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Returned to charcoal

Oh, yeah -- we have a Smokey Joe too... courtesy of the swap pile at the Harvard town dump, years ago :-) Great for portability.

I used to pick up/pick over Weber carcasses on the scrap metal pile in Harvard for spare parts for my original one. Once a decade or so, I have to replace the "vanes' that sweep out the ashes in the bottom of the kettle. I actually bought a set of replacement handles for my original Weber (which had wooden ones that slowly deteriorated). The replacements are plastic. Not so nice, but they should last forever.
 
It is the cleanup of the Kingsford that get to me. The lump burns down to nothing. I cook in either a beat-to-hell Weber kettle or a Wilmington Grill, which is actually indirect gas with a pan. The lump is so much cleaner in the gas grill.
 
Weber charcoal

Hey
Weber charcoal with a chimney and Kingsford charcoal.Second grill and chimney. I am temped to buy a weber gas grill but just can't bring myself to ought up the dough to get it.
As far as smokers I picked up a used Cook Shack electric smoker about 10 yrs. ago. It's the smaller size it works great for turkey and pork butt but is too small for a brisket and a pain to do ribs. But like the guy said earlier just set the temp and walk away.
Just finished some pork steaks and brats for supper and lunch this week at work.Eric
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like this post "sparked" a few comments about which charcoal/wood is best. I'll be looking into this area for sure. I'll also be picking up a chimney for faster lighting.

I also have a Smokey Joe I used for camping in the past and it worked flawlessly every time. I now have three BBQs and all of them are Weber.

Question for all you Weber fans: What brand of audio gear can be said to have the same consistent high-level reputation (almost cult status really) as Weber?

McIntosh, B&W, Tannoy, VPI, are several that may qualify. Or perhaps no audio brand qualifies since Weber has had a strong loyal customer since the 1950s.
 
- I may have gone backwards on vintage 2-way stereo but to quote Fleetwood Mac...

- "never going back again....." - when it comes to cooking.... built a couple of nice islands in our back yard about 7 years ago...... - gas is just too easy.... -and cleaner..... + plus it gives me more time with my guests.... (granted, maybe not quite the flavor of rocks or wood, but when I want to get fancy... i throw the smoker box in there) anyways.... I love bbq-ing.... and being in CA I do it 2-3 times a week. Happy Sunday Folks.... (snapped a quick photo of the islands)

ec

 
"Cook's Illustrated" turned me on to cooking strip steak over the chimney on skewers. Hate buying and wasting coal so I'm a try that.
 
I have been using lump charcoal since forever, I have never owned a gas grill and I dont think I ever will. The only lump charcoal I can buy around here is Royal Oak brand, I have used it for so long I coudnt tell you how many years, since around 1980. Lights fast,burns hot and even and makes everything taste great.

There are pro's and con's when comparing charcoal to gas, just as there are when comparing most things in life, but for me and my family charcoal is the way we choose to go.
 
Another Weber kettle fan, and you can't beat the taste of charcoal with a bit of mesquite wood ...

Replace my 30 year old Weber a couple years back with another kettle when the grills burned out. Kettle is still doing yeoman duty storing potting soil for the greenhouse bench ... <G>

spring-ready-002.jpg


It's actually older than that - bought it at a garage sale for ... er ... dirt, back when I moved in here 30 years ago. No telling how old it was when I got it.
 
Kingsford was started by Henry Ford to monetize the scrap wood in his factory.
Kingsford Charcoal is made from charred softwoods, pine, spruce etc. then mixed with ground coal (YUM) and other ingredients to make a charcoal briquette. As of August 2000, Kingsford Charcoal contains the following ingredients:

Wood char
Mineral char
Mineral carbon
Limestone
Starch
Borax
Sodium nitrate
Sawdust
http://old.cbbqa.org/wood/Kingsford.html
 
Long time Weber Kettle fan here.

Tried a gas grill 30 years ago and went back after a couple of years. I'm on my 2nd Performer. I liked the original model better, but the new one is great too. When my kids and I were in Indian Princesses and Indian Guides I had a 36" Weber Ranch kettle for the campouts. I could feed our tribe easily with that monster. I even had one of the Dads fabricate a nice griddle for it out of 316 SS diamond plate (top side smooth of course). With a few spacers and a DIY gas burner I could do breakfast for 20 on it.

If I use briquettes I use Kingsford. Most of the time I use mesquite lump charcoal. If I'm slow cooking I'll do a base of Kingsford's and add small amounts of mesquite as needed.

Besides faster lighting chimneys are excellent for seared ahi. Per Alton Brown's show, let the fire get "rocket hot", place the grill on top of the chimney and sear your 2-3" cubes of ahi in seconds. Simply awesome.



I have an off-set smoker so I don't smoke or do low and slow BBQ in my Weber. It's a grill. You can add some wood for flavoring, but that's not smoking or BBQ. Let's be clear on that.

Do get the Weber rotisserie. Turkey, chicken, pork loin, rib roast, etc. really benefit from this method. Takes the whole indirect Weber magic up another notch, maybe 2.

I'm in an apartment on a long term project assignment and can't grill here with charcoal or propane, so I have to go electric. Char-Broil make an infra-red and Weber has a Q series. There's a $100 price spread between these two choices. Anybody have any experience with either.

As much as I love my Weber Kettle, someday I hope to get an XL BGE, but that's a whole different animal.

Welcome back to the fold McBru. As far as audio comparisons I'll go with Dahlquist as they are both greater than the sum of their parts considering the kettle was made of buoy parts at lunchtime by an inspired welder named George Stephen who worked for the Weber Bros. Metal Works in 1952.
 
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Add me to the list of Weber Kettle users. My wife won a contest about 6 years ago and won a big gas grill with side burners, blah blah blah. It disappeared on May 22nd, 2011.

I love my Weber and much prefer charcoal over gas. I also have and use Hickory chunks for plenty of smoke. Every year locally they put twin 15# bags (30#) of Kingsford for $8.98 and I buy 120# and am down to my last bag the next year when they go on sale again. It's always Memorial Day weekend. The Weber had a little learning curve to get the best out of it , but we have gotten to know each other pretty well.

As far as dealing with the ashes, I just turn on the hose and wash it out every so otter before using and then dry it with the next cookout. I did buy a new grate for it this spring.
 
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Well I thought I would chime in here.

On Fathers day I ran out of propane. I have one of those charcoal smokers with a side by side propane grill. My son brought over some Kingsford and we used it to grill about 15 steaks. (lots of company). Well I didn't flame burn any of them. Not like I was doing with the propane grill. That's the one think I noticed right off.

Am I a good griller? No. But having control about the heat was nice with charcoal. Other times grilling with the propane side had me watching like crazy with flame ups to where I had to douse it with cups of water. Didn't have to do that with charcoal.

Just my observation here of a hick griller man. :D
 
I have a 4-burner propane grille, and I typically run burners 1 and 3 at around Medium, while leaving burners 2 and 4 Off....this gives a nice "multi-heat zone", which makes it easier to cook with receding heat.

I also like charcoal, I converted my old Brinkmann gas grille over to `coal....
 
Lodge Sportsman and Dutch oven

Billy, have you ever used the dutch oven that fits on the grill? I have used it after cooking steaks on the grill to bake chicken. It worked great.
I was wondering if I could smoke with the dutch oven by putting wood chips, or hot coals in the Dutch oven with the lid on. The only thing I don't like about the Lodge grill is the lack of a lid.
 
Webah forevah! Have had my current 22" basic kettle for about 15 years. Ain't much to look at, but does what it's supposed to do. Had a couple gas grills (at my wife's insistence) but they just didn't do it for me. Love the smoke, the smell, and the taste. And yes to the chimney...haven't used lighter fluid for years.
 
Roy Skinner said:
Billy, have you ever used the dutch oven that fits on the grill? I have used it after cooking steaks on the grill to bake chicken. It worked great.
I was wondering if I could smoke with the dutch oven by putting wood chips, or hot coals in the Dutch oven with the lid on. The only thing I don't like about the Lodge grill is the lack of a lid.
Click to expand...


Yes, I have used the Lodge Dutch Oven, but not for smoking, only for baked beans preparation. The S.O. hates Baked Beans almost as much as she hates when I play Jazz, so I make beans on the grill when she's in watching her girly TV shows like "Say Yes to the Dress".

Anything Lodge makes is amazing cast iron. I can't see why you couldn't do some smoking in that oven. The key would be controlling the heat and getting the smoke just right. Let us know if you try it and how it works, or doesn't work for you.

PS;
When I think of Dutch Ovens I think of Boy Scout camping. The Scoutmaster or other adults would fix us "Peach Cobbler" in Dutch Ovens on the campfire on the final night. It was amazing. Pretty simple I think. Brown Sugar, Bisquick, Canned Peaches. Maybe some Vanilla Extract. I have made a batch in my Lodge Dutch Oven on the Grill. Came out fine, but just didn't taste as good as I remember as a Kid in Scout Camp.
 
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drknstrmyknight said:
Kingsford was started by Henry Ford to monetize the scrap wood in his factory.
Kingsford Charcoal is made from charred softwoods, pine, spruce etc. then mixed with ground coal (YUM) and other ingredients to make a charcoal briquette. As of August 2000, Kingsford Charcoal contains the following ingredients:

Wood char
Mineral char
Mineral carbon
Limestone
Starch
Borax
Sodium nitrate
Sawdust
http://old.cbbqa.org/wood/Kingsford.html
Click to expand...

That is the filler / binder that results in all the mess afterward.

I am sure Kingsford is fine after all the stuff gets up to temp. Just like lighter fluid is all gone way before the charcoal is ready. Why not just use The Lump?

As far as consistency: If you load up the lump fully there will not be inconsistencies. If that is too much heat (you can weld a steel rail in there), stack toward one side of the Weber and give yourself a cooler spot on the opposite side.

Steaks LOVE high heat: Montreal seasoning. Warm. Blast furnace heat. Rest. YUM.
 
Have had my Weber Performer for five years now and grill about three times weekly year round thanks to mild Tennessee winters. Agree with most here to get high quality charcoal. I currently use Big Green Egg charcoal which supposedly is all natural.

Also just dropped about $500 on an electric smoker that is controlled by an Android app. Super cool. Load the food, add smoking chips to the little drawer and off you go. No more constant watching,reloading charcoal and taste is phenomenal

Available in two,sizes but I got the large one. Often size does matter. Check it out on masterbuilt.com
 
We have a Aussie Bonza thats now 15 years old and still works fine, 4 burners and never a problem. I plan on rebuilding it with a new box and 4 new burners from Aussie. Its convenient for us as its ready to cook on in a couple minutes or so. Bet, I must agree that I still prefer the taste of charcoal for sure! I still want a smoker as well!
 
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