My Worst BBQ Experience


 
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elmo

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I just came back inside the house and just went through my worst BBQ experience ever.

I used my performer over the past month or two months and i love it and i was always using Charcoal Briquettes, the one found in link below:

http://www.rona.ca/shop/~charc...73346_!charcoal_shop

The briquettes were great and i was using the dividers that came with performer to light them up.

But today, i decided to use this new charcoal king that i bought, the one listed in link below, the hardwood charcoal:

http://www.rona.ca/shop/~charc...67604_!charcoal_shop

I also decided to use the chimney starter with the performer to light the new charcoal.

That new hardwood charcoal comes in many different size pieces and many small pieces fell to bottom of performer. Also, they lit very fast with the chimney starter and by the time i dumped them in performer, the full chimney became half full so i had to add more hardwood charcoal. The new ones made a big fire and my new Weber glove burned while trying to even out the charcoal and it now has a hole in it.

I closed the lid and temp jumped to max so i closed all vents on performer to cool temp down a bit before putting the food in as i did not want to burn the food but it did not take very long and that hardwood charcoal turned off.

I was so sad and depressed that i just took it out and went back to briquette and began with briquette all over again to light them and then use them.

The briquettes were so much better than that hardwood stuff and their even size make them easy to deal with but by that time, the sun went away and i was not able to see the food while cooking and it was very unpleasant with the cold and few rain drops and wind made me smell like smoke and charcoal.

So my conclusion is never to use that hardwood stuff again on my performer. Maybe that hardwood stuff is good for smoking with WSM and when i get my new WSM, maybe will try it with it but I dont think this hardwood stuff is any good with charcoal BBQs like the performer.

In a day like today, I wish I used my more friendly gas grill instead
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I am so disppointed from today's BBQ that i wont even eat and i am going to sleep early. Just hope i wont get BBQ nightmares tonight. And hope that my next performer BBQ will be a lot more pleasant.
 
The 2nd picture says charcoal pieces. What are they used for? Is that lump vs briquets in the 1st picture? Looks like those pieces are made for a specific purpose, perhaps not for your grill. All Maple Leaf products have been given glowing reviews from what I know. Hardwood is good, but I must admit, I've never had the chance to use any Maple Leaf products. Perhaps some of the other Canadian people on this board have some information for you
 
Elmo,

I can understand your frustration but don't give up now. Using charcoal is a bit of a learning curve but you'll get there.

Instead of filling up your chimney with all the hardwood charcoal, fill it up with 50/50 of each untill you get used to the characteristics of lump style charcoal then next time 60/40 then the next time 70/30 and so on.
Lump does tend to burn down hot & quick so I'm not surprised when you said you found that half of the chimney was spent, that's happened to me too the first time I used it in the chimney and it's because it's so light and different sizes, there are a lot of gaps between the charcoal in the chimney unless you really push them in and when the bottom ones burn a bit, they all kinda move and settle towards the bottom.

Here in Australia, Lump charcoal isn't easy to get like in the States and it's quite expensive, so we tend to use briquettes mostly and the Heatbead brand here are pretty darn good, so unless I can get lump at a good price, I usually always use the briquettes.They are stable,hot & long burning & easy to get.If I can get lump, I still mix it 50/50 for reliable heat and the charcoal taste, it's not a bad compromise.

So Elmo, persevere with it champ..you'll master it eventually..just don't give up!!

Cheers

Davo
 
Just my experience. When I buy lump I buy several bags at once. I will actually go through and sort into three different "sizes" and have tubs for each size. The largest size I use for the base of my WSM and work my way up, filling in the gaps with the "smallest" sizes. The "medium" sizes I use in both the WSM and my grill, more the size'ish of briquettes. If needed, I will use both briquettes and smaller lump in my chimney with the lump on top of briquettes. I also use a second charcoal grate in my grills and smoker, offset from the other one, to minimize the size of the holes in the grates to keep the smalle pieces from following through (and idea from Bryan S. I think.)

I like lump but it takes adjusting just like adapting to charcoal early on, you just have to figure out what works best for your equipment.
 
Don't give up Elmo, we are all here for you,
I use lump 90% of the time, first thing is maybe
get another bottom grate to catch the small pieces so they won't fall through, I hear a lot of guys mix both lump and briquettes, most of my cooks are less than 60 minutes so lump is best for me..

Fellow Montrealer
Anthony
 
Hey guys,

My right hand's finger is still brownish a bit from the burned glove incidence but i decided to BBQ again on the performer and this time, i just used briquettes. I think i will stick with briquettes for a while until i get better with charcoal then i will start mixing in some lump hardwood after like you guys suggested.

So far, as a beginner, i can say that briquettes are much easier than hardwood to deal with.
 
I think that's a good idea elmo. I use Maple Leaf lump exclusively and it's good charcoal, but if you don't watch the vents carefully it can easily get past your target temps. Don't throw that bag out because once you get the hang of this you're going to really appreciate the flavor and smell from Maple Leaf. Mixing the two is a good idea and will help you build confidence.
Good luck and don't give up.
 
Sure I'm a month behind the other posts, but what the heck.

I'll agree that lump can be more finicky to use, and you do develop ways to handle it. So far the Maple Leaf has been the most consistent.

One thing I always look at is the condition of the bag when purchasing. If it is taut then it is being supported by the mass of charcoal. If it were slack, to me that would indicate rough handling and the presence of many small pieces.

Just my $0.02 worth.
 
So far, I've not been able to find Maple Leaf on the West Coast (OK, not for less than $15 for 8 kg), but Wally's World has Royal Oak chunk and briquettes for ~$9. That's what I've been using with great success.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Anthony W.:
Here are my 2 favorites Elmo.... in the first link I always buy the bag on the right chef's choice
Thats what they use in all the Portuguese restos here, but the second one IMHO is equally good...

http://www.basquescharcoal.com/bbq_products.htm

http://reviews.canadiantire.ca...0851633P/reviews.htm

Anthony </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I second Anthony's recomendation to use the Basque. In my limited use of lump I prefer it to the Maple Leaf - but it is not cheap...

I like the hint by Mark when selecting bags of lump - they can get bruised around..
 
Hey JM, try the Royal Oak lump from Canadian Tire, I think its got better flavor, than the Basque but both are great IMHO..

Anthony
 
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