So I have a 22.5" Weber Kettle that I bought a few months ago. I also have a Weber Chimney that I've used to heat up 20-40 pieces of charcoal for my WSM smoker.
Now, I have been using the Chimney to light charcoal for my Kettle grill, which works great, but I've found that even if I fill the Chimney all the way up to the very top, it's not enough Charcoal to evenly cover the bottom of the grill. This causes heat issues in that the edges of the grill are cold and there are lots of "cool spots" where the charcoal isn't covering. it seems like I would need somewhere around 1.5-2 Chimneys worth of Charcoal to really get the grill working good.
So my question is twofold. #1, how much charcoal do I really need if I want to grill stuff that is mostly covering the grill? For instance a lot of times I'll grill 3 thigh-leg chicken combos, plus 4-6 drumsticks, plus 4 ears of corn. Or last night I grilled 40 chicken wings which pretty much covered most of the grill.
#2, if I do need more than 1 chimney full of charcoal (which it seems I do), what is the best way to get all of that lit? Should I put a bunch of unlit charcoal in the grill, then fill the chimney up part way, then just dump the charcoal from the chimney onto the unlit charcoal before it's ready to grill, and let it ash over inside the grill? Right now I fill the chimney up, light it, then let it burn until all of the charcoal on "top" of the chimney is coated in ash, then I dump all the charcoal into the grill, try to spread it out, give it 5 minutes or so with the lid on, then throw the food on.
Any hints/tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
P.S.: I switched from a gas grill to this kettle (after some burners on the gas grill broke and I didn't want to deal with it anymore) and I have to say not only does the food on a charcoal grill come out much better/easier to grill (harder to burn the food), I also enjoy it more.
Now, I have been using the Chimney to light charcoal for my Kettle grill, which works great, but I've found that even if I fill the Chimney all the way up to the very top, it's not enough Charcoal to evenly cover the bottom of the grill. This causes heat issues in that the edges of the grill are cold and there are lots of "cool spots" where the charcoal isn't covering. it seems like I would need somewhere around 1.5-2 Chimneys worth of Charcoal to really get the grill working good.
So my question is twofold. #1, how much charcoal do I really need if I want to grill stuff that is mostly covering the grill? For instance a lot of times I'll grill 3 thigh-leg chicken combos, plus 4-6 drumsticks, plus 4 ears of corn. Or last night I grilled 40 chicken wings which pretty much covered most of the grill.
#2, if I do need more than 1 chimney full of charcoal (which it seems I do), what is the best way to get all of that lit? Should I put a bunch of unlit charcoal in the grill, then fill the chimney up part way, then just dump the charcoal from the chimney onto the unlit charcoal before it's ready to grill, and let it ash over inside the grill? Right now I fill the chimney up, light it, then let it burn until all of the charcoal on "top" of the chimney is coated in ash, then I dump all the charcoal into the grill, try to spread it out, give it 5 minutes or so with the lid on, then throw the food on.
Any hints/tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
P.S.: I switched from a gas grill to this kettle (after some burners on the gas grill broke and I didn't want to deal with it anymore) and I have to say not only does the food on a charcoal grill come out much better/easier to grill (harder to burn the food), I also enjoy it more.