First Char Q cook


 

Pat Smith

TVWBB Wizard
Last Sunday, I picked up one of the Weber Q folding grill carts for my Weber Char Q. Tonight, I thawed out a package of tri-tip steaks that I bought at Publix a few weeks ago. They were no bargain, but they are so rare here, I decided to buy them.

I seasoned the steaks with my steak seasoning (kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, granulated garlic, a touch of onion powder, a touch of cayenne and a touch of chipotle powder.

I was going to use B&B Oak Lump Charcoal but a lot of the lumps are fist sized so there was no way they were going to fit under the charcoal grate of the Char Q so I settled on Duraflame Natural Briquettes. The Duraflame Briquettes are my favorite, but are hard to find except early in the season. Since this was special occasion, I opened one of the three bags I have left.

I filled a Weber Chimney about 3/4 full and lit it off. When it was ready, I dumped it onto the right hand side of the charcoal tray. I intended to cover about half the charcoal tray with briquettes and have a two zone fire, leaving the left-hand side of the grill as a cooler side. However, 3/4 of a Chimney fills about 3/4 of the grate.

After I dumped the coals, I sprayed the grate with cooking spray and closed the lid to let the grate heat up for about 5 minutes. I put the tri-tips - six of them, a little over 3 oz each - over the coals and let them cook for about 3 minutes, then turned them and let them cook for about 4 minutes. All told, with flipping and the like, they were on the grill about 8 minutes, direct heat.

The grill marks were typical Q: very brown and distinct thanks to the cast iron cooking grate. The little steaks ended up a bit past my medium rare target and were pretty much dead on medium. The flavor, however, was very good.

I had cooked a couple of "natural, organic, grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free" tri tip roasts from Trader Joe's a few weeks ago and they were tasty but "chewy" so I was pleasantly surprised by these more conventionally raised tri-tips from Publix.

The cook was so quick that I didn't get much of a chance to experiment with moving the meat around on the Char Q or measuring grate temperatures or anything like that. I'll cook some "big ole burgers" one night soon and see if I can get a little better feel.

My initial impression is that I am going to love the cast iron grates and that I am going to have to figure out how the proximity of the coals to the grate affects the cooking properties of the grill. I can see that I will want a cooler side of the grill to move meat to in the event of flare ups or to cook reverse sear or sear and hold.

All in all, typical Weber quality - solidly built and easy to use.

I'll work this little Char Q into the "grill rotation" and start to learn its peculiarities.

I'll post some pics later.

Pat
 
Sounds like a great first run Pat!
Hope you now have a local Tri Tip source.

I haven't seen the Char Q in person, what size is it, 100, 200, or the 300 size?

I just finished off the leftover Tri from my Q 220 cook, made an egg, cheese, and steak sandwich on a buttered grilled bun.
I named it the "Egg Mc Heart Attack"
Gosh it was good!
 
Here are some pics from the Char Q Cook:

Before the Cook:

th_SunJan24215219AmericaChicago2010.jpg


Ready for the Coals:

th_SunJan24215331AmericaChicago2010.jpg



Light'n Em Up:

th_SunJan24215339AmericaChicago2010.jpg


On the Grill:

th_SunJan24215348AmericaChicago2010.jpg


At the turn - love the grill marks!

th_SunJan24215355AmericaChicago2010.jpg


Finished Product

th_SunJan24215401AmericaChicago2010.jpg


Bob, the Char Q is the same size as our Q220's. (Approx 22 x 15.5) I gotta admit, I miss the flip out tables that come with the 220 and I always like a thermometer. Maybe I can score a pair of the flip out tables from Weber and I can add a thermometer from Tel-Tru down the road.

Looks like a fun little grill.

Pat
 

 

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