charcoal bins or not?


 
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Vince Ser

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Just curious, do most of you use the bins or not? It seems like the bins are an easy way to keep the charcoal in one place, but as you stack the bins, the heat gets closer to the grates, resulting in higher heat. I have the new Performwer with the Gas Assist. So I thought i needed the bins to help start the charcoal.

Plus, I just got the Weber Gourmet Grates. So I think I want the heat in the middle, under the cast iron.
 
Depends on what kind of cooking you're doing. The baskets are mostly used for indirect cooking, with the baskets on either side of a water pan. I see alot of the Performer owners use a chimney placed over the gas flame to light their charcoal.
 
I use the bins like David described. The only time I don't use them is if I'm doing a long cook like a beer-can turkey or baby back ribs. That's when I use a couple fire bricks and pile the coals along one side so that I have more space on the grill for indirect cooking.
 
I have a set of the old style wire bins that came with my 1991 Performer w/o gas assist. I use a chimney to start my coals, and a dedicated set of old tongs to arrange my lit coals.

If I am using the rotisserie, I use one of those Weber charcoal racks to hold the pile of coals off to the side and away from the drip pan.

Frankly, absent gas-assist, I have never seen a real benefit offered by bins, and I never use them.
 
I use my coal bin every time a cook on my performer(to rake the coals from the center to the side after the propane has done its job!) other than that! Just slow and low cooks!

Take care!
 
I march to the beat of a different drummer - as many who've viewed some of my posts may already be aware of - but being a "cat person", I buy kitty litter in those plastic 42-pound plastic containers with the removable lids. I save 'em all, and find there are many uses for 'em, not to mention storing leftover bags of lawn seed/fertilizer, wood chunks, and portions of bags of charcoal.
 
Vince I think people are confused ?
Did you mean container to store unlit charcoal ( bin ) or to hold lit charcoal ( basket)
 
I meant those charcoal baskets that are used inside the grill. Seems like it's the charcoal doesn't get spread out enough. Right over the baskets, it gets real hot. But everywhere else in the grill, is real low.
 
I like them for indirect cooking.Much better than piling the coals on the side. Light 'em over the propane flame and then shift them to the side. Water pan fits right between them,very nice.
 
I use the baskets all the time for indirect cooking, and also use them in my WSM for short cooks where I'm not using enough coals to pile up in the full basket.

On the other hand, for direct cooking I find it works better to just dump the coals on the grate and spread them out more than the baskets permit.
 
Can you fit a full chimney between two baskets. I find I use a full with my bricks when I need a good hour or so for indirects.
 
I did a pork shoulder Sunday using my baskets and Kingsford Comp. I started at around 10am and added a few briquettes to each side during the course of the cook.I held a 250-275 temp all day, shoulder came off at 6pm with an internal temp of 190. I love my new Performer.
 
I use my charcoal baskets pretty much for everything. I've done beer-can turkeys, chickens, ribs, etc between the baskets - usually I would foil the inside-facing wall of the baskets so there's not too much direct heat.

If I'm doing burgers, I find with the baskets left over the burner on the Performer, spaced out a little, I can get about eight burgers over direct heat, which is more than enough for my family.

For steaks, I move the baskets to the edge, and then do them about 4 minutes on each side over indirect, and then sear them for one minute per side right over the baskets.

Now I'm hungry.
 
I do not on either of my performers or my 26 OTG that came with them as well.

I use a chimney on top of the gas assist to start my charcoal.

I think they would be good for indrect long cooks, but that's what I use my WSMs for
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vince Ser:
... Right over the baskets, it gets real hot. But everywhere else in the grill, is real low. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's the point. For indirect cooking you move the baskets as far apart as you can to produce the indirect zone in the middle. If you want a particularly hot spot, put the bins together in the middle of the grill. If you want even heat across a larger portion of the grate, leave the baskets out and spread the coals out.

It just gives you the option to put the heat where you want it depending on what you're cooking. I use mine, for example, when I'm cooking beef back ribs but when I'm grilling fish or vegetables, I spread the coals out.
 
I have the wire baskets and the stamped metal baskets and I could live without any of them.

Only get them if you can get them cheap.
 
I love to use my bins on my Mastertouch. Have used them for almost every cook since '99. I feel for indirect use that they really help to save fuel. Two bins by each other are also great for searing meats.
 
I like to use 3 charcoal baskets all on one side. You can rotate them to make them fit tite one the one side. A hot side and a cool side. I do a lot of reverse sear grilling.
 
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