CharQing in my new climate


 
Jon Tofte

Jon Tofte

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
We had company, so I had an excuse to cook with real fire tonight. My wife, Faith, does not like charcoal grilled or smoked food because she says she always tastes the smoke afterwards. I did at least try to make sure my charcoal was nicely grayed over before starting. My CharQ looks tired out, but I use it so much it's hard to see how I can take it out of service.

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It was right about at freezing as I was cooking. We had our first snowflakes in the air yesterday. I admit this Florida boy is still adjusting to grilling in winter temperatures, but I will not be deterred!

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Larry, I tried to take some cues from you doing these pork chops. After getting the charcoal good and hot, I tamed the heat down a little and grilled at a more middle of the road temperature. I used Dizzy Pig "Tsunami Spin" seasoning and was overall happy with the results.

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The CharQ is a great little grill. I got mine for $25. I think that might buy maybe 4 charcoal "bricks" for the new Spark charcoal grill 😁 . As an aging baby boomer - not a millennial with hand tats - I at least DO know how to start a fire :coolkettle:!
 
Jon,
I was cooking on the Master Touch today in PA, snow fluffies, and 32 degrees this evening. I keep my thermoPop on to read air temp too. Getting ready to do a pork shoulder here in an hour, should be fun. I love BBQing in the cold! Welcome to the rust belt!
 
Bruce said:
Yah, something inviting about standing over a 500 degree grill when it is 32 degrees outside vs 92 degrees.
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I did that many times for sure. Never had trouble getting my grill up to temp at least. But I lived in Chicago for a time, and I brushed off snow more than once so I could grill out in our balcony. I guess I will be doing that some more!
 
Jon, I see you're using briquettes. Looks like Kingsford or some such product. Maybe "smoke" is not what Faith objects to but petroleum smell/taste. I stopped using briquette products eons ago when I discovered lump. I too am very sensitive to off taste and aroma and I can smell briquettes a block away. It's kind of a nostalgic thing though. The smell brings me back to my grandpa and uncle Mass grilling chicken by the alley when we were kids. When we were kids it was the "adventure" of all us cousins being at grandpa/grandma's house, grandma's Mellinzana Parmesiana, her "beef" sandwiches (it was the fore runner of what people called "Italian Beef"), big bowls of Rigatoni with Sunday gravy and did I say loud? Uncle Mass was a good Catholic he raised a baseball team, there were 3 of us (until Ray came along), Uncle Mario 2 and then all the extended cousins and family. All in the basement. Not a word of English heard.
Anyway I digress. Try some good charcoal in that little guy. Let it get really hot and then spread it out. She may "convert", put her hands on the little grill and say "AMEN!"
 
Larry,
I do want to try that as I have plenty of lump charcoal on hand. The briquettes I am using right now are B&B. They get mixed reviews, but I personally like them OK. Next time I will try one of my lump varieties and report back. I always used lump in my Big Green Egg, but in kettles (and now my CharQ) I do like the evenness and control that briquettes give. It will be interesting to try in this little grill.

p.s. For whatever reason, I seem to have passed the smoke test as Faith admitted to not having a problem this time. Everyone liked the pork chops, so that is always a good thing! I am just glad they don't get to try your cooking or they would throw me out and consign me to just grinding out old grills :coolkettle: !
 
Looks like a great cook on the little guy Jon. Don't know if you saw my post about getting to use my charcoal performer for the first time in six+ months. The smell of the dreaded white smoke was the sweetest smell to me. Not having cooked on charcoal in a long time I could really taste the difference a more smoky taste even though no smoke wood was used. I can see what Faith may be talking about.
 
Rich,
Even I sometimes can be bothered by too much charcoal smoke. I think waiting for all the coals to ash over nicely helps a lot. I do really enjoy watching that fire get going, though!

On my cook last night I even tossed on some Maple pellets as I was ready to grill. It all smelled nice to me, although some people do NOT like B&B similar to how Larry feels about Kingsford. And yet others seem to enjoy Kingsford (and others B&B) very much. I guess we are all different. I am looking forward to trying a couple lump varieties on my CharQ. I was having good success with Kingsford Professional on it, but it is not readily available around me. Maybe lump will turn out to be the way to go!
 
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