Indirect Advice

[Sid - Georgia]

I have the E-210 Spirit II with 2 burners. Mostly cook direct but may want to do some indirect. I’ve read about turning one burner off and cooking on the other side but wonder if resulted would be better if I could cook in the middle. Maybe find a ceramic stone or cast iron piece to put in middle and use both burners for a more even heat? Wanting to reverse sear some thick steaks or chops. Seems to me putting meat to one side means I’ll need to rotate to cook evenly. Anybody have any experience or advice?

 

[LMichaels]

You can accomplish it by simply cooking on the side with the burner turned off. If you're cooking something fatty I would put a drip tray under the grate to keep the mess down

 

[Rich Dahl]

Agree with Larry, been doing it that way for over forty years. Works just fine.

 

[Bruce]

Yah, I agree. Don't overthink it. Indirect heating is simply cooking up to a certain temp at meat level without direct flames under it. How you accomplish that is up to you. The easy way and most popular on a gas grill is to cook it over an unlit burner. Another way is to put some kind of a shield under it to block the direct heat. Placing a drip pan or sheet of aluminum foil or similar on top of the flavorizer bars and directly under the meat is another way. One good thing about the drip pan under the meat is that it will collect the meat juices that drip down which can be used in gravies or in other ways. Of course you can use that drip pan even with the burner turning off method.

Just understand that the lid thermometer is only and "indication" of the real temp where the meat is. It will take some experimentation to get the desired temp at grate level where the meat is unless you have a remote grate thermometer to tell you the exact temp and that desired location.

 

[Sid - Georgia]

Thanks to all!

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

Bruce, I love the statement of the thermometer being only an “indication”. They are all only a “single point reading” so no matter what one must learn the idiosyncrasies of managing temperature in any enclosed space. An oven, a gas grill, a smoker, a charcoal grill what have you. It takes time to get a feel for exactly what is going on.
Don’t worry too much, indirect cooking takes a little practice so, use an instant read thermometer and check the product, the technique is really where multi burner grills or baskets in a charcoal grill show their stuff. In the old days with charcoal rails, you could get a little more “center space” on a kettle but, that’s not a big deal. I can over eat with anything off pretty much any grill!
Take your time and learn what works for you. Patience will be rewarded!

 

[Colin]

I had that same grill only the stainless model. It worked fantastic for cooking beef roasts and vegetables indirect. If I recall, the lid thermometer ran 30-40*F hotter than at the indirect grate. I often kick myself for selling that grill to the neighbor. Nice fold down side shelves made it not take up much deck space.

 

[Bruce]

Bruce, I love the statement of the thermometer being only an “indication”. They are all only a “single point reading” so no matter what one must learn the idiosyncrasies of managing temperature in any enclosed space. An oven, a gas grill, a smoker, a charcoal grill what have you. It takes time to get a feel for exactly what is going on.
Don’t worry too much, indirect cooking takes a little practice so, use an instant read thermometer and check the product, the technique is really where multi burner grills or baskets in a charcoal grill show their stuff. In the old days with charcoal rails, you could get a little more “center space” on a kettle but, that’s not a big deal. I can over eat with anything off pretty much any grill!
Take your time and learn what works for you. Patience will be rewarded!

Yep, I cooked a brisket today and was cooking it at 240 grate level temp. My lid thermometer was almost 100 degrees less than my remote probe on the grates next to the brisket. That is kind of strange too because I was running only the front burner with the brisket at the back of the cook box. So you would think the lid thermometer would actually read higher since it is basically right above the front burner.