I came seeking advice on keeping an even fire in my weber kettle grill. I have a 22” Weber One Touch Gold that I’ve been using once or twice a week for the past 7 years. I have always followed the same process: stack unlit charcoal in a rough pyramid shape, douse with lighter fluid, burn until the coals are grey, knock coals down into an even layer on the bottom grate of the grill. At this point, I always put the lid on the grill and let the whole thing heat up for a few minutes before adding the food. This is the same process I’ve followed for my whole life. I’ve never messed with chimneys (unless I’m using my WSM) and would prefer not to, honestly.
For the first 6 years or so of the grill’s life, I always had good evenly heated coals on the bottom. By this, I mean, my food cooked evenly regardless of which end of the grill it was on. For the past 6 to 9 months, I have been struggling. I will knock the coals down, replace the lid for a few minutes and almost instantly snuff out half of my coals. It’s to the point where at least 2/3 of the coals are effectively dead by the time I flip my burgers. If I am grilling in the evening, I can physically see the faint red glow of the coals in one corner of my grill and nothing in the rest.
I have tried fiddling with the vents, adding more of less charcoal briquettes and letting the coals burn down more or less before knocking down. It does not matter what the weather is like, how much ash is left in the collection pan, which way the lid and vents are facing or where I place the grill itself. I have looked over the whole grill and cannot see any gunk buildup that would affect the vents or airflow. I have never cleaned the grill, but have let some grease/dripped sauce, etc burn off a few times over the years. I’ve always used the blue bag Kingford with good luck and this issue happens regardless of whether I have a new bag or one that’s been in the garage for a couple months.
The only difference I can see in the grill itself is the legs are bent slightly right at the axel (from rolling on and off the slight lip going from the porch to the yard over the years) and the grill sits at a slight incline. That really shouldn’t matter since I have a slight incline in my yard and I’ve always set the grill up to where it was level regardless of how bad it tipped.
So, what am I missing? How can I go from an even heat to something this far off with no other changes to the grill or environment? Any ideas would be appreciated.
For the first 6 years or so of the grill’s life, I always had good evenly heated coals on the bottom. By this, I mean, my food cooked evenly regardless of which end of the grill it was on. For the past 6 to 9 months, I have been struggling. I will knock the coals down, replace the lid for a few minutes and almost instantly snuff out half of my coals. It’s to the point where at least 2/3 of the coals are effectively dead by the time I flip my burgers. If I am grilling in the evening, I can physically see the faint red glow of the coals in one corner of my grill and nothing in the rest.
I have tried fiddling with the vents, adding more of less charcoal briquettes and letting the coals burn down more or less before knocking down. It does not matter what the weather is like, how much ash is left in the collection pan, which way the lid and vents are facing or where I place the grill itself. I have looked over the whole grill and cannot see any gunk buildup that would affect the vents or airflow. I have never cleaned the grill, but have let some grease/dripped sauce, etc burn off a few times over the years. I’ve always used the blue bag Kingford with good luck and this issue happens regardless of whether I have a new bag or one that’s been in the garage for a couple months.
The only difference I can see in the grill itself is the legs are bent slightly right at the axel (from rolling on and off the slight lip going from the porch to the yard over the years) and the grill sits at a slight incline. That really shouldn’t matter since I have a slight incline in my yard and I’ve always set the grill up to where it was level regardless of how bad it tipped.
So, what am I missing? How can I go from an even heat to something this far off with no other changes to the grill or environment? Any ideas would be appreciated.
