Looking for advice - how quick can you get going?


 
D

Drew Baker

New member
Here's my issue: I'm a former WSM owner and gas griller, who needs a new grill. My old gasser is done. I'm considering a Performer Platinum, OTG 26", and a regular Gas Grill (Weber out of my price range to get the space I need).

I'm leaning toward the performer platinum because:
1. Often times when I get home from work, I am rushing to get dinner going before the kids are starving. Obviously, a gas grill is great for this. My thought is the Performer Platinum will get my grill heated up pretty quickly as well to get those burgers/brats/chicken done. Am I right in thinking this?
2. I am used to the gas grill, as far as the ease of use. I never got good at the Chimney starting with the WSM, and love the gas assist feature.
3. I can still smoke in it! Obivously not an option with a gasser.

My concerns with the Performer are: Will I be able to cook for everyone? The extra size of the 26" OTG is definitely appealing. But, then I'm back to using the Chimney and starting the coal myself. And, likely a longer kickoff time.

My main questions are:
1. How long do you think it takes you to get your gas assist Performer up to grill temp? Comparable to a gas grill? Faster than an OTG 26"?
2. If I went with the 26" OTG, are there better ways to start the chimney that I'm not aware of? I just use newspaper and a match, but I have multiple "retry's" typically.
3. If I went with a performer, is there a way to give you more grilling space? A warming rack mod to move items up?

Any help would be much appreciated!
 
I fell in love with charcoal, but my heart is still with the gas grill. I use the gas grill all the time --- the side burner to start my chimney full of charcoal.... :D
I started with a regular kettle, but picked up a performer on Sunday. Haven't cooked on it yet, but I might still use the chimney just on top of the gas assist. I'm impressed how fast a full chimney of coals gets ready. Fire up the chimney, go prep/grab what you're making, and the coals are pretty much ready to dump & use.

Not sure where you're located, but you could probably pick up a good Weber gas grill AND a performer for less than the cost of a BNIB Performer from Craigslist. Spend a couple hours with the garden hose, SOS pads, & Simple Green and you'd have 2 brand new lookin' Webers.
 
It doesn't seem you can go wrong with either option. Just depends on what you really want. As for getting chimneys started, I buy the little Weber starter cubes and they are pretty fast. Never a restart like with paper.

Seems like the Performer would be the most hassle free if you dont want to go gas. I cook on a 22" and although it has some space limitations, I usually get it figured out. I am considering the 26" in the very near future though just to give me a bit more flexibility with respect to creating zones and using it as a smoker since I got rid of my WSM.
 
I let tte propane assist on my Performer burn for ten minutes, and then let the coals develop a white coating that takes another five to ten minutes.
I think that you will would live the Performer as much as most of us do :)
 
You will learn to adjust to the performer. I sold my Weber gasser last year after realizing I had not used it in 4 years.
 
So how long does it take you guys to get your Performer up to 350-400, to make some basic burgers or grilled chicken breasts, from start of lighter to ready to cook?

My guess is it may take me an extra 10 min over a gas grill? Which isn't a big deal. I'm thinking the performer is the right model, although I'm wishing it came in 26"! I would really like the extra cook space.
 
I love my Performer with the gas assist and I suspect that you may end up leaning that way. But I think you need to understand what it does and doesn’t do in order to objectively answer your question. The gas assist lights the charcoal and has it ready if you use a chimney at about the same rate as you can do it if you use a couple of Weber fire cubes or even paper towels with oil on them. The time difference is minimal. It takes more time to get a chimney of charcoal ready to cook than it does to warm up your gas grill. My Summit or Q-100 take a good 10-15 minutes to get up to proper temp (including heating the grates). Even with lump I can’t do that with my Performer or other kettles. Note – I don’t have experience using a weed burner or propane torch like some of the other things that people use. The real measurement of time needs to be the total time it takes to get your grill ready which includes prepping the charcoal, getting the stuff together to light it be it paper, oiled paper towels, or fire starters, to warming up the grates once you have dumped the charcoal. When you look at it from that perspective, the gas grill is definitely the fastest, the Performer with gas assist is second, and a regular kettle takes the longest. How much difference in the amount of time depends on your organizational skills.

Given the price range you seem to imply, your best options are between the Performer and the 26.75 inch kettle. That price range also puts you in the Q300 series or lower end gas grills, but I don’t think that they will offer you near what you can get from either of the kettles in terms of all the different things you can do from smoking to high temp grilling. The Performer offers a good happy medium in time between a gas grill and a regular kettle, but more important it also offers you things such as a rotisserie that the large kettle currently does not.

I have seen where some people have added a hover grate onto their kettles. I am not wild about that myself. I think the best way of adding capability is to get another grill. You can do that and not give up a lot of storage space if that is a concern with something like a Smokey Joe or even a small Q grill.
 
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Done. Bought. Performer Platinum will be here in 2 days from Amazon! Can't wait!

Will be waiting for a Q series and a 26" OTG over craigslist as well!
 
I have the normal performer platinum 22.5". I'm a creature of habit so I have my times pretty down.

1. Fill both indirect charcoal holders with briquets
2. Run the internal gas torch for 5 minutes
3. After a total of 25-30 minutes the coals are completely ashed over

With that amount of coal I can get up to high heat if I want.
I've accidentally run the torch for maybe close to 10 minutes and it did take some time off the overall heating up process, but I don't know how much time you could take off if you torched the coals until they were ashed over.

For me, I'm getting a Weber Q 120 because I want to be up and running quicker for fast cook meals like burgers, sausages, kabobs, and veggies. If I had the time I'd run my performer every time, but I don't so I'm looking for a gas alternative on weeknights. That being said, you will love your performer platinum. Easy to start (I don't even own a chimney), easy to run, easy to clean, still looks great (keep it covered) and it's built well.
 
Drew - Lots of good advice here. I was a long time gasser and now I find myself cooking burgers, etc on the smokey joe at least 2x per week. Gasser usage is down > 50% overall. To get things going, starter cubes are great as is the side burner on the gasser...and if it takes 5-10 minutes longer to get going that just means I have a few more minutes to unwind before dinner. I hv two little guys - so fully appreciate the hungry kids...I usually give them an "appetizer"...string cheese or a few chips with salsa and all is good. Jim
 
FWIW, I bought a turkey frier on sale at Lowes and use that to light my charcoal, that is before I bought my new Performer with gas assist. It is powerful enough to light a chimney in about 5-6 minutes. The sideburner on my Summit doesn't have enough kick for lighting coals.
 
Also, the brand and type of coal you use will affect ready times on the Performer. Kingsford Competition briquettes will be ready a LOT sooner than regular K - of course this comes at a premium price too. Royal Oak lump gets hot and ashed over relatively quick as well.
 
I have the Performer with gas assist. It takes about 20 minutes to get up to temp doing what others have mentioned by running the gas assist on a chimney for 5-10 minutes.

What I've done is change my routine to compensate.

1. Give grill a quick clean from last cook.
2. Start a chimney of coals on gas assist.
3. Get my meat out of the fridge and collect my seasonings.
4. Dump the hot coals, put the lid on and leave the vents wide open, or the lid cracked open for steaks etc.
5. Finish my prep.
6. Grill my stuff.

You just have to shift your timing a bit to make the jump to the performer full time, but you won't regret it.
 
JimmyE said:
FWIW, I bought a turkey frier on sale at Lowes and use that to light my charcoal, that is before I bought my new Performer with gas assist. It is powerful enough to light a chimney in about 5-6 minutes. The sideburner on my Summit doesn't have enough kick for lighting coals.
Click to expand...

Flipping the grate in the chimney gets the coals closer to the flame. Might be enough to get the Summit side burner to work.
 
Perhaps some are missing part of the idea of grilling a burger. For me it is not about how fast I can be ready.
All good things take some time. Relax and enjoy. If the kids need a snack, great give them something to tide
them over until the grilled food is done. Why rush? You are home now, not at work.
 
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