How to cook indirect with Q220?


 
W

W_Stewart

TVWBB Fan
I'm trying to figure out how to do an indirect cook of a pork steak on my Q220. The only way I can think of is to lay a piece of steel plate that I have across the burner element, thereby blocking direct flame in the middle. Sort of like this picture:

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Then I would let the grill run to preheat, drop the pork steak in the middle of the grill. Do you think this will work?
 
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I have wrapped foil around the burners in same area you're looking to block with your steel plate. Light weight foil won't cut it and it takes more than one wrap. Back that up with your steel plate and you just might have a winner
 
Why go through such gymnastics. Just use a small pan on the grate and put a raised grate inside it. Voila indirect. FWIW I would never block off parts of a burner
 
I had zero issues wrapping foil around my burners (other than the light duty foil gave up the ghost in minutes) Use the heavy duty foil and at least four nice and tight wraps. I even wrapped wire at each end of my wraps, the wire is the wire used to attach your motorcycle grips on tight, but you might be able to skip the wiring, especially if you have a piece of steal to then lay over it. That steal might make the difference. While the wrapped foil did produce an indirect environment, it wasn't the most successful indirect cook. That's the nature of the "Q's" which is one reason I'm not much of a fan of them (I've got two, so I can talk smack about em')
 
I have never truly liked my Q either, but it hasn't rusted away like most of my previous grills so I haven't thrown it in the trash yet. But the end is near soon and I won't get another.
 
W_Stewart said:
I have never truly liked my Q either, but it hasn't rusted away like most of my previous grills so I haven't thrown it in the trash yet. But the end is near soon and I won't get another.
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Just be glad your wife didn't give it to you. I told my wife I wanted a Genesis and for my 50th there was this huge box in the living room all wrapped up pretty and all. I was stoked....I thought it was a Genesis. I tear into it and....wat wat wat a "Q" :(

Everyone is taking pictures, so I smiled for the camera and gave the wife a hug and now I talk smack about it here (not in front of her) :)
 
Oh my, I feel your pain. You could always start a grease fire in it, let the lid discolor, tell her it is ruined. Then get the Genesis.
 
put something on the grate, either foil or a pan. then use a trivet to raise what you are cooking and put that over the pan,etc and you are now cooking indirect. its rather easy.
I just grill my pork steaks directly on the grate.
 
I second George's hint. Phil Harcher Had a great post on using Q's and some of the Aussie Weber YouTube videos should teach you to become an expert on Q usage.
 
Thanks for the ideas!

Last night I went ahead and followed my original concept and put a piece of thick sheetmetal directly over the burner tubes. This blocked the jets of flames and created an indirect spot in the middle of the grate. I put my rubbed pork steak there and some smokewood over the hotter areas.

Even on low the indirect temps were around 400 so I propped the lid up a little bit. Best I could do was 340 without opening it too much and losing too much heat. My intent was to cook at 300 like the Grilling Fools guys suggest but mine obviously cooked faster. I was at 160 before I wanted and could tell most of the fat had not cooked out.

I brought the burners back up to high and did the direct sear with sauce to finish. I achieved a decent sear and was at 175 before removing, still seeing more fat than desired but did not want to cook it any hire. It was still delicious but I just wish I could have cooked it lower and longer to cook out more of the fat.

Sadly both my wife and I became quite ill later that evening and during the night. I don't know if it was the pork, sauteed yellow squash or a vegetable chili we made to freeze for later. All of it is suspect so probably have to toss it all. I can't think of anything I did in my food prep that could have caused this. Sucks to toss pork steak.

Next time I might just try a traditional direct grilling as i see a lot of folks do it that way too.
 
W_Stewart said:
Last night I went ahead and followed my original concept and put a piece of thick sheet metal directly over the burner tubes. This blocked the jets of flames and created an indirect spot in the middle of the grate
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Bummer about getting sick :(

I suspect that even though you had the sheet metal directly over the burners, they still lit and were heating sheet metal, thus your high temp (it's not easy to do a low and slow on a "Q" another reason I'm no fan of them) Wrapping the burners in foil a few tight wraps keep that section from lighting, thus getting the cool spot you had hoped to get

I say we junk our "Q's" and buy a Genesis, what do you say? I'll tell my wife you made me do it :cool:
 
Feel free to tell her I confirmed you needed a Genesis. There are health, safety and other very important reasons you need to get one. For myself, it looks like way too much grill for me. 99% of the time I'm grilling one or two pieces of meat for me and the wife so the Q200 size is more appropriate (if not too big). I don't need that monster Genesis taking up any more of my deck space.
 
No, Jergen, you've got it all wrong.

Don't read the instructions, or the vast amount of model specific information available on the internet. Keep trying to pound the square peg in the round hole and complaining about it every chance you get when it won't fit.

/sarcasm
 
Jeff F said:
No, Jergen, you've got it all wrong.

Don't read the instructions, or the vast amount of model specific information available on the internet. Keep trying to pound the square peg in the round hole and complaining about it every chance you get when it won't fit.

/sarcasm
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forgot to mention the roasting shield..
this is what homedepot and Weber Nordic told me.

Indirect grilling on your Weber Q 200/2000 and Q 300/3000 series gas grill is easy with the Q Roasting rack(sold separately) and the large Roasting Shield. Simply place the specially designed shield under the rack for indirect cooking. The Q Roasting Shield has special cutouts to allow grease to channel down into the catch pan and away from the burners.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-Original-Q-Large-Roasting-Shield-6562/204772873

but.. its definitely cheaper to block the tubes if that works..
 
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Here is my method of indirect using a trivet or rack raised over a doubled over sheet of foil.

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5 chickens being cooked indirect on a Genesis

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2 Chickens indirect on a Q220.

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Hope it helps
 
There is another recent thread here http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?57310-Low-and-Slow-Ribs-on-Q320 about low n slow on a Q320. I've used a very similar set up for ribs and chickens. Ribs at 250 and chicken at 275-300. I have also slow roasted thick cut steaks to 125 internal and then seared at hi temps after cranking up the burners. Captain Cook's suggestion for a trivet is spot on. I've always used the single center burner for this. On your Q220 you would of course only have the single ring burner. I think you'll still be ok. For smoke I've gone to using the A-Maze-N smoke tube generator since it does not depend on the grill's hot grate to generate a lot of smoke. You really have to generate a lot of smoke to get smoke flavor on a gas grill. A water pan will also moderate temperatures and give you a moist environment. I use a 1" or 2" side baking pan under the meat.

I saw on you tube recently a lady trimming back the valve on her gas tank to achieve very low temps on her three burner gasser. I am going to try that on my Q320 to see if I can get the low temps using the outer ring burner. I'm still researching this to make sure it is safe. You don't want to risk having the flame go out.

I normally do low n slow on a Big Drum Smoker or my 22" kettle. When just cooking a single slab or when the weather prevents using the BDS or the kettle the Q320 under the covered portion of my patio is a great alternative.
 
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