sj grillin


 

George Curtis

TVWBB Olympian
i have used my sj for my last three cooks. all using lump. first i did a bunch of hot dogs over the really hot coals. they came out great. had a lot of coals left. i put those aside the next day. then i indirect cooked/smoked a couple of fatties on sat. used a version of minion to get the coals going. it took 1 hr and 10 min to reach a int temp of 165. was surprised at the amount of coals left again. so tonight i used some fresh lump, dumped it in the sj when it was going and then dumped all the used stuff in. when that got going i cooked 8 nathans dogs, six hamburgers, two large portabellas and some red onions. the coals were still going strong after that. imagine that i'll have some coals left. this outcome is a way better result than i've ever had using briquettes. i think i will use lump in my sj from now on as they worked well together. i did not use the lid and i had no flare ups at all. very very happy with the results.
 
George,
Sounds like you should be getting some kind of energy rebate for low fuel usage
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I don't have a sj, yet, but you're convincing me that I need one.
 
yea, its a little bit of work to use lump but worth it. also need to use two grates to close in the gaps or get a bit of expanded metal to lay on top of the grate. i had a hot fire all through the cooks that i don't get from briq and that made me very happy. perfect for cooking for 1 to 3 folks.
 
last night i cooked some salmon for the wife(i can't stand the stuff)on the sjs using lump. cooked skin side down. didn't take long and the wife really liked it. ots wasn't upset as i had just finished two racks of ribs on it.
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Just acquired SJS in the last couple of weeks ago too and having been having the same experience as george w/ mesquite lump. Did hot dogs/sausages on my first cook just to get the hang of it; must have had 60-80% of lump left over. Reused the leftover lump (and may 20% new lump) most recently on a single tri-tip roast; have maybe 60% left over.

Was able to roast the tri-tip fine, but found that couldn't get the heat up at the end of the cook to get a nice sear -- may have been my impatience or distribution/placement of the lump. The coals were quite hot for the start of the tri-tip cook.

Feel very confident to take the little guy on a family camping trip this coming weekend. Much better experience (heat) than the Gas Go-Anywhere; which took forever to get just adequate to warm up hot dogs, whereas the initial blast from the hot lump gave the hot dogs/sausages really nice color.
 
in the last several days i took two sjs's apart and cleaned them. now all spiffed up and lookin near new. took one tonight and dumped a bunch of lump in it and cooked up some sirloin the wife wanted "burnt". 10 min or so on each side and it was done. thick meat was med/rare. perfect. i don't know if i'll use briquettes in the sjs ever again. well, maybe, but not much at all. i'm really diggin the little kettle that can !
 
question about lump. doesnt it produce alot of nasty white smoke? youd have to wait till it dies to start grilling i assume? ive read this on big green egg forums. i was looking at the mini egg (holy cow are they expensive).

glad i settled on the little smokey joe silver. its great
 
no, they hardly produce any smoke. i just get them lit in the chimney then into the sjs. far as i know lump produces very little smoke and ash. try it !
 
I use Royal Oak (american) lump in mine..

I use 3/4 of a chimney for most applications, and I usually wait till flames start coming out of the top, but not necessarially ashed over

The only problem with smoke, is starting the chimney with paper, thats all.

I grilled a couple rib-eyes with some fresh corn on the cob and a nice bbq'd peach w/ brown sugar/balsamic vinigerette

Worked out great.

Its a fully functional kettle just in a 14.5" diameter... thats it plane and simple
There is a good amount of distance from the charcoal grate to the food grate, giving you the flexability to ramp the coals for hot direct, adjustability and even indirect.

The only thing I have to say is, the pinwheel vent at the bottom does cause a hot spot, where the middle will progressively stay or get slightly hotter.. Its no one-touch system, but for the price you get a top quality grill, made to the same qualities you get Weber's classic kettles..

My hats off to this little champ
 
We are camping this weekend,sow I brought our SJS along. Some friends came up for the night. They eat a little healthier than we do,so we made some turkey burgers on the SJS. WOW,were they good! Then,when done,I closed the top vent,covered the little wonder. Looked in it this morning,and have plenty of lump left for ribeyes tonight. Amazing what a $5 yard sale grill can do!
 
had to grill up some kielbasa's and uncooked bratwurst's. more than enough for 3 of us but not enough for any of the grills except for the, tada, the sjs. lit up some used coals and away i went. hot fire made short work of it. dang i'm just lovin this little cookin wonder.
 
Cut it out George. I don't have a Joe, yet
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I'm trying to spread cooks out between 3 grills and a smoker as it is.
But now you've got me searching for a cheap SJ.
Then I'll have to buy some lump.

I'll send you the bill
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