Chicken wings and burgers


 
C

CJohnstone

TVWBB Member
Going to throw down some burgers and chicken tonight.

The chicken wings will take 40min to 1 hour indirect so need to go on first. Probably at a temp around 350F

My problem is will the coals be hot enough direct to cook the burgers or will I have to add extra coals?
 
Well didn't go to plan but I did manage to salvage some good burgers and most of the wings.

Timing was all wrong which I expect is because I'm new to this. Any advice feel free to chip in.

Started pretty much a full chimney and poured it onto half the grate. Had a tray under the indirect side. Left the fire to settle for 5-10mins. Put on some pecan chunks. Then got the lid on for a pre heat.

Temp got up to 500f on the weber thermo at the indirect side so I closed the bottom vent and left the top 1/4 open. The temp dropped to 375f so got the chicken wings on.

When I checked 30 mins later the temp had dropped down to 200 which was going to take way to long to cook the chicken so I opened up both vents full. Which wasn't raising the temp. Thought I'd maybe killed the coals so gave them a little shuffle which got the temp up to 300ish.

I thought I'd need it hotter to get the burgers cooked so I put on another 1/4 chimney and put it on the coals.

This was when things went from bad to worse. Coals were way to hot and obviously way to much heat in the BBQ. When I put the burgers on they were burning quicker than cooking. And some flare ups took out a couple of the wings.

Managed to save the burgers by flipping them often.

Another mistake was working to 90 degrees C on the chicken which was recommended on the meat thermo I was using. Apparently 76 degree C would have been fine.

Safe to say I was stressed AGAIN!

Anyone have any advice to how they would have tackled doing wings and burgers?
 
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CJohnstone said:
Started pretty much a full chimney and poured it onto half the grate. Had a tray under the indirect side. Left the fire to settle for 5-10mins. Put on some pecan chunks. Then got the lid on for a pre heat.
Click to expand...
I'm assuming you're cooking on a 18" or 22" kettle? I think you might have been a little light on the charcoal. I do what you did, but I do it backwards. I get the coals in my chimney good hot (side burner of a old gasser I have) I dump them on one side of my kettle and then I add at least another chimney of charcoal on top of the hot coals. I put the food I'm cooking on the indirect side and as the cook progresses, I move it / them to the direct side for the final cook. Another way to go, is to go all the way around your kettle with hot coal and cook indirect in the middle and move pieces out to the direct as you progress through the cook

It's kind of hard to do chicken and burgers at the same time, unless you give the chicken a head start - I'd spend an hour or so looking through the photo section of various cooks here, until you see one you feel comfortable with, and then go at it. That's what I do :)
 
I only use one chimney of charcoal and I can get usually a good hour out of it around 350-400 before I will need to add some more. You should be able to get the chicken started and then add the burgers later and maybe having to add a few briquettes in.
 
When adding the briquettes to you add them lit or unlit?

The chicken was going around 45 mins

I think my biggest problem was killing the heat by closing the dampers to much at the start and also using probably closer to 3/4 chimney to start.

Is 350-450 to hot for indirect wings? I maybe should have just left the temp high when cooking the wings instead of trying to lower the heat?
 
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Imagining a similar set up to the O.P., I would use a couple of firebricks (thin) to separate the direct from the indirect. One full chimney of lit behind the bricks. After a five minute pre-heat with the cover, I would put the chicken on indirect. The heat would be in the neighborhood of 350-400 degrees which is fine for the chicken. I would flip the chicken at 30 minutes (taking stock of degree of doneness at the same time). About ten minutes later (total of 40) I would start saucing the chicken. Ten minutes before the chicken is finished I would put on the burgers. About 4 minutes a side and the burgers would be done along with the chicken.

You have options with this set up, too. You can give the chicken a minute or so per side direct to crisp up the skin, if necessary.

Here's the set up:

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?58731-Poached-Beer-Brats-on-the-Performer&highlight=Robert+McGee

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
One other thing, I'm assuming that your using the dome thermometer to measure your temps. Those thermometers are almost always way off in what the temp really is and it's not going to be in the same neighborhood as the grate temps. Most people just totally ignore those thermometers. There are all kinds of digital thermometers out there that can measure the temps at the grate I use a maverick, but there are others.
 
Yeah rich I am currently using the lid temp as a guide.

I get married in 2 weeks time and I was lucky enough to splash out on the one touch premium haha. I plan on getting a digi thermometer(maverick) and I'm not going to attempt any larger cuts of meat without. I know a lot of people don't use them and get great results but I'd be devastated if I ruined a good lump of meat!

Il keep going and practicing!

I definitely killed the fire early on. I mean only 30mins into the cook I could put my hands on the lid and keep them there. Don't think that should have been possible haha
 
CJohnstone said:
Il keep going and practicing!
Click to expand...

The thing I love about cooking on charcoal is "The Craft". A huge part that craft that doesn't get discussed much is fire management. Personally I'm a fan of smaller fires. Put it on the side of your kettle, use direct to get come color on them and then move to the indirect side.

You have the right idea to practice. You'll figure out how much charcoal to use for what types of foods, what vent settings get you the temps you want, etc. Good thing is.. summer is here. Pick one food... i.e.. wings.. and cook them 10 times. In a row... and you'll figure it out. Cooking by feel, or touch, is fun... and impressive.

Have fun.
 
CJohnstone....Aberdeen, as in Scotland? How nice to have you as part of our group! Welcome here, and our best wishes for your forthcoming wedding. Keep the fires burning!

Rita
 
Robert McGee said:
Imagining a similar set up to the O.P., I would use a couple of firebricks (thin) to separate the direct from the indirect. One full chimney of lit behind the bricks. After a five minute pre-heat with the cover, I would put the chicken on indirect. The heat would be in the neighborhood of 350-400 degrees which is fine for the chicken. I would flip the chicken at 30 minutes (taking stock of degree of doneness at the same time). About ten minutes later (total of 40) I would start saucing the chicken. Ten minutes before the chicken is finished I would put on the burgers. About 4 minutes a side and the burgers would be done along with the chicken.

You have options with this set up, too. You can give the chicken a minute or so per side direct to crisp up the skin, if necessary.

Here's the set up:

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?58731-Poached-Beer-Brats-on-the-Performer&highlight=Robert+McGee

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
Click to expand...

This is the exact grill set up, that I use. When the wings are about done, I toss them in homemade wing sauce and throw them over the coals, for a quick char.
 
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