Question For Performer Owners

I recently purchased a Performer Deluxe with the gas assist and have a couple of questions for other Performer owners. I cooked some bonless chicken thighs tonight and had some issues getting the temp any higher than around 425 by the lid thermometer. All the Weber tips I've read said you should preheat the grill to at least 500 degrees. How do you other Performer owners get yourtemps higher? I used a full chimney of Kingsford briquettes starting them with the gas assist for about 9-10 minutes. How long do you typically let the gas assist run to start your coals?

JRAiona said:

How do you other Performer owners get your temps higher?

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If you're using briquettes and the charbaskets pile the coals high.....very high (i.e. overfill).....and make sure all coals are white hot. I recommend lump piled the same way, and completely red hot. Be sure to keep the charbaskets together for highest temps.

JRAiona said:

I used a full chimney of Kingsford briquettes starting them with the gas assist for about 9-10 minutes. How long do you typically let the gas assist run to start your coals?

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6-8 minutes if I have the charbaskets over the flame.....roughly 5 minutes for the Weber chimney. Let it go longer to shorten your time to cook, but if you're in no hurry you can shut the gas down sooner and let the power of airflow and physics do it's thing.

A full chimney should get your Performer to between 500 & 600 easily. I use the gas starter for about 2 minutes and pour out the coals when the chimney quits smoking and flames are licking out the top. Make sure the vents are completely open top and bottom.