Grilling on my platnum grill, what am I doing wrong?


 
C

ChrisV

TVWBB Fan
I recently started using a new Weber platinum grill. Keep in mind I'm a long time gas guy so I'm not really up to speed with charcoal.

I don't seem to be getting the long cook times that most others seem to get? Take last weekend's cook for example...

Just cooking a bunch of burgers, dogs, metts, etc. for a small get together. I loaded up a full chimney of standard KBB and used newspaper to light it. First problem was, it seemed like to took forever for all of the coals to ash over (like around 20minutes, maybe more?). The only thing of note here is I used some half used left over coals from the my last cook. In the chimney I used some new briquettes in the bottom, then put in the left over coals then filled the remaining area with new. I'd say about 2/3's of the chimney was new briquettes.

So once the coals where finally ready, I dumped them and spread them out over the whole coal tray as I was cooking direct and filling up the grill. I had the lower vent opened 50% and the top vent open full. The thermometer read around 325-350. I kept the lid on as much as possible but 45 minutes into it and the coals started to die off and the temps started dropping. Pretty much same thing happened on the cook before that.

So what am I doing wrong? I really want to get into some more complicated cooks like whole chickens and ribs but I can't even seem to master the basics?
 
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More charcoal should help. If there is old charcoal from a previous cook I usually dump the new lit over the old.
 
Hi Chris; I'd suggest switching to the Weber fire cubes to light the chimney. One cube and a full chimney should take about 15 minutes to fully light up. Advantage is that it's cleaner (no ash from the paper) and it's sure to get the coals going. Newspaper can sometimes go out and it's just messy. The cubes come in packs of 24 for 3.30 at Home Depot or most places that sell Weber grills.

I do think you should get an hour out of a full chimney with the way you described the vents open and keeping the lid on. You'll find that keeping the lid on really does help extend the life of the fire - along with modulating the vents. Try putting the upper vent at 50% along with the bottom at 50%.

I buy half sheet disposable aluminum pans from Costco (they always have them over the holidays, but sometimes they aren't there during the spring/summer). I put the pan on the lower grate with lit charcoal and a few unlit to each side of the pan. I pour a couple cups of hot water in the pan and put a whole chicken on the top grate centered over the pan and put the vents at 33% to 50%. With the lid on the kettle will run at 325/350 for at least 2 hours. Great chicken too. I do the same thing with my rotisserie with the pan set up and get 2 hour cooks all the time that way.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I think you guys are right about the used coal, I'll just leave that stuff there and pour fresh on top of it next time.
Pete in PG said:
I put the pan on the lower grate with lit charcoal and a few unlit to each side of the pan. I pour a couple cups of hot water in the pan and put a whole chicken on the top grate centered over the pan and put the vents at 33% to 50%. With the lid on the kettle will run at 325/350 for at least 2 hours. Great chicken too. I do the same thing with my rotisserie with the pan set up and get 2 hour cooks all the time that way.
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Good to hear. I really want to get a rotisserie attachment for this grill. I had one for my gas grill and loved cooking chicken and leg of lamb on it. I just want to get the basics down before spending more money on accessories. I also want to get the Craycort cast iron grates for it eventually because I love cooking on cast iron!
 
For me, I'll only re-use KBB in the WSM as it doesn't relight as easily nor have the same burn properties as new. For low & slow, reusing charcoal is fine. I've been less than thrilled with it for grilling. 45 minutes at 325-350 from a fully lit chimney doesn't seem out of line. Also, no need to let the entire chimney ash over before dumping & using. You're cooking the charcoal in the chimney that way. Once flames start flicking out the top of the chimney, I dump it in. (top charcoal is now on the bottom)

You'll find much better charcoal burns at lower temps and not opening the lid. Hot grilling and low & slow BBQ'ing really are 2 different animals.

Keep experimenting/learning/eating as you go. Best way to learn. :D
 
Chris to cook at 325-350 no need to have the lower vent open 50% more like 20% open max to achieve 300-325 temps.
 
Noe said:
Chris to cook at 325-350 no need to have the lower vent open 50% more like 20% open max to achieve 300-325 temps.
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Actually, I wasn't aiming for 325-350, that's just what I got with the lower vent at ~50% open.

That did make me think of an interesting question... with 1 full chimney of fresh KBB, lit and ready to go dumped into a 22.5" kettle with both vents 100% open and the lid closed, what temps should I expect and for how long?
 
I Grill with all top vents open all the way and bottom open all the way. Takes me about 15-20 min to get my fire going n a chimney before use.
If I'm doing an Indirect cook like beer can chicken and notice my fire dying I just add more lit coals. My grates are hinged on the ends.
 
Mike Cosgrove said:
I thought the Platinum had gas assist? Is it a Performer?
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OTP (One Touch Platinum) There's also an older Platinum that looks like a Performer, but I'm guessing the OP has this one.

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I have this one pictured. Things nice but the tables get right black looking and hard to clean.
 
Chris,

My apologies for the dissertation here...but, since you are new to charcoal cooking, I want to pass along a tip or two that I've learned along the way.

Chad mentioned "Once flames start flicking out the top of the chimney" that he dumps from the chimney. When I first started using the chimney, I was allowing all of the coals to ash over. I noticed that even with fresh charcoal in the whole chimney that the bottom charcoals were probably 50-75% used. So, I started dumping earlier, too. When I dump the coals, I spread them evenly around (usually half the grill) and give it about 5 more minutes. After that, all of the coals are ashed over. It works well for me.

Also, after 45min-1hr, my fire is cooling off significantly. There's still time for me to cook things like hot dogs or maybe sausage. But, I wouldn't expect to get 2 full chicken cooks from one chimney without adding coals.

On my last fire, last weekend, I even put unused coals on the grill and dumped my chimney on top of them. After my normal ~5 minute wait, they were ready too. That's the first time I ever tried that and I've been grilling on one of my webers for about 20 years (almost). I'm always tweaking and learning. I think that's a significant part of why I love charcoal cooking so much. Just when I think I have it down to science, a new idea pops into my head.

Let me also suggest using the Weber side cans (whatever Weber calls them). I used them exclusively for years. Most of the time, I light my fire directly in the side holders. After they ash over, I put my food over the center (indirect method). Whether I'm cooking hamburgers, chicken, fish, hot dogs or anything other than steak, I get good results if I flip the food over every 15 minutes until the food reaches safe temps. It's easy. It's relaxing. I'm not staring at a timer and running back and forth to the grill. And, I am very happy with the results. You will be surprised how much browning occurs this way. It will look like you cooked directly over the flames. I've cooked like that for too many years to count. Lately, I've started experimenting with other techniques. But, I think it's great place to start for a charcoal noob.

To me, it sounds like you are on the right track.
 
When you spread the coals over the whole coal grate, how many coals deep were they? I don't know what brand of chimney you have, but I'm thinking that maybe it doesn't hold enough coals to do this and that you spread them too thin. Right or wrong, I always "mound" my coals so that they are higher in the center. This does make the center hotter, but I can move the food around to achieve proper "doneness". Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

What do the rest of you guys think?
 
Greg Y said:
When you spread the coals over the whole coal grate, how many coals deep were they? I don't know what brand of chimney you have, but I'm thinking that maybe it doesn't hold enough coals to do this and that you spread them too thin. Right or wrong, I always "mound" my coals so that they are higher in the center. This does make the center hotter, but I can move the food around to achieve proper "doneness". Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

What do the rest of you guys think?
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I was thinking that too. The first time I use my ots, I used one chimney and spread the coals out. I hadn't grilled on charcoal in years. The head did not last long because it was only one layer of coals and even at that they were thinned out. Now I either bank them all on one 1/2 of the grate or split them
 
Darren C. said:
My apologies for the dissertation here...but, since you are new to charcoal cooking, I want to pass along a tip or two that I've learned along the way.
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Darren - First off... no need to apologize, I really appreciate long detailed responses like yours and I appreciate that you took the time to respond and type all of that out!

As to the first part about letting the coals ash over, I think you are onto something there. I too have noticed the same thing (i.e. if I wait for the coals on top to ash over it seems like the ones on the bottom are half used up. Next time I am going to leave the left over coals in the grill and only light up new coals in the chimney and then try dumping the chimney a little sooner then I have in the past.

I do have the Weber charcoal baskets (come with the grill) and did do one indirect cook with them for some Chicken but for the burgers and dogs, I was looking to do more of a direct cook. Partly because that's how I've always done it and partly because I had a bunch of hungry people waiting to be fed and the direct method would be a little quicker, if for no other reason that I could have more food on the grill at one time. For smaller cooks I do like the idea of cooking indirectly and and using the hot area to sear.

Greg Y said:
When you spread the coals over the whole coal grate, how many coals deep were they? I don't know what brand of chimney you have, but I'm thinking that maybe it doesn't hold enough coals to do this and that you spread them too thin. Right or wrong, I always "mound" my coals so that they are higher in the center. This does make the center hotter, but I can move the food around to achieve proper "doneness". Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

What do the rest of you guys think?
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I am using the standard size Weber chimney but even filling it up to the top, it only provides enough coals for single layer coverage.

As I said above, next time I will leave the remaining coals from the last cook in place and then add new on top. Ordinary I'm not cooking as much as I did last weekend but if I need to again, I guess I could put a single layer of new unlit coal across the bottom and then dump a chimney full of lit coals above that. That should provide for a much longer cook time but I would have to watch the temp more closely I would think?

Either that or I could do the mound in the middle technique you use. Start off with the burgers in the middle for a quick sear and then move them towards the outside for indirect cook to finish them off?
 
If you dump lit charcoal on top of unlit, be sure to allow time for the smoke to die down. Dumping lit charcoal onto unlit is a technique new to me. Several years ago, I added unlit charcoal to my lit charcoal (the opposite) to extend my cooking time. I didn't allow the new coals to engage and for the smoke to clear before closing the lid. The food was almost inedible. Since then, I have been gun shy about mixing lit and unlit coal. I recently purchased a WSM, which led me to this site where I learned about the minion method. If you are unfamiliar with the minion method, it's more like what we are talking about here. It's adding lit to unlit. I'm still nervous about the smoke. But, no bad flavors so far.

All I am saying is that you want to be mindful of the smoke. If it's excessive, you might want to wait a bit before cooking.

If you are in a hurry and if you have a hot fire in the baskets, your hamburgers will probably take about 30 minutes. That's not too long. You could try flipping every 10 minutes. Just be sure to keep the lid closed when not flipping or measuring food temp. Try it once.
 
I agree with the folks who say not to spread the coals over the whole grill.

One chimney poured on one side will give you a good hot fire there, and a cool zone to move done stuff to or a place to move meat if there is a flare-up.

If you get some fire bricks and bank a chimney of lit behind them for indirect cooking (great for chicken), you can keep it roasting hot in there for hours with the bottom vent closed all the way.
 
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