minutes, all is good to go.
My first quick tip to help you manage the surface temp is to use your hand as a gauge. Just place your open hand palm side down about 2-3 inches from the surface and start counting, if you have to snatch your hand away immediately its way too hot, 2-3 seconds is ideal. Also use this trick to find your hot spots (works on gas grills too of course). You can use your hot spots to help you cook, work with them or around them as needed.
/edit - I wouldn't put the lid on when searing the reverse sear burgers, traps the heat and smoke, diminishes the flame, and cooks through.
Use the briquette baskets to make direct zones on either side of your indirect zone. Sear over the direct zones then place in the middle and place cover on to finish cooking over the indirect zone for desired doneness. Trying to grill that amount of Zucchini all at once on a charcoal grill would be challenging to say the least.
When you place the lid on a charcoal grill, you are closing off some of the air so your grill will cool down quite a bit, leave it off for high, searing temps. Close the lid and all the vents when finished and you will have some usable briquettes for next time.
I really loved your video on corn tortillas!!! I have been making my own for a little while but haven't had the guts to do the second cook on them yet.
Part of the smell at the beginning may be from the starter cubes which are made with paraffin. You can start your chimney of charcoal with one sheet of crumpled newspaper which is free if you pick up the free ones. Just don't use magazines.
Когда я заканчиваю с грилем, я режу крупными кубиками имеющиеся овощи, грибы, что есть в холодильнике. Помещаю их в корзину для гриля, и оставляю под крышкой, пока гриль остывает. Периодически помешиваю. Они готовятся медленно, но достаточно хорошо, пока гриль держит температуру и остывает. Затем их можно заправить специями, маслом, или есть просто так. Удачи!
.... Men also buy grills.
We also build smokers ten times larger than we need to.
Close all vents and cover the lid, the fire will die in a matter of minutes, so you can leave the house pretty soon after grilling.
The Weber is wonderful! I smoke stuff on it all the time (The Snake Method - simply stack two rows of briquets two briquettes high around 50-80% of the way around the edge of the bottom, then put wood on top at certain intervals for smoke and add some lit starter briquettes at one of the ends - leave bottom air intake almost closed and top one almost closed, adjust for temperature)
As for hot and medium, have the divider baskets with lots fo coal on one side, have some loose coal under the medium side, experiment until desired temp
Buy a Vortex. An accessory that makes the grill much more versatile.
Thank you for using a Weber and charcoal chimney! You're already doing better than most "grill experts". Yes, fill the chimney UP slightly above the top even because the charcoal will crumble down when heating. You won't need more than that. Yes, wait longer for the oil to heat up. Yes, the charcoal didn't need to be totally white on top before pouring, just a little white to indicate the heat made it's way all the way up. Just use 1 lighter cube, it'll be fine. You used 2 and that's why it was so stinky. You can also add smoking woods for better smell (and flavor!) Don't abandon the grill more than a few minutes when cooking but you can absolutely leave the grill when done as long as it's a safe distance from the house and covered. It'll take hours to cool down. Don't spread the coals with the tongs, just get better at more evenly pouring the coals out 😉 Just please, make sure to use your coal bag up before winter - it won't be nearly as good the following year. Happy grilling!
I believe the stinky part is the cubes you are using to start the fire. I was taught to use newspaper in the bottom of the chimney. It might take a little longer to get the coals ready, but there should not be any stink, just the smell of charcoal of burning.
parafin starter cubes are fine.
or use Tumbleweed Starters
I have a bag of shredded paper, I stuff a handful in (over the grill, some will fall out) and light the dangling bits, it burns longer than wadded up paper. If I have no shred, I use wadded up newspaper (3-4 pages). My buddy squirts olive oil on his, I light mine dry, whatever is easiest. FILL the starter with charcoal or briquettes, especially with a grill that's way up off the floor where the charcoal will sit.
I love charcoal, and learned how to grill using charcoal before gas. Charcoal is really stinky and smokey especially when first lighting. Whether you use newspaper, sticks, starter cubes.. it's very smokey at first. Maybe stinky isn't the right word, it doesn't smell "bad" but it's too much when you are close by.
Kingsford briquettes are maybe the smokiest (not good smoke) and stinkiest I've used when lighting up. B&B oak briquettes put off less nasty smelling smoke on startup and produce less ash. The regular B&B hardwood lump charcoal though produced no nasty smoke on lighting and is very clean burning. I've also found cotton balls soaked in alcohol work better than any firestarters I've bought, cheaper also. Using paper to light a chimney just adds to more bad smoke on light up.
Helen, I love this! I'm new to charcoal too (about a year); I bought a 22" SNS kettle (similar to the Weber), and after some trial and error it is now my favorite grill. You made some good progress in just a few days!
Hi Helen, please try lump charcoal, it’ll last longer than brickets. It also is more controllable and tastes better. I love your videos. You have a great demeanor and I love the way you speak. You articulate every word perfectly.
Hi Helen, I have been using 22" Webers for 40 years. For a long time, I've been using 2 zone heating and wood chips (often soaked) almost exclusively. I close the vent on the bottom about 2/3 of the way and on the top about halfway. Depending on what I'm cooking, I'll use either mesquite, cedar or applewood. If I'm cooking something for a while, I'll also add a chunk or two of oak that has soaked for a few hours (I also soak the chips). I also use hardwood lump coal (although ATK likes briquettes). Steaks, burgers, sometimes fish get cooked direct. Cut up chicken, fish that gets smoked goes in the cooler area and cooks longer to take up the smokey flavor. That covers most of my grilling. Whole turkeys get some different specifics but the same general approach (coals on the side, smoking wood that has been soaked), the coals need recharging in the middle. (I'm thinking of going to gas because my tracheostomy makes being around smoke difficult.) Good luck with the grilling!
Hi Helen 👋 I'm happy that you're giving charcoal another chance. It does take time and experimentation to find out what works for you. I'm surprised you hadn't called your friend Chef John for some advice. He uses charcoal quite a bit.
great tips in the comments! this one wasn't one of your questions, but the ends of the grate that fold up/down are for accessing the coals during cooking. you can open them up to add cold coals to keep the fire going, toss on some wood for smoking, etc - it's like a window. helps to think of it this way as you position your coals and the grate on top of them. also, would recommend experimenting with dumping the coals directly into the sides of the grill so they pile up on a slant. that's how i get a super reliable 3 temp zone with just 1 chimney of coals that go for hours.
It was fun to see you try charcoal after recently taking your Grilling Fish class (and being the only charcoal griller in the group!). You've got all the basics and advice you'll need for the grill you have. I have a Char-Griller smoker-grill, so the longer rectangular grill space is different from the round Weber and creates different heat zones. I manage them differently so my advice wouldn't be helpful. I have to say that once again your class gave me great cues and I was able to grill some beautiful striper today (NO STICKING!) along with some little sirloins (I'm able to do a variation on your reverse sear by leveraging the larger grill and the warmup time). And I sprinkle my coals and save and dry anything left to throw in the next fire.
I use charcoal almost exclusively, and it is a learned skill, kinda like cooking on a wood cookstove. Its an ancient skill most have lost. But you are on the right track, with your skills in the kitchen I have no doubts your learning curve will not be as bad as mine.
To get more smokiness use wood, chips are probably the easiest, I collect my own. I use birch with out the bark, mountain ash, alder, and occasionally apples. NEVER use evergreens like pine,larch,spuce,ect. And never use poisonous plant like poison oak, ivey, lucas,ect.
I have smoked fish on a webber before, worked good, but smaller quantities, only side without charcoal, or cold side.
I have no doubts in your ability to master this skill and thank you for all you've inspired me to learn, especially your dumplings and pasta, I now make a pretty good salmon dumpling that i cook often. I thank you, my friend.
It’s wonderful to see how passionate people are about their Weber kettles. Aside from the flavor that charcoal imparts, there’s a degree of skill necessary to produce quality food that requires practice.
I have Webber's Art of the Grill book.
It does a really good job of showing how the heat circulates within the grill and how to change heat flow, particularly with the use of the charcoal baskets and the upper and lower dampers. For me, understanding parts of this was not exactly intuitive, but I used the diagrams, and they nailed it.
Most of the time, I do use the charcoal baskets. I have a lot of control that way.
Me personally, I just will not use a gas grill. I use either charcoal or wood in the fire pit with the iron swing grill.
Standard way to do steaks on charcoal grill:
Put coals to one side with a vent under them.
Sear steak over coals.
Move steak to other side over indirect heat and place lid on with lid vent on the same side as the steak on open. This creates an updraft where the air enters the vent, is heated by the coals, and then moves over the steak to leave through the lid vent. It creates a oven like environment.
Pro tip: if you want to use a probe thermometer string the probe through the lid vent without the thermometer attached. After the lid is on attach the thermometer.
You can also start less charcoal and put some unlit charcoal on top when you dump it out. It helps even the heat out a bit, but you need to get used to it.
Soooo many questions. My grandfather started to show me how to grill a steak when i 5 years years old. That was 60 years ago. I started using the classic Webber 22" kettle about 35 years ago. I hhave 4 of them and yes i occasionally use two or three at a time ( beer brats using a dutch oven for the beer cooking then finishing on the grill. Another kettle doing a vegetarian dish, my white kettle is dedicated to only vegetarian meals. And a 3rd kettle baking a pie.) Bottom line anything you can do in a oven you can do in the kettle. So you need to learn fire management. How much fuel and placement of your fuel. Latter you start to add different types of wood chunks for more and different smoky flavors. Grilled salmon, baked breads and even smoked Turkey or Texas style smoked brisket, hmmm. Good luck, learn your fire and everything else will fall in place. FYI, beware of folks who say "you have to do it this way". There are so many ways to use these cookers. Folks have been after me to start a channel for a few years now so I'll post up something in the next week or so. Heck I'll be salmon fishing week so maybe a salmon catch and grill video. Have a great day 🌤 🎣🐟🔥
Cool to see a great chef trying something new! Charcoal baskets are the right idea. Several products out there that improve on those. The Slow N Sear "SNS" I think has been around the longest. Briquets are easier to manage than lump, but lump has a nicer burn. All natural briquets I think give you the best of both worlds.
I love my Weber kettle grill. I hate the factory cooking grate and so I got online and ordered a nice heavy duty American made stainless steel grate that is much heavier and durable. I like to use a grill basket for doing vegetables. There isn’t the fuss of them falling through and it’s much easier to turn them and move them around so that they brown evenly without some being burnt and others nearly raw. Your comments about the coals being lit but not fully white is correct. For slow and long cooks the ‘snake’ method is great. It’s just practice and being observant. I love charcoal over gas even though it’s not as convenient.
I've achieved temperatures of 900F using a "vortex" in a Weber 22" charcoal grill. For the record, I also have gas and pellet grills which I use for different purposes. I've been refining my grilling (and smoking) techniques for many years. I'm a big fan of your kitchen tutorials and would be honored to share my experiences with you.
Love your channel Helen! When I first started charcoal grilling I used kingsford and the smoke output when first lighting them was so horrible and stinky, I felt bad smoking up my neighborhood. Switched to B&B briquettes and they are far better - significantly less smoke, less ash, and last longer. If you want even less initial smoke, try hardwood lump charcoal which has no binders. From my research online it seems to be the binders in briquettes that are the cause of the initial smoke
Regarding getting higher temp on one side and slightly lower but not cold temp on the other, when cooking with coals to one side for direct and indirect, I like to orient the lid so that the top vent is on the side that does not have the coals.
This will cause the hot air trying to escape to have to go over the side of the grill that doesn't have coals, meaning that it won't just escape out the top and leave the "off-side" without the coals running cold.
I usually start with a chimney that is only 1/3-1/2 full of charcoal, get it to be flamey/orange without all white and then dump it into a pre-laid bed/rows of unlit coal onto the one side I'm putting the coals on.
The unlit coals will get you longer time grilling as they will light over time, and it won't burn out as fast as if you start all the charcoal in the chimney.
This is great for when you're doing longer barbecue type cooking where you need to cook something for 6 or more hours (ribs done this way are great, to get a nice tender rib the internal should be in the 190-200 range, best to wrap at some point to prevent over-darkening of the bark and retaining moisture for juicier ribs)
I don't bother with baskets or slow'n'sear or vortex or any of those things, just dump on one side sort of against the wall of the grill so they pile up there.
I usually just watch for which parts of the grill are hotter than others and rotate the food through the hot and cooler spots to get a more even doneness, as long as your hot spots aren't too hot you can have time to rotate them all through without burning, I find it easier/reliable to just understand where the hot parts are based on the look of the coals and then sear things more slowly than I might on a stovetop, that way each wing, brat, burger, whatever gets its turn in the heat and is done evenly.
Then heat control is done via the vents, both the top and the bottom vent. Yes that charcoal ash cleaner thing at the bottom is also an air vent, so you can control temperature by adjusting that as well.
My usual process is to light charcoal in chimney, wait until lit enough, dump into grill, put grate and lid on, set vents to be maybe 1/4 to 1/2 shut on top and barely open on bottom, then wait 20-30 minutes and gauge/measure temperature of the dome (I have the weber with the built-in dome thermometer, those aren't super accurate but any method measuring inside the grill will work whether its dome, grate thermometer, etc)
If it's too hot, close vents more, if its too cold, open vents.
Once the grill is ball-parked to the right temp, then I clean the grate and put food on.
Watch and adjust vents as you go, if you're going for a while, you'll want to make sure you open up the vents at some point so that the unlit charcoal in your bed can light faster and to maintain the temp for a long time.
Remember also that opening the lid is going to give it way more oxygen than just opening all your vents to full blast, so by looking at what you're cooking, you're also raising the temperature of the grill you're cooking over, so don't try to over-adjust the food once it's on.
When I'm doing a rack of ribs and also doing some burgers or hot dogs or brats for lunch, I keep the grill dome temp lower for the ribs around the 300-350F range and just let the burgers, brats, etc sit on the direct side and close the lid.
They'll take longer to sear and brown but they'll still do it eventually, be patient with it and they'll still get the nice darkened color, you'll just want to start them earlier than you might expect since you're not searing them right over an open flame like if you're cooking with the lid open.
This is where patience helps and not trying to cook it all fast will help.
Oh and flare up control? Just put the lid on, fire can't burn if there's not enough oxygen so unless I'm trying to really hard sear a steak on flames, I sear everything with the lid on.
Can't have a flare-up burn your food if there's not even extra oxygen for the flames to use to flare up.
This is one place where the charcoal grill is exceptional compared to gas, flare-up control is as easy as putting the lid on and closing the vents further, you can walk away for 3-5 minutes at a time while searing if you're vents are closed enough and the lid is on without much concern because it'll only burn as hot as there is oxygen for it.
That makes it so you can easily put burgers on, close lid and go into the kitchen to grab a plate to put them on, even if it is farther away from the kitchen.
For safety to leave the grill, once vents are closed and lid is on, it can't burn any hotter, so if the lid is securely on, and grill is on steady ground at no risk of being knocked over, then I consider it fine to leave. It may still be hot to touch on the side for quite some time if you cooked for a while in it, but it's mostly safe after 20-30 minutes as long as the lid stays on and vents stay shut (don't open it to check if its out though, that'll add more oxygen)
If you're really concerned though, don't be afraid to just douse the charcoal with water though, it will get stinky and smokey and all that, but then you know its 100% safe. I'm sure you'll be cleaning the grill with water, and it's a weber with enameled paint so it's not going to rust or anything.
This! I was almost yelling at the video in the beginning when the vent holes were wide open, the vent was all over the place, and the lid kept going on and off! LoL. I would have done the steak and squid the opposite way - sear the steak first, then move it to the cooler spot to finish, and cook the squid (which cooks FAST) on a medium hot area. Use the thermometer and it will tell you how you need to adjust the vent holes and location.
@@bjones9942 - She's new to charcoal grills so I might give her some latitude. No one is borne with the skill. We all have to learn. I'm sure she'll learn quickly.
@@wickedcabinboy Did I say otherwise? No, I didn't. But - she did say she did research beforehand so I'm surprised she didn't see anything that mentioned air flow/control.
For lighting a chimney of charcoal you dont have to wait for it to completely ash over, when you pour the charcoal out the unlit charcoal on top will now be on the bottom underneath the lit charcoal.
Lump charcoal will not put off any "stinky" smells while lighting up. You trade consistency for having just straight natural wood, briquettes are just compressed shavings mixed with binders/starches. Ive used briquettes a lot but I'm finding the cleaner burning lump charcoal more to my liking now. The B&B hardwood lump is a good one to try.
Using charcoal baskets was a good move to create a more concentrated 2 zone cooking setup. They also help the charcoal burn longer. If you want a lower temperature then you can fill the baskets with unlit coals and just light up a small handful and disperse them in one end of the baskets to slowly burn through.
As far as getting a medium heat zone, that can be a bit more challenging trying to setup different areas of charcoal. The easiest way I can think of is to have a normal hot and cool zone and get an elevated cooking rack accessory that sits above the regular grate. There are quite a few available and they arent expensive. That way you can raise the food above the hot zone and have a more gently direct heat.
As far as shutting your grill down, its completely safe to walk away from the grill. It seems you already have it on concrete, I guess if youre really worried just make sure if the wind happened to knock it over with a strong gust the grill wouldnt land anywhere that could potentially catch fire. I think this is highly unlikely though. If you shut all the vents the coals should snuff out in about an hour or so.
Through trial and error you will learn to love the kettle, it is extremely versatile. Ive completely quit grilling on gas and soley use Weber charcoal grills and don't ever see myself changing from that.
I’m going to say this in the off chance that I have the amazing opportunity of giving YOU a tip for a change. You’ve helped me so much that I hope this helps you.
That paper towel you used to oil the grill? Toss it into the cooled chimney starter and use it next time you use your grill. Place it under the starter and light and it will get your coals going. No fluid or other starters needed.
1) When cooking burgers, the grease drip can (and did in your video) cause direct flame. An overcooked burger can be the result of a mini grease fire. I normally use 85/15 but one time I cooked 70/30 burgers and stepped away for a few minutes and the grease drip caused a massive fire that cinderized all the food on the grill. Lesson learned! 2) I also prefer wood lump charcoal for a cleaner smoky taste. I typically use lighter fluid instead of a chimney starter - but I've seen friends give their chimney starters a small shake a few minutes into the lighting process to shift and settle the lighting coals for more even results. 3) have you thought about grilling planked fish on your new grill yet? Remember the cedar planked salmon craze? 4) for heat zones sans basket, I used to just spread the coals 60/40 on two halves to create a hot and a medium area. You could also use a grilling basket to lift more tender items up a bit.
Thank you so much for sharing your learning process!! I can't wait to see how your charcoal skills develop
They have grill “table” attachments which you clip into place on the side of these kinds of grills. Very helpful to have a convenient place to put prepped food.
I pile the charcoal on one side of the grill. Heat goes from very hot to cool on the other side. Point is to sear the meat on the charcoals, then move to cool side. Once everything has the exterior color I like, I cover the grill and it basically turns into an oven (like with your day 3 ribs). Time foods so they finish about the same time, else taking them off one by one has that opening the oven door effect.
You can buy separate wood chips for grilling (cherry, hickory, etc) to impart smoke flavor. You soak the chips beforehand, and toss them into the hot coals for smoke. Gets extra smokey if you do this before you cover the grill.
Used to be a newspaper to start chimney guy, but didn’t like how dirty and ashy my newspapers would get. Tumbleweed is a good alt, but when I’m lazy, lighter fluid is good and really fast. Will cut those light times way down.
Lump charcoal is very nice, but more finicky. Briquettes light and burn evenly imo, but can burn out faster as they are small. One other thing I found is that lump charcoal can mold, so keeping them from one season to the next is tricky. Briquettes didn’t have this problem.
Use a thermometer attachment. Use lump charcoal not briquettes for better flavor. A Slow N Sear attachment is awesome to reverse sear. You should put your to either side and a drip pan in the middle to smoke ribs add wood for extra flavor.
I'm on a brazilian backyard bbq at this exact moment. We started discussing the heat issue, the expert opinion here is that we have easy access to better charcoal here. Ours usually come in different sizes, the smaller pieces are easier to start, the bigger ones maintain consistent heat for a long time. The other thing that is common here are tall grills with multiple different distances to the fire in order to have different temperatures at the same time
Just came inside ironically from my charcoal grill where I did lamb, T bone, soy chicken, and pork tenderloin, mmm. -topped with cilantro pesto and a cucumber and watercress balsamic side salad, and a beer😅
-it is more art than science, but so worth it. Yup have to move food around more to cook perfectly.
-briquettes burn less hot but for longer than wood charcoal, which is why your zucchini didn’t cook. Learn wood charcoal though, much better flavour.
-several paper towel lightly soaked in olive oil, or other oil starts a fire well and no smell or toxicity. I don’t use a fire box, just make a hole in the charcoal pile with a few charcoal pieces over top of the oil soaked napkins and light.
-I dump water over my charcoal when done, and re-use while adding a few more fresh lumps each time.
Happy grilling, fire 🔥 🔥 🔥
Well done Helen, I found the Acorn komado style BBQ's/smokers very very efficient and have stable temp control. Also I use two types of charcoal depending on what I'm cooking. I use fast burning light weight (cheap) charcoal for searing and Japanese Binchotan white charcoal for super intense searing or low and slow cooking. The flavour is much better with natural charcoal than the bricks. I also use an electric starter so no stinky kero smell. I hope this helps!!
I prefer lump coal. I really like that it doesn't leave ash. I'm not going to pretend that it makes any of this easier though lol. it get hotter faster and burns out faster, making cooking certain food a more hectic. The only real advice I have is, I personally rarely use the lid. I want my food to cook from direct heat on a grill, not by steamy convection. A lid is needed for gas, since they have trouble getting up to the needed temp, but charcoal actually seems to get a bit hotter when it is off. When it is off it is also easier to shuffle things around, so nothing sits in a hotspot for the entire time.
Good advice -- maybe I should try burgers without the lid
I second the lump charcoal. I find the starting smoke to be more manageable and it has a pleasant burning wood smell rather than a horrible chemical odor. I also feel like it imparts a better smokey flavor to the food.
I'm 100% sure you mean lump charcoal. Using coal would taste awful. Coal is a fossil Fuel, Charcoal is from partly burned wood.
@@helenrennieYes, burgers don't need the lid at all. Most thinner cuts of meat I wouldn't use the lid (like a skirt steak or carne asada). You will find that without the lid, it will get extremely hot. Charcoal gets so much hotter than gas and that's probably its biggest advantage in my opinion. Although my new gas grill has an infrared burner and it works so well.
I use lump as well with a big Green Egg. Another benefit to lump is there is no waste. you can simply add to the remaining pieces and relight it
I moved, so now I don't have a grill or all the tools, but I think I had the same model of grill from your video.
That being said, if you want to learn from scratch, get a hibachi, or a smaller grill, so you are closer to the heat but can adjust the distance from flame to food. And try smaller batches... you don't need to use the whole grill surface to learn.
Paper wads don't stink as much as blocks of stuff for lighting your grill, and actual charcoal smells better than briquettes. Here in Hawaii we have kiawe (mesquite, an invasive species introduced to make animal feed) on the dry side of most islands and people make and sell kiawe charcoal, its a little more money than briquettes but smells better and burns hot.
I had a big ceramic planter pot to dump coals into, which I could cover and walk away from without any worry about fire. You could put some pavers on your wooden deck (and set your grill on top of those) if you are worried about heat from the grill affecting the wood.
I did the line of coals on one side to do hot zone/cold zone, and I tried hot/cold/hot setup but the big round grill wasn't as suited to that, I think its easier with a rectangular grill setup.
Honestly, If I get another grill I'll do a hibachi and simplify my list of grilled food options to things that fit the small form factor.
Watch Ron on the Grill! He is very informative and answers any and all grilling questions!! 😊
Love your videos! I hope you create a follow up video on what you've learned from subscribers about charcoal grills and update us on what you've learned first hand.
Nothing beats experience!!!!!! Use up 1,000 lbs of charcoal and you will have some skills. How long did it take you to learn to be proficient with your oven????? Same thing with the grill. I love your videos as they flatten my learning curve!!!!!!!
I've been grilling on a 22" Weber kettle for decades. Here's my two cents.
1. Add wood chunks to your grill. You can buy Oak, Hickory, and various fruit woods at pretty much any hardware store or big-box store. I live in Somerville, and I get mine at Tags (the Ace hardware store in Porter Square), Home Depot, or Lowes. Put wood chunks on whatever you use for the hot zone. Some folks use a little charcoal at the bottom of the chimney and fill the rest with wood chunks -- I prefer to add the wood afterwards.
2. Get yourself some "Charcoal Rails". They clip onto the charcoal grate (the lower grate), and make it easy to pour charcoal on each side, making two hot sides and a warm zone in the middle. You can do something similar with your basket -- the two sides separate so that you can make a hot zone on each side. I find the rails easier to manage.
3. For two-zone cooking like you tried, position the rails side by side a little towards one side of the center. They'll hold your hot coals in the hot zone and leave the cooler zone clean.
4. Keep at least one side of the moveable parts of the grate over the hot zone -- if you use two hot zones, then align the grate so that the opening on each side is directly over the hot zone on that side. Then just add more charcoal or wood chunks during the cook if your grill is not hot enough.
5. Most steaks don't need the cover. For regular grocery-store steaks -- less than an inch thick -- temper the steaks inside for an hour or so. Salt them the night before and leave them in your fridge overnight uncovered. Then temper them for an hour. Mine are usually around 50 deg F when I put them on the grill. Put them on the hot side, and use a timer (I never worry about a temperature probe). For a typical 3/4" steak, 3-4 minutes a side is about right for medium rare with nice browning. I like a a long-handled spatula. I set a timer for 1.5 minutes, then rotate the steak 90 deg and restart the timer. Then flip the steak and do the other side. Adjust the time to your taste -- you'll get lovely grill marks. A timer is MUCH easier than mucking with a probe, and gives very reproduceable results.
6. Oil the item to be grilled, not the grill. Any oil you put on the grill immediately burns off. For veggies like zucchini, I use a stainless steel bowl and olive oil I cook veggies on the hot side, no cover, and turn them until I get the char I like. I think the char is delicious. My family LOVES grilled onions. Get large sweet onions (Vadalia while they're in season) and cut them into thick (1/2") slices. Oil each slice, and put it on the hot side. They go great with steak -- just use a spatula to move them to the cool side while your grilling the steak on the hot side.
7. With two hot zones, one on each side and wood chunks on each hot zone, you can do fabulous roasts. I routinely do chicken, pork roasts, lamb shoulders, beef roasts, and so on. Put a temperature probe in the roast, get the grill going. put the roast on the grill, and cover it. Use the vents on the top and bottom to adjust the heat up and down. I usually just open the top and bottom vents all the way and let it go. A 4 pound whole chicken takes about an hour to an hour and a half, most similar sized protein roasts take about the same.
8. When you're done, close the vents, put the cover on, and forget it. It takes an hour so for the coals to go out -- I'm not sure, I never babysit it.
9. Before you start, be sure to clean out any old coals, ash, and accumulated junk. The metal sides of the bowl reflect heat and all that stuff acts as an insulator. There's a tray underneath the grill that will collect the juices from fatty proteins like chicken. You can get foil liners that make it a breeze -- just discard it after it's cool.
10. Pay no attention to the naysayers and dogmatic types. The paraffin cubes work great, I use them all the time. They burn off almost immediately and don't add any flavor that I've ever been able to taste. Paper is a royal pain -- it's harder to start, less reliable, and you'll end up with paper ash flying all over the yard.
Finally -- perhaps most importantly -- charcoal NEVER starts properly unless you sit near it with a refreshing libation. I'm partial to higher-quality lawnmower-swill like PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) or Miller. Drink it from a glass, never a can. Bottled beer (in glass) is a favorite of mine. My German-born wife swears by Campari and soda. By the time your libation is finished, the chimney is probably ready to go.
Skills are learned! Thanks Helen for reminding us that!
One tip I'd say is start piling your charcoal up high and on top of each other. I know you want them evenly spread out, but you also want to kake sure your heat source is close enough to the thing you want to cook. One layer of brickets at the bottom is like if you started a gas stove but then lifted you pan up above the fire expecing it to cook. You need to close that distance so try and get your coals to be closer to the grate.
Helen, have you check to see if your Grillgrates fit into this Kettle grill? This really is a good application for it (if it fits correctly). No advice for me as far as charcoal goes, as I’m a lifelong gasser :) This isn’t a grilling channel but I love your enthusiasm on it. Makes me want to grill this weekend too.
1. You can use junk mail to start the charcoal and save some money. The cubes probably work better, but it generally takes 1-2 wads of paper to get the coals going for me and I look forward to stocking the good paper for BBQ now!
2. Put the hot coals in a pile on one side for searing leaving the other side as "indirect" heat like an oven. Make sure the coals are by the side that opens so you can throw in more if you need them.
3. To control the temp, I generally leave the bottom wide open and just mess with the top vent. For steaks I like between 400-500 degrees.
4. Flip, flip, flip every 1-2 minutes depending upon how hot the grill is to avoid burning the surface and cook through faster.
5. I like lump charcoal flavor better, but regular charcoal is easier to control when you're learning. Regular charcoal tastes bad on longer cooks in my opinion.
6. You gotta keep at it and go with the flow because it is definitely more hit and miss than gas. I often find I adapt to conditions, if it's too hot, I do indirect heat until the coals cool off and then sear. Sometimes I just open the lid to let the heat escape.
Best tip I can offer other than keep at it and trust your gut is to use cotton balls soaked in denatured alcohol for your starter. It's a very clean burn and it only takes three to get a full chimney lit (very cost effective). I put them on a folded up square of aluminum foil under the chimney. Other advice, which goes for grilling in general would be to get a pair of welding gloves. The Weber kettle exposes you to more of the cooking surface so even with the long tongs you have they are great to have. Harbor Freight has some pretty cheap ones. I would also try to avoid using the oven as you learn because it is way possible to do long cooks. I cook the Thanksgiving turkey every year on my Weber kettle. I sometimes use the oven to finish depending on weather conditions but the whole point of using the grill is to impart flavor. Best of luck, it's worth the effort in my opinion.
Place the vent on the top of the grill over the direction you want the heat to travel. You can get medium and high heat by setting up your grill for indirect cooking and put a grill gate over the chimney starter with lit coals in it, essentially turning it into a mini grill.
Haha, wow I was just checking your older Charcoal v. Gas videos the other day so this is a nice surprise.
My pennies:
-Getting to know your hotspots every firing is much easier than trying to achieve a perfectly even temp across the entire grill every time.
-Try the brown fiber firestarters. They don't have the gross chemical smell of those white weber cubes or liquid starter and avoidddd using paper or cardboard - this will just send paper ash flying everywhere.
-Different charcoal makes a big difference. Royal Oak sells a great charcoal that is just actual chunks of charred wood instead of briquettes and the flavor and heat it gives is noticeably better than Kingsford and those style briquettes that can have a slight petrol smell.
-Charcoal + Smoking is where it will really shine, or anything slow-cooked, especially vegetables. For quick cooking, marinate those things in oil, acid and whatever you like - it will let them cook longer without burning the surface. You can even try slow-cooking burgers under a low flame and the smokey taste will be much more pronounced. They won't develop a crispy crust, instead it is more of a reddish skin, keeping all the juices locked in.
-Get long sword skewers - Remove the grill grates and kebab and brochette everything over open flame - this is great for veggies, since they'll cook more evenly if they're not touching the hot grates.
Try a smaller table top BBQ grill. Easy to manage. Or buy 2, or 3. Set them up for different Temps if you like. You can use Kingsford charcoal. You can throw in some of your favorite woods also. Table Top BBQ grills do not require a lot of fuel for quick cooks.
Helen, it's the same as gas grill. The fuel source is different and imparts a wonderful primal taste. And you don't need alot of charcoal. Close vents leave grill alone, use coals next time.
Since I believe you're in Newton, I should add there's a good store for all things barbecue that you can talk to for advice. Bar-B-Que Barn is in Arlington.
I forgot to answer another question you asked. After grilling, I close both the top and bottom vents. The fire goes out and there's generally some wood to dump the hot coals over the next time I grill.
Other folks are already pointing out plenty of things to watch and methods for gaining more control, like the use of coal baskets you noted. But a major thing to keep in mind is that heat from burning solids is simply less controllable. This means you have to monitor your food closely, especially for high heat grilling. I don't even bother putting the lid on for direct heat with charcoal, only for indirect heat cooking so I can direct and control the airflow. It requires a little experience to judge how hot the grill is running, just like learning to judge a gas range or a broiler.
I recently discovered Frontier (brand) Tumbleweeds as charcoal chimney fire starter material. Works great!
I've dabbled with a Weber 22 for decades. Lately I've been trying to learn to do it "right" and consistently. I'm far from an ace, but I think (at least in my case) using it frequently so that one remembers what happened 'last time' and why it likely happened - is crucial.
Grilling is visceral and the simple connection of man to the food and heat is all one needs to be successful. Watch out for flare-ups from fat dripping as this can lead to a fuel-like flavor on meat. Cheers from Tejas
Concerning your very first attempt with the zucchini, was the bottom vent to your grill open? It looks to me as if you snuffed out the charcoal when you placed the lid on. Regardless of having the top vent open, if the bottom vent(s) are closed there is no air intake and as such the fire goes out. Otherwise you look like a person who bought a charcoal grill and is learning how to use it. You're doing well, enjoy the process and don't sweat the small stuff. I would've eaten anything you pulled off of your grill. Happy grilling!!
You can blow air by any means if you want to get really high heat and after you stop tempature wont stay as high so its good to make crust with its also good to realive the mostly burnt coals
My wife and I love your videos. Grilling is an art and takes a lot of practice. You have to get to know your equipment, each grill is different. Charcoal brands make a difference as well, some burns better than others. Some grills you can adjust the height of the food from the coals. You are doing the right things, messing with the vents (both top and bottom) to get the temperatures correct, letting the grill heat up, etc. It is just going to take practice to become a grilling virtuoso. I personally use a combination of smokers, grilling, and Dutch ovens anymore.
I put my charcoal chimney over the side burner of my gas grill to light my coals. The minimum amount of charcoal I'd use is a three quarters full chimney. (up to the highest air holes on the side of a webber chimney), however I usually use full chimney. I also tip out my briquettes a bit early like you. I do it once the top layer of charcoal has some ash visible on it.but before they are totally ashed over. I want all impurities to be completely burned off before I put food on, and I get the benefit of the hottest possible fire to preheat my grill grates, without wasting charcoal. If you are a night grilling maniac like me there is another visible cue. I like to wait til I don't see flames jetting out the top of the chimney anymore. I have used a sharpie to mark where the bottom vent is closed, just barely cracked open, 50% open and full open, I admit I mainly use the grill either full open, or open just a crack for a low and slow cook. I reccomend you google the snake method of arranging charcoal. I like to arrange two rows of briquettes around the circumfrence of the charcoal grate where the briquettes are nearly vertical, and I put an additional two rows stacked on top of the first two rows.. with propr vent management I've been able to get 7 or 8 hours of uninterupted unattended (mostly) heat for a low and slow cook. You are already using a two zone fire, but occasionally I use a three zone fire.one side has no fire, the othr half has charcoal but the charcoal has two zones. a large even layer as a base and a second layer of more charcoal at the outer edge of the grill away from the cool zone. I do have a suggestion when things are going too hot and fast, like with your blackened zuccini, for example. Instead of moving each piece of food individually while singeing all the hairs off your hands and forearms, use your tongs to grip the cooking grate and rotate it 180 degrees so your food is over the cool zone. You can then rearrange the food without it continuing to burn and you wont burn yourself either. Then rotate the grate back.
Charcoal grills are a bit diffrent than gas grills. Gas grills get hotter with the lid closed. Carcoal grills burn hottest when the lid is off, because there is a more oxygen reaching the coals. Think of the bottom vents like the gas pedal in your car. wide open vent is like mashing the gas pedal down. The top vent on the lid is like the brake pedal in your car. The more you close the vent, the slower the combustion gases can escape, the slower the fire. I find the top vent gves you the most control out of the two vents. Lid open? Fuggeddaboutit. Blazing heat is the result. I try to keep the lid on for the majority of my cooks.
Nice choice on the Webber. I love my Webber performa grill, (nifty built in table) but I've barely used it since I bought a big ceramic egg shaped kamado grill.
Good counsel from most.
1. Lump charcoal is good, but I keep going back to briquettes because of their easy arrangement and predictability.
2. Want some more flavor? Just keep a bag of apple, cherry or mesquite chips nearby. Throw them on top of the coals and close the lid. It will add a nice smoke flavor to your food.
3. Lid off when searing fatty meats. Flip to another spot when they start to flare up. Move to the cold zone to finish with the lid on. Otherwise, you will be smoking with fat vapors that resemble a petroleum smell and taste. This is often mistaken for lighter fluid starts.
4. Buy another bottom, charcoal grid and turn perpendicular to preserve more of your charcoal.
5. Yes, I close up all the vents and preserve the extinguished charcoal for the next grill. No need to stay and babysit if there’s nothing flammable nearby.
6. When searing steaks make sure you have at least two layers of charcoal underneath. Add the grill and don’t put those steaks on for 10 minutes. You’ll get some nice grill marks then.
I’ve always enjoyed your videos because you bring the scientific approach. Charcoal grilling is a science and an art. Welcome to the adventure.
Heat zones will depend on how you bank your coals - the closer they are to the grate, the higher the heat will be. With regard to the smell when lighting, I have found (consistently!) that lump charcoal lights faster and smokes less than briquettes, but it's less consistent and more expensive.
For moving food from
High heat to low(er) simply rotate the grill inside the kettle by using handles - you don’t have to handle the food and you can move back and forth and get right combinations of heat/cool. Use spatula for fish and burgers, tongs for veggies and steak, ribs, etc.
I have an egg style grill, so this may be a little less applicable, but I start by building a mound of (lump) charcoal in the middle. Make a little crater, like you would with flour, place starter in there and build up some charcoal around it, enough to make use of the starter, but not so crowded it cuts off airflow. After the starter burns down, the surrounding charcoal should start to glow red or turn white. If so, close the lid and open up the airflow (throttle back once you get near desired temp). The rest of the charcoal will start to catch as the grill preheats (preheat time will be a smidge longer with this method, but worth it). Once preheated, you now have a central hot spot and can "adjust" your heat by moving food from the center (for browning) and to the edge (for staying warm). Only take the lid off to move food around, or if you just really want to ramp up the heat (think of it as a big smoky oven. The air is your fuel, the charcoal just holds the heat). I've found this method gives me consistent & delicious results each time. Happy Grilling! :)
You can create three heat zones by dividing the grill into thirds where 1/3 has no coals, the middle third has a single layer and the final third has two layers or more of coals. It significantly reduces your cooking area, but does give you three heat zones. I’ve never needed to use it.
Please make a tutorial on how to smoke meat with one of those. Play around with different types of wood (and cold/warm smoking) whenever you feel like experimenting. Some friends smoked pork loin to make Canadian Bacon and it turned out divine, way better in comparison with what we find at the store for a fraction of the cost. It was one of the best treats I have ever had, to be honest. Keep us posted. I hope I can do the same again. I only had it once and it was an unforgettable experience! I wish I took notes back then!
Oh my. Been there, done that. Until I got my Kamado Joe Konnected. Worth every penny. Made the best pizza and chicken I ever produced. It is a charcoal barbecue but with a ceramic lining. The 'Konnected' part automates the starter and fan for very precise temperature control. Grill, roast, make pizza that is as good as a pizza oven. And an app....so you don't have to stay outside when you start and monitor your grill. No, I don't sell them. Just love my Kamado Joe Konnected.
I have Barrel Type Grill made by Kingston. Its is on my back porch (concrete) I use large Charcoal Starter to light charcoal. Grill has two racks one directly over charcoal and other is attached to lid and pivots over bottom rack. I love this grill. I cooked everything on it, fish, softcrabs, burgers, steaks and hotdogs. Always great results; especially burgers and steaks. I usually LOAD the gril with all kinds of meat, onions etc. and share with daughter and friends; although not recently since she travels for work : ( Charcoal Grill has produced some of "most memorable" meals. ; ) Sorry no tip, just experiment and learn "your" grill, with your knowledge I am sure with more experimenting you'll produce better results than me. ; )
Briquettes: slow ignition, long, slow burn, ideal for recipes that take longer.
Charcoal: quick ignition, lots of heat, ideal for quick grilling and to get a nice crust. I always use charcoal in baskets.
Ash: if the charcoal/briquettes are covered in ash then you lose some heat, with briquettes this is not so bad, with charcoal IF you need a lot of heat just stir the charcoal a little and you have full heat.
Lots of fuel -> lots of heat (just for the sake of completeness)
Baskets: very good with a combination of charcoal. The distance from the charcoal also plays a role, since I can't adjust the distance on my kettle grill, I just put something under the baskets if I need a lot of heat (for example 2 stones on the sides under the baskets). In addition, you need very little charcoal for quick grilling, such as when preparing 1-2 steaks, I need about half of a starter.
Try not to leave the steaks on one side for too long, then you will avoid burnt grill marks hot grill grates.
That was my experience :)
The flavor you get with charcoal is amazing. I'm no expert but none of my friends use a lid to cover the grill. I assume that is reserved for thicker cuts of meat etc. I would love to get a grill, but I live in an apartment. Maybe some day 😊
The smell you’re experiencing is likely from “easy light” briquettes of coal, those are pre-soaked in lighter fluid that can produce a nasty odor. I always opt for the charcoal without that descriptor. Using the chimney and the webber starters you’ll have no issues lighting the charcoal
(Easy light is for a park, camping, or beach BBQ situation in which you probably don’t have access to better tools / equipment)
Hi, I have a Webber Grill. I suggest closing the lid and paying attention to the temperature dial on the outside of the lid. When I cook steak or picanha I put them on the grill when the temperature reaches 450 - 500 degrees. I've never done vegetables because I am on more meat based diet. However, I'm guessing veggies taste better on a quick high heat too. When cooking something very fatty, I don't recommend a grill hotter than 500 degrees. The fat will drip fast and cause flames. I'd suggest going on Webber's website too. They have lots of information.
There are electric elements sold that you place in the charcoal lumps to start them burning, no smelly starter or chimmney needed. It looks kinda of like a stove element. Place your lumps evenly when cold. Gently lift out element when the charcoal is 25 percent white.
How to fire management on a weber.
If it's not windy, leave the bottom vent completely open. Control temp by location of fire, size of fire, and exhaust vent.
If windy, place fire inside kettle downwind and close off bottom vent half way, continue control with exhaust.
You always want very thin smoke. Billowing clouds of smoke = dirty combination = lighter fluid taste.
Suggest trying Alder charcole. It has a very light and plesant smell. And then use it to warm smoak Salmon with some additional Alder wood chips. Nom.
big thing I noticed: Put the lid vent opposite of your coals for "offset cooking", it will pull the heat across the grill
Highly recommend a "Slow N' Sear" basket for better behaving 2 zone cooking. Every weber kettle should have one.
I recommend charcoal baskets or a slow n sear. I prefer lump over briquettes.
I personally think it’s safe to close both vents when done and leave the house. As long as there isn’t anything flammable close to it. I’ve done it for 40 years.
Also, I use a product called a slow and sear. It is like the Weber baskets but with a built in water pan. And it seems to be more durable stainless Steele. I enjoyed the video.
OH NO Helen, i'll need to shop for a new grill because of you!
On a propane BBQ, you control the flow of the fuel. On charcoal, you control the intake of air. So being careful with the vents, and when you take the lid off, is important to manage.
I may have missed it but the single best advice i can give you: do NOT clean your grill with a wire brush. the wires can dislodge from the brush and find their way in your food causing real harm.
Use a leftover piece of flat wood or small scrap piece of 2x4 (something you can hold in your hand) and just run it across the hot grate. Works like a charm, is much safer, and shouldnt cost you anything. (its the same concept as those shaped wooden scrapers you spend too much for at the store)
More smoke flavor: buy wood chunks and put 2-3 in the baskets before dumping the charcoal. Airflow: place the vent over the cool zone to draw heat and smoke over the food from the hot side.
Best charcoal experience is easily those ceramic eggs, with a small torch for lighting. The small ones are only about $200 and make getting a consistent temp easy and give you amazing smoke flavors. Torch gets the charcoal lit in under 10sec.
You'll never fall in love with charcoal using briquettes. Lump or bust, get oak and mesquite mix. I pile my charcoal all the way to one side, up a little higher like a mound to get the heat closer to the grate. that gives me a very hot side to sear, even without a ton of charcoal, baskets are unnecessary, but not harmful. The kettle is more than one tool simultaneously, a griller and a smoker. At any moment, it could be either or both. Ribs are great because they are almost impossible to mess up, and if your coals finish before they are done you can move them to the oven, although I have pretty much switched to oven only ribs because they are soooo easy and less production. Chicken thighs are awesome, marinate them as you please, sear them on the hot side, move them to the cool side, sauce them, cover with the vents open over the chicken, let the sauce caremalize, sauce again, let caremalize, and repeat. Thighs are hard to overcook and making them sticky with layers of caremlized sauce is the key. Steaks on the grill are another favorite or porkchops. I think thick steaks are best because you can get amazing crust without overcooking, and the smokey flavor is better than anything you can get cooking indoors. For a nice thick steak, make sure you pat the meat as dry as possible, dry brine with kosher salt in advance if possible, add medium coarse black pepper prior to cooking if desired (you can also season post cook with a finishing salt, or coat with melted seasoned herb butter when serving). the key to crust is to cook it over the hot secton only, and once it goes down keep flipping it often, if its nice and thick you wont overcook it while you develop the exterior crust, and if you flip it often it wont burn. when the fat starts to render and it drips on the coals, cover it as always with the vents over the meat, this makes the smokeyness mingle with the beef fat and the flavor engrains in the crust. remember, the coals are cooler when covered because its getting less oxygen, so you can leave it slightly longer between flips at this point without it burning. Now, the real magic happens when you cook with both sides at once, you can cook alot of delicious food all at once, but you cant walk away from it once the meat goes down. My approach is not very scientific like yours, Helen, but if I'm grilling, I'm drinking, which increases my intuition and allows me to cook better meals than a novice like myself has any business cooking. If you're ever in California, bring your family over and I will show you my approach and cook a feast! I learned most of what I know about charcoal cooking from watching my dad, who makes the best bbq salmon ever. He's self taught. I've also gleaned alot of invaluable insight about cooking in general from watching yours and others videos. Thanks for the awesome content! and good luck with charcoal! Stick with it and search for intuition within yourself because all the cooking knowledge you already have plays when grilling. Once you grill with intuition you will LOVE to go outside to cook, especially on a nice evening. And for the love of all things holy, dont use briquettes from a factory.
I’ve been researching charcoal BBQ n was looking at webber n barebones. I will be a cave woman on her own learning so great timing video
I’ve found my Webber cools fairly quickly when all vents are closed off. I can usually put my cover on the grill within about 45 minuted
For optimum grilling you should do a two zone cook. Coals on one side only and spin the grate during the cook. You also should have a thermometer gun to let you know how hot your fire is. Two zone allows meat to grill and sizzle so you get that delicious smoke fat flavor that everyone wants from the grill. I find that lump charcoal is better than briquettes, much better flavor as briquettes use lots of fillers. Grilling veggies for me doesn’t yield the best results unless I’m doing skewers. Have fun and good luck!
If you want to get more smoky flavor from your grill, just lay in some of those 'hardwood chunks' at the edge of the fire. The larger ones can last for many sessions. Available in oak, hickory, mesquite, etc from HD. I avoid the smaller chips as they don't last even through one session. And I don't bother to wet my wood either....smokes just as well.
My preference is to use a Hibachi-type grill for my charcoal grill. They uses far less Charcoal. I still use a gas grill for some cooking but if I have got a really nice cut of meat, it's going on the charcoal grill. Mostly I use the gas grill to start the charcoal. I use the chimney starter filled with charcoal set above the gas grill side burner (set on high) to start the charcoal. Takes about 1/2 the time to get the charcoal ready to use. The other main use I have for the gas grill is that the Hibachi grill fits inside the gas grill, when I'm done cooking, I take the Hibachi cooking surface off the charcoal and then simply close the gas grill lid.
That's an interesting concept. Can you give me a link to your Hibachi grill?