First charcoal grilling on the Performer


 
J

John Lantern

TVWBB Member
So I've been cooking with charcoal for around a year since I got my WSM. Prior to that I was strictly a gas grill guy. After seeing how amazing the WSM was, and how it was designed to help make amazing food, I read a lot here and eventually acquired a Performer on the super cheap (see charcoal grills for that story) and finally broke it in tonight.

Wow is this grill well designed. From the charcoal bin to the easy chimney lighter to the slide aside, to of course the table, everything is right where/how you would want it. I think I've been too spoiled to "regular" kettle cook.

At any rate, it was just a little experiment after work, with bone in chicken breast done roadside chicken style on indirect and then fired over direct to crisp and finish, some New York Strip with oil salt and pepper on direct and veggies in foil packs. I threw an old cast iron gas grate on the cooking rack to get some nice sear marks.

I've got some learning to do (my girlfriend commented that the charcoal got much hotter than the gas grill, even though the gasser had the temp gauge pinned and the top Performer gauge was reading 450-500), and I need to pick up some charcoal baskets (mine are toast) to better do indirect, but man, I'm hooked. There's just something primal about cooking right over the coals.

And one quick pic, to prove it happened. Poor photo, but good eats. Next time def marinating the chicken for a while in the sauce to get the flavor in deeper.

chickennsteak.jpg


http://i996.photobucket.com/al...rn/chickennsteak.jpg
 
Good for you. I love my Performer. It is everything a grill should be. Every bit as convenient as a gaser, but it also includes the charcoal taste.
 
Congrats on the Performer. Most people start with kettles and graduate to the WSM; you did it the other way around. Doesn't matter how you got there, you'll enjoy it. My gasser has been out of gas for almost 2 years now.
 
Originally posted by Andy Beers:
You will love your performer
Click to expand...

Change will to do! Been daydreaming all week about during work about what i'm cooking this weekend.

And lew, I seem to always jump into things like that...learned to ride motorcycles not with a little Honda 250 but on a full dress Harley.

Anybody that's on the fence about this grill, it's awesome! Just gotta figure out how to get my ignitor to work.
 
My Performer turned me into a year round griller (central Illinois).

On the chicken, I've found that mine has a lot more flavor if I brine it for at least a few hours, then rinse, pat dry and let air dry in the fridge for at least an hour or two. Then rub over and under the skin with seasoning.
 
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