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Basic Question


 
J

Joe K - Iowa

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Hi folks, just found this forum. Very awesome!!!

I'm definitely brand new to all the glory that is cooking on the Weber Charcoal grilling system. Love it.

Bought a 22.5 inch One Touch Silver. I've made burgers, bone in pork chops, turkey breast, ribs and bone in chicken breasts. Most have, luckily, turned out great, some... not quite as much.
Trying to hone my skills, and leave less to luck, so I thought I'd start at the very beginning.

The instructional manual makes reference to low, medium and high heat. Is there a temperature range each of these are considered to be?

I've done lots of internet searching and understand things like outside temperature, wind, amount of charcoal, grill venting and thickness of meat are all factors. I've even seen posted how the meat is "done when it's done" and "don't pay attention to temperature and time as much as how the meat feels". This is great information I'll eventually experience. But for now I'd just like to start from the beginning and develop a base to build upon. I've taken detailed notes on my last three indirect cooks to learn from.

If anyone has the exact temperature range that Weber considers to be low, medium and high... I'd love to hear it. I've tried many google searches as well as the search function on this forum, so rest assured I've tried to locate the info myself.

A big thank you in advance to anyone who makes it through this post and has the information to share with me. I've already learned a great deal of help from this forum. This is an awesome place.

Just trying to get to half the level of expertise as all of you here,
Joe
 
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Thought I'd add one of my ventures...

A pretty good split turkey breast.
picture-1.jpg
 
I have found that if I use one char-basket with 25 coals in it, my kettle will run at 250. The -2- baskets are good when you want some crispy chicken skin because the kettle will run around 400 with two. My neighbor drilled a hole in the lid of her kettle and added a nice 3" Tel-Tru so she can monitor temps...of course I couldn't be around for the drilling......just hurts too much to see it happen to a Weber.....:o
 
Thank you folks. I appreciate it.

I just came across this info from the Weber site a little bit ago...
Low = 250 - 350
Medium = 350 - 450
High = 450 - 550

This gives me a good place to start. Thanks again.
 
Welcome to the forums Joe!
Looking forward to many more photos of your cookin'!
Sounds like your reseaching is paying off, and the more you use your Weber(s), the more comfortable you'll get with them.
You'll find shortcuts, tricks, all sorts of groovy stuff with every cook.
If fact, you may consider getting rid of that oven in your kitchen :p

Good luck and enjoy your stay :wsm:
 
Welcome Joe ....there are a lot of knowlegeable people on this forum and they are always ready to help.I have found the more I read the better the food taste that I cook,well most of the time.lol
 
Hey, Joe, I just grabbed my copy of Weber's Charcoal Grilling, by Jamie Purviance (2007). It has a chart that agrees with the numbers you posted above, with the addition of the (unscientific) 'hand test': you put your hand 5 inches above the food grate, and time how many seconds pass before you need to pull your hand off. Here's the chart:

High Heat 450-550 2 to 4 seconds
Medium heat 350-450 5 to 7 seconds
Love heat 250-350 8 to 10 seconds

Though it sounds like you are well on your way, gaining a lot of experience and refining your instincts to some great results. Don't be afraid to trust your gut, especially when you've produced such a nice looking turkey breast (among a lot of other things I'm sure).

I tend to think about heat in terms of number of coals, as measured by the Weber chimney starter (1/2 chimney, 3/4, whole, mounded chimney, etc), and I see other people on this site doing the same thing. In fact, one of the reasons I use mostly Kingsford charcoal is that it is so consistent, and is a kind of unit of measure around here (eg., "fire off one full chimney of Kingsford blue and set up a two-zone fire"). Of course, when you are cooking a whole turkey in the middle of a windy Iowa winter, you will need to make some adjustments, but that's part of the fun.
 
I've watched Steven Raichlen on BBQ University a lot. He uses the method of placing his hand about 6 inches above the cooking surface and counting "Mississippi's" to get an idea of the heat of the fire. I think he says that at 5 he has a medium heat fire and at 8-10 a low fire. Three Mississippi's is a hot fire.

I'll +1 the ranges quoted in Purviance's books.
 
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