Having just got my first Weber Kettle, I christened it with a big old shoulder of pork - smoked for 12 hours around 225-250F, worked a treat. Didn't manage to maintain a totally steady temperature, but didn't struggle as much as I worried I might.
Having got a nice Silverside of Beef in for Sunday lunch, I thought I may as well roast it on the Weber. I stacked up about 50 briquettes in the chimney starter and got them going, chucked half on each side of the grate (using the standard dividers) drop tray in the middle and shut the lid, with all vents open. The temperature flew up to the desired 350F in no time, I part closed the lower vent, and after a couple of minutes' tweaking had it stable at 350F.
Chucked the meat in, and all was good for 20-25 minutes, but then the temperature started to drop a little. I opened the lower vent up, which helped a little bit, but over the next 15 minutes or so the temperature kept dropping. I soon had all vents wide open, but from about 30 minutes onwards there was nothing I could do to get the temperature above 300F and by 45 minutes I could only manage 250F.
By this point I was wondering if maybe the briquettes had all just burnt through, though it seemed quick. So I opened the lid and took a look, but they were pretty much all still whole, and all a good white colour, which I take to mean at a good heat for cooking. Eventually I fired up another dozen or so briquettes in the chimney starter, and chucked these in, which just about kept things around 300F long enough to end up with a cooked joint of meat (I finished it off by grilling over the coals for a bit more char-grilled taste around the outside).
So tell me - what have I got wrong, and how do you keep a Weber going at 350F?
Having got a nice Silverside of Beef in for Sunday lunch, I thought I may as well roast it on the Weber. I stacked up about 50 briquettes in the chimney starter and got them going, chucked half on each side of the grate (using the standard dividers) drop tray in the middle and shut the lid, with all vents open. The temperature flew up to the desired 350F in no time, I part closed the lower vent, and after a couple of minutes' tweaking had it stable at 350F.
Chucked the meat in, and all was good for 20-25 minutes, but then the temperature started to drop a little. I opened the lower vent up, which helped a little bit, but over the next 15 minutes or so the temperature kept dropping. I soon had all vents wide open, but from about 30 minutes onwards there was nothing I could do to get the temperature above 300F and by 45 minutes I could only manage 250F.
By this point I was wondering if maybe the briquettes had all just burnt through, though it seemed quick. So I opened the lid and took a look, but they were pretty much all still whole, and all a good white colour, which I take to mean at a good heat for cooking. Eventually I fired up another dozen or so briquettes in the chimney starter, and chucked these in, which just about kept things around 300F long enough to end up with a cooked joint of meat (I finished it off by grilling over the coals for a bit more char-grilled taste around the outside).
So tell me - what have I got wrong, and how do you keep a Weber going at 350F?