Cooking for two on a four burner grill


 
Lance-DjL

Lance-DjL

TVWBB Member
Hi guys,
I was wondering how you cook your burgers, steaks etc. for two on a four burner grill.
I preheat the grill with all four burners on high then usually turn the two outside burners off just using the middle burners for searing and cooking. I have also just used the two left side or right side burners. I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong way to do this, I'm just curious how others do it. Thanks.
 
I like to start fresh burgers with high heat then indirect until done. With steaks pretty much the same. I use a thermometer to grill to my desired temp. What kind of grill you have?
 
Lance-DjL said:
Hi guys,
I was wondering how you cook your burgers, steaks etc. for two on a four burner grill.
I preheat the grill with all four burners on high then usually turn the two outside burners off just using the middle burners for searing and cooking. I have also just used the two left side or right side burners. I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong way to do this, I'm just curious how others do it. Thanks.
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No right or wrong way. I have a Genesis II 335. For searing, I use the right side. For things that do not need a sear I’ll use only in the middle or left side.

What you are doing is, in my opinion, the best way to use it.
 
I've got a 2002 Summit 450 4-burner and I cook for two. I always preheat with all burners on HIGH for 10 minutes and scrub the grates, then I'll turn the two left burners down to MED-HIGH because my grill runs really hot, especially toward the front, and the two right burners to LOW so I've got a cooler spot to move burgers in case of flare-ups and to finish cooking through once seared.

I've not had great experiences with cooking adjacent to burners that are completely off, so I keep all burners on during every cook, even if on LOW.
 
Chris Allingham said:
I've got a 2002 Summit 450 4-burner and I cook for two. I always preheat with all burners on HIGH for 10 minutes and scrub the grates, then I'll turn the two left burners down to MED-HIGH because my grill runs really hot, especially toward the front, and the two right burners to LOW so I've got a cooler spot to move burgers in case of flare-ups and to finish cooking through once seared.

I've not had great experiences with cooking adjacent to burners that are completely off, so I keep all burners on during every cook, even if on LOW.
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I found this last night on my Genesis Silver.
Tried with it turned off and also on low, found low was better to work with
 
So on the grills that have their burners left to right, you are supposed to use indirect cooking. This comes directly from the owners manual of my Genesis 1000 grill. You are supposed to bring the grill up to temperature with all three burners and then place food in the center of the grill left to right. You then turn off the middle burner and adjust the front and back one accordingly. This is especially important with greasy foods as it avoids grease fires. If you are cooking steaks or pork chops it's ok to leave the middle burner on low. Even with this technique I will still occasionally get a grease fire with burgers or chicken thighs. You have to pay attention to your cook.
 
I too have found it better on my Wolf to preheat with all burners in the case of that grill the size is pretty big. Nearly as big front to back as a Genesis is left to right with 6 burners. So, if I use it. Preheat with all 6, then turn off one burner on the opposite end of where I will cook. Set the burners under where I intend to cook for the heat I want then the other 3 progressively lower toward the burner that is off. Giving me a multi zone cook. Unless it's being used for pizza. Whole different story there :D
 
I hate to say it, but I use my Q200 80% of the time. I rarely cook for more than two and sometimes three. The Q is much more accessible, heats up quicker and is just a much simpler option when I don't need a lot of space or fancy cooking method.
I have a rack of ribs coming out of the freezer today and that is going to see the Genesis 05 Platinum/1000/B grill. I might even go roto on those.
 
Chris Allingham said:
I've got a 2002 Summit 450 4-burner and I cook for two. I always preheat with all burners on HIGH for 10 minutes and scrub the grates, then I'll turn the two left burners down to MED-HIGH because my grill runs really hot, especially toward the front, and the two right burners to LOW so I've got a cooler spot to move burgers in case of flare-ups and to finish cooking through once seared.

I've not had great experiences with cooking adjacent to burners that are completely off, so I keep all burners on during every cook, even if on LOW.
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I have cooked just a couple burgers on my pretty much identical Summit. I have settled on using three burners successfully for that.

These old Summits, at 50,000 btus, ARE hot - especially in the front- as @Chris Allingham says.
 
Thanks to all for your great advice. I think keeping the outside on low instead of off is how I will proceed from now on.
 
Steve Hoch said:
So on the grills that have their burners left to right, you are supposed to use indirect cooking. This comes directly from the owners manual of my Genesis 1000 grill. You are supposed to bring the grill up to temperature with all three burners and then place food in the center of the grill left to right. You then turn off the middle burner and adjust the front and back one accordingly. This is especially important with greasy foods as it avoids grease fires. If you are cooking steaks or pork chops it's ok to leave the middle burner on low. Even with this technique I will still occasionally get a grease fire with burgers or chicken thighs. You have to pay attention to your cook.
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How do you manage a genesis silver which is front to back?

I've come to wonder the logistics of keeping things warm is a bit of an art
 
LMichaels said:
Same principal. Just as easy if not more
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Probably should expand a bit..

I was cooking potatoes the other day, indirect. In the middle
Heat at the front and back burners.. once I had things on the warming rack my rear burners became inaccessible because the warming food was in the way
 
Yah, I would not have a warming rack in my Genesis 1000 or Silver B grill. They are more of a PIA than anything....Plus, they rot away in little time since they are cheap chrome coated steel. I almost never get them with rehab grills that I pick up because people either never replace them when the rot away the first time or they simply take them out after getting annoyed with them 4 or 5 cooks into their new grill. Then, they forget where they put it and eventually it winds up in the trash 5 years later.
The hanging swing grate is much less obtrusive, but still rots away in no time.
 
Bruce said:
Yah, I would not have a warming rack in my Genesis 1000 or Silver B grill. They are more of a PIA than anything....Plus, they rot away in little time since they are cheap chrome coated steel. I almost never get them with rehab grills that I pick up because people either never replace them when the rot away the first time or they simply take them out after getting annoyed with them 4 or 5 cooks into their new grill. Then, they forget where they put it and eventually it winds up in the trash 5 years later.
The hanging swing grate is much less obtrusive, but still rots away in no time.
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I'm one of those weirdos that finds that rack to be useful and keeps buying a new one every few years.
 
LOL. Yah, I shouldn't dismiss them so much. Those are just my personal thoughts on them. There are actually times where I wish I had one handy though. Just not enough to buy one.
 
Bruce said:
LOL. Yah, I shouldn't dismiss them so much. Those are just my personal thoughts on them. There are actually times where I wish I had one handy though. Just not enough to buy one.
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No, I totally understand why a lot of people would rather not deal with it. It can get in the way when I'm trying to get something off the grill and it slides back under that rack. It may be just the way that I use my grill that I find it useful. I pretty much cook everything using the indirect method, so I put everything in the middle of the grill left to right with that burner off. That rack effectively doubles my cooking space because everything cooking on it is far enough away from the heat that flare ups or grease fires rarely occur. You would think that with two rows of flavorizer bars and with keeping the grill clean that I wouldn't have flare ups, but I still do when I'm cooking burgers or chicken thighs for example.
 
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