How much charcoal to use ?


 
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DAMIAN

TVWBB Member
Apologies in advance for a very basic question but I never seem to know how much charcoal I should be using (I use bricquettes) when cooking in my Weber kettle. For example if a am just doing a quick meal with a couple of steaks or 4 chicken thighs do I need to use half a chimney or can I get away with less. I just seem end up cooking and then the grill will stay hot for a couple of hours afterwards so I feel I am wasting charcoal.
Thanks in advance
DAMIAN
 
Damian,briquettes are fairly inexpensive,so no worries there. After the cook,close the ash cleaner and the top vent. This will choke off the air and extinguish the coals. They might stay warm for a while,but will go out. After you get some cooks under your belt,you will be able to judge how much to use if you are worried about waste. HTH
 
Damian, Welcome to the board.

I agree with Phil. When cooking over direct heat, I always use a full chimney but some of it is "used" coals from a previous cook. The used coals will usually make up 1/3 of the chimney so I'm only filling the chimney with 2/3 new. Is there some waste? Sure. But as Phil said, briquettes are relatively cheap and it's better to have more than you need than to run out of heat mid cook.
 
Thanks for the advice, unfortunately I live in the channel islands just off the UK so pay about £10 for a 10 kg bag whereas I think you het twice that in the USA for about $10.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">unfortunately I live in the channel islands </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That doesn't sound unfortunate to me...
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To answer your question, I don't think there is any hard and fast formula. Keep cooking and you'll soon get a feel for how much is needed for each cook.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DAMIAN:
Apologies in advance for a very basic question but I never seem to know how much charcoal I should be using (I use bricquettes) when cooking in my Weber kettle. For example if a am just doing a quick meal with a couple of steaks or 4 chicken thighs do I need to use half a chimney or can I get away with less. I just seem end up cooking and then the grill will stay hot for a couple of hours afterwards so I feel I am wasting charcoal.
Thanks in advance
DAMIAN </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It really depends on what you`re cooking. For example, last night I grilled some eggplant and some marinated chicken breasts. I filled the chimney starter. I always grill the vegs first and I want the grill to still be hot so I can sear the meat. If I`m just grilling some burgers and dogs, then I can get by with less charcoal because everything is getting thrown on at the same time and I`ll usually pile the charcoal in one spot for these shorter grills.

Most of the time though, I fill the chimney starter and use the 3-zone technique where I put most of the charcoal on the left side of the grill, then less towards the center and none on the right.
 
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