Grilling with two different temps on same grill?


 
V

VirgB

New member
Hello all,

I apologize if this seems like a stupid question (and I tried all the search-fu I could think of) but I'm new coming from a Weber kettle charcoal grill and I just recently got a Genesis gas grill (I've never had a gas grill). I'm curious how to handle grilling items that need two different temp ranges. Say I want to grill steak and corn on the cob at the same time. I know Weber recommends high direct heat for the steak and medium direct for the COTC. Should I set the left burner for high direct and the right for medium direct while leaving the middle off? I know the times are not the same but since I'm using direct heat on each item will this be sufficient to achieve the results that I want? I'd appreciate any advice other users could provide to this n00b.

Thanks,
Virg
 
Welcome Virg.....there are no stupid questions, we have all been there. If I were doing corn and steak on my Genesis I would do the corn on low to med. and after the corn was done I would wrap in in foil and crank up the heat to high. It won't take that steak very long to cook. Hope this helps,....by the way I love my Genesis.
 
I'll give this a shot. You're going to have a hard time (if not impossible) to get meaningfully different temperature ranges in your grill. The approach I always took is to set the different burners for how much direct heat/flame I wanted. In your case, I would set the left burner on high for the steak, set the middle burner on medium for the corn, and leave the right burner off. Adjust them to get the overall grill temperature you want. Then, as the steak and corn approach the doneness you want you can move them off the direct heat and over to the right side of the grill. This is how I always did mine, but you will need to also time when you put the food on so none of it overcooks. Personally, I would probably put the corn on first (depending on steak thickness) because I like mine with some char on it. Most important, don't overthink it. It's grilling and it should be fun and even mistakes taste good :)

Todd
 
Strange as it may seem, cooking on a gasser can get complicated. Take the steak for example, do you want to go straight high heat with the lid up ? Or high heat with lid down ? Or high heat with lid up to set your grill marks then finish on low heat or even indirect with grill lid down ?

For the corn, will it be naked, in husk or in foil ? Do you want grill/heat marks on it even if foiled ?

Lastly, how to cook both successfully together depends on your answer to each of the above questions.

For example, I generally cook 1 1/2 inch thick steaks to mid rare. I go high heat with lid open to start. After a couple of mins, I'll rotate the steaks to get the diamond grill marks. Couple of mins more, I flip the steaks and put the lid down. Couple more mins, I open the lid and rotate the steaks again. IF I need to slow things down, I turn all the burners down to medium or even low and let the steaks finish. Anyways, I also cook corn at a much higher heat than most people. If I do it in the oven, I cook it at 400+ degrees. Same thing on the grill. I crank all 3 burners up to high, throw the foil wrapped corn on the grill and close the lid. After 8 mins or so, I'll pop the lid and rotate the corn. After another 8-10 mins, I'll move the corn to the upper rack and throw the steaks on. Corn comes off when the steaks come off.
 
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