My brother had a small get together over at his house so I packed up the Ranch Kettle and my Gen2 Performer to take care of the cooking duties. As this was my first time cooking on the Ranch, I had no idea what I was doing, but I didn't let a silly thing like that stand in the way.
Lined 1/2 the charcoal grate with somewhat of a single layer of coals and fired up 2 large chimneys (3/4 full) and 2 small chimneys.
Time to get things started. I dumped all the chimneys out on top of the unlit coals, trying to spread things out so I had to where I had 1 layer of lit coals on top of the layer of unlit. Next, time to load up the first round of proteins, 24 hamburgers and 13 split chicken breasts (marinated in a sesame ginger bottled concoction). I started off by placing the burgers on the right side of the grate, then spun the grate so that the burgers were over the coals. Then I put the chicken on indirect.
All three bottom vents and the top vent were at 1/2. I put the top down for a few mins to let the magic happen. Opened it up and saw that the burgers were cooking very quickly so I immediately started flipping them. I put the top back down for a few more minutes. Pulled the top up again and saw that the chicken was cooking nicely and the pieces had shrunk. I moved them all to the front right quadrant then moving all the burgers from over the coals and started stacking them on the back right to stay warm while the rest of food was cooked.
Next, time for 18 Ribeyes to go on over direct heat. I closed the lid and gave the steaks a few minutes to cook. I then decided to pull the burgers, and put on the other 14 chicken breasts that were marinated in Italian dressing and Worcestershire sauce. I also flipped the ribeyes. After a few more minutes went by, I checked the ribeyes and pulled some that were ready.
At some point during this cook, I fired up another 3/4 of a large chimney for my Performer. When those coals were ready and dumped, I threw on 2 packs of Hebrew Nationals and a pack of Purnell's Bratwurst to cook indirectly as I really didn't have time to give them much attention.
Man, what a fun and exciting cook. I was completely clueless about quite a few things in regards to the Ranch and it definitely showed. Many, many mistakes and miscalculations were made, but in the end, everybody loved what came off of it. Though I have to say that 10 or so people made it through the serving line before the Italian marinated chicken made it to the serving table. ;D ;D
Lined 1/2 the charcoal grate with somewhat of a single layer of coals and fired up 2 large chimneys (3/4 full) and 2 small chimneys.
Time to get things started. I dumped all the chimneys out on top of the unlit coals, trying to spread things out so I had to where I had 1 layer of lit coals on top of the layer of unlit. Next, time to load up the first round of proteins, 24 hamburgers and 13 split chicken breasts (marinated in a sesame ginger bottled concoction). I started off by placing the burgers on the right side of the grate, then spun the grate so that the burgers were over the coals. Then I put the chicken on indirect.
All three bottom vents and the top vent were at 1/2. I put the top down for a few mins to let the magic happen. Opened it up and saw that the burgers were cooking very quickly so I immediately started flipping them. I put the top back down for a few more minutes. Pulled the top up again and saw that the chicken was cooking nicely and the pieces had shrunk. I moved them all to the front right quadrant then moving all the burgers from over the coals and started stacking them on the back right to stay warm while the rest of food was cooked.
Next, time for 18 Ribeyes to go on over direct heat. I closed the lid and gave the steaks a few minutes to cook. I then decided to pull the burgers, and put on the other 14 chicken breasts that were marinated in Italian dressing and Worcestershire sauce. I also flipped the ribeyes. After a few more minutes went by, I checked the ribeyes and pulled some that were ready.
At some point during this cook, I fired up another 3/4 of a large chimney for my Performer. When those coals were ready and dumped, I threw on 2 packs of Hebrew Nationals and a pack of Purnell's Bratwurst to cook indirectly as I really didn't have time to give them much attention.
Man, what a fun and exciting cook. I was completely clueless about quite a few things in regards to the Ranch and it definitely showed. Many, many mistakes and miscalculations were made, but in the end, everybody loved what came off of it. Though I have to say that 10 or so people made it through the serving line before the Italian marinated chicken made it to the serving table. ;D ;D
Like others have said I usually only use one maybe two chimneys for my RK cooks. Either way, great cook! Looks like it would have been a lot fun. Cant wait to see posts of the second cook 