Hot spots / uneven cooking - does this sound normal?


 
D

Dave Glasgal

TVWBB Member
I've been able to get my finicky old Genesis 1000 up and running and have used it a few times - and it seems to be pretty uneven with cooking. For reference: only using the front two burners since I'm not using the back side of the grill at all, it has brand new bars from Dave and SS grates. During all of my checks before installing this stuff, the burners seemed to be lighting evenly - visually the holes all look uniform when they're off, and the flame seems even when I was test-lighting it without bars installed. When I open the lid to check on food, some things appear to be cooking noticeably faster than others.

Is something fishy going on here, or is this just what to expect?
 
What's wrong with the back of it? You cannot judge it unless you get it fully preheated and stabilized before settling in on a temp.
 
Yah, you can do the toast test. first make sure the burners are clean. Then light all three burners and let the grill heat up until it settles. Then grab a loaf of cheap white bread and quickly put the pieces of bread down to cover the entire grate. Let it go until you can tell they are starting to brown. Then remove them all at once. In a perfect world, they will all be evenly browned. But generally you will see some variance. You just don't want to see black on the left rear and nothing on the front right or something like that.

If you do have some variance. It isn't the end of the world. Just adjust your placement of your food on the grates accordingly.
 
LMichaels said:
What's wrong with the back of it? You cannot judge it unless you get it fully preheated and stabilized before settling in on a temp.
Click to expand...

I'll admit I know little about grilling technique, so if you've got tips for an absolute novice, I'm happy to hear them. My line of thinking was simply "I'm not putting anything over that burner, so it doesn't need to be on". If that's flawed logic (and I wouldn't be shocked if it was), I'd be curious in knowing why so I'll better understand how to best utilize this beast.
 
No, you could cook with just one burner on if that is what you want and you are getting enough heat to the meat. But, I think Larry was concerned that you were possibly experiencing varied grate level temps because the back burner wasn't on. If your varied temps were from front to back more than left to right, then clearly that is because the back burner is off.
 
When preheating you always need to use all burners or it will not preheat correctly. Once preheated and stabilized then reduce heat or turn off as needed
 
First step is to "calibrate" your grill. Buy a handful of cheap analog oven or grill surface thermometers. Or spring for an infrared thermometer.

Then map the surface temps of your grill in various configurations -- three burners on low/med/high; one burner on high/med/low (front; medium; back); etc. etc. etc. Much more useful than the toast or fajita test. See link below.

That mapping will tell you (i) the extent to which your grill is really running unevenly and (ii) how hot your grill runs in various set ups. Helpful to know for searing a steak vs. roasting chicken vs. low/slowing a brisket.

The other tip is that your grill has three burners that run east/west (knobs on side). So the heat flow inside your grill generally is from front to back, with the back of the grill being the main exit point (gap between top of cook box and bottom of hood). Most new grills these days have burners that run north/south.

So a typical set up for your grill (for lower temp indirect cooking) would be front burner only on high, with the food being in the cooler back.

The double layer of flav bars is supposed to provide more even heat distribution (assuming all burners are working properly) and anti-flame up than the single layer of bars that came later.


amazingribs.com

How to Calibrate Your Grill or Smoker with Dry Runs

Calibrate your cooker. There is often dust and grease under the hood from the factory on new grills and smokers. Here's how to prepare your cooker with a dry run so you can control its temperature when it's showtime.
amazingribs.com
 
Too much trouble for nothing LOL. Turn it on. All 3 burners. Let it rip for about 15 min to stabilize. Turn down or off the burners you don't need to use slap food on and cook. Nothing like building a project out of nothing
 
In one of my conversations with weber way way back, it was discussed that there is a spot around one of the corner on right. Think it was the lower. Didn’t bother me since i usually heat it up until it hits 500 and then dial it down.
 
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