new griller


 
P

Philip A

New member
Hello,

I live in San Antonio, TX. I just bought a used performer 22.5 Gold one touch (I think that's what it's called). I used to have a big char broil charcoal grill, but around 12 years ago my wife wanted it gone because it didn't look good, and she wanted the convenience of gas. I don't think I've managed to make 4 good briskets since then. She finally decided she's tired of baked steaks and burgers, so I got this grill.

It came with 2 little metal things in the bottom. I guess they're for putting charcoal in, though I thought the charcoal was supposed to go all over the bottom. Can anyone enlighten me what they're used for?

Also, I'm looking for step by step instructions on smoking a brisket from a couple of the top masters on here. I haven't yet found them. if anyone has a link, I'd appreciate it. When I had a charcoal grill before, I knew nothing of injections, texas crutch or the like. I'd rub the meat, set it to one side and put a few lit coals on the other side, then pour unlit coals and wood on top. Over the course of the next 12 - 14 hours I'd pour two more batches of wood/coal on, then take it off and eat it. They always came out good, but there's no way to get that kind of separation on a 22.5" grill.

One last question. My previous grill had an adjustable charcoal height, so I could put the coals real close if I wanted to really cook a rare steak on super high temp. What's the best way to do a steak very hot, without using a ton of charcoal?

Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to the forum. Those things are charcoal baskets for when you want to cook indirect on your kettle. As far as brisket goes you fill one of those baskets with charcoal and wood chunks and add 4-5 lit at one end and then adjust the dampers until your running 250-275 degrees. For brisket all I do is rub it and cook it till probe tender. Somewhere between 190-205 internal probably. Do not cook to a specific temp our by time. I don't normally foil but some guys do when it reaches 160 to get through the stall faster.
 
Welcome Phillip, you should look into the "snake method" of charcoal cooking, just do a search, or you can look at this.
pbts.jpg

You arrange the coals this way and put about a quarter chimney or less to start them, this way you can move the grate around and do a brisket without ever adding.
 
Welcome to the forum! I hope you realize that your food budget will have to be increased after spending time here.

I'm also a Philip with one "L". My parents were poor and couldn't afford the second L but did find a bargain on Allen with 2 "L"s for a middle name. (grin)
 
Welcome aboard Phillip. You will love your Performer. Your next step will be a WSM. Enjoy!!
 
Welcome aboard Phillip! Check out this link. It is basically for the WSM, but
you will find a lot of valuable information on different cuts of meat and ways to
prepare them.
 
Welcome Phillip! If you want the coals high for steak, you can just pile them high on one side, or you can
get a few firebricks, put them on the charcoal grate and place those charcoal holders over the raised bricks
to get the heat closer to the meat. If your grillin ribeye, I will be right over.
 
Since everyone was so kind to make suggestions, I wanted to post my results. I decided to use the snake method recommended by Mike Cosgrave, because I didn't want to have to remove brisket to add fuel. I used a lot of large hickory chunks mixed in with briquets. I snaked about 90% of the diameter of the grill, and never had to refresh. I didn't use all the coals. I have a probe that transmits wirelessly, so I put the probe in the meat. Simple rub of kosher salt and pepper is all I used. I rubbed it and let it sit at room temp about an hour. Probe said it was 60 degrees when I put it on the grill. For the most part I was able to control the temp between 250 and 300, trying to stick to the 275 mark. I only had the thermometer in the top of the lid that came with the performer to go by. NOt sure how accurate it is. I guess I can boil water and test it. I had a pan of water sitting over the coals the entire time, and it didn't run out of water. I had to turn the grill every hour or so to keep the brisket opposite the coals. The snake method worked pretty good.

It took another 7 hours or so to hit 200 degrees. by then, I was hungry, and decided to test it. Soft as butter. Nice, sweet, smoky flavor. THere was no possible way that any member of my family was going to let that thing rest for 30 seconds, let alone 30 minutes. How do you guys hold off, after smelling it cooking all day? You've got more will power than I do. It came out the perfect texture. The slices held together for serving, but fork tender to eat. No knife required. I put fat side down while cooking, and the flat stayed moist, it never dried out, and the point was deliscious.

Only downside is that it didn't have a smoke ring. It was uniformly brown, not that edge of red that marks a championship brisket. Don't know why.

Low & Slow takes a long time. I think I'll try a little higher heat next time.

Observations:

The kettle style cooker is not the right tool for the job. There's no doubt it can turn out a delicious brisket, based on my first experience as an amateur. However, if I were going to cook large briskets, or cook brisket more than 2 or 3 times per year, I'd have to get a smoker. There's just too much need to open the thing to turn the grill to stay ahead of the snake. The other problem is that the snake of coals/lumps doesn't always stay in place. In some places it slid down the side, and I dropped my temp a couple of times and had to wait for it to burn around to a better part of the snake. Also, there isn't a whole lot of separation, although it seems to have been enough.

Thanks everyone for the help.
 
Welcome Phil! The brisket sounds amazing,but we are going to need to see some pics to further help you with your obsession,er,progress!
 
just search on brisket, you will find everything you need to know here. My advice is to not use a therm when cooking brisket and look for tender.
 
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