New Perfromer grill... Did I make a mistake?


 
For what my opinion is worth I'd say you still have made a great purchase. I have a 22 One touch gold kettle and so wish I would have spent the extra money for a performer with gas assist. That being said my kettle is still the best grilling purchase i've ever made and I've owned several off brand gas grills. With a chimney starter and some starter cubes you will be able to get grilling just as fast on your performer as you could with a gasser. And the food will taste better!
 
I too only have the 22 OTG that i recently got for Fathers Day. It has been the best purchase since my WSM. I have always been a Gas cooker. And at one point i even asked my self why anyone would use charcoal when gas was so easy.

I have changed my tune. I grill almost every day now with my charcoal. I reuse my charcoal from the last cook and add a few fresh ones on top. I was using newspaper to start my chimney but i switched to the weber cubes. They are like 3.50 at home depot for 24 cubes. Only takes 1 to light the chimney and there is no paper mess.

I feel like i can do more with my charcoal grill than i can do with my gasser. If i had the money i would have bought the grill you got. Having that lid holder and table is a great addition. I don't know if you have the charcoal holders but i just bought them for 15 bucks and they are great. I feel like i have more room on my grill for indirect now. It allows me to specifically put my charcoal where i want it instead of using bricks or just pouring the coals to the side or middle. I recommend them.

I think you have great purchase and just have fun with it.
 
Well guys, I decided to go ahead and pop the cherry on my Performer last night and cooked up some chicken thighs. Unfortunately, it did not go as well as I had hoped :(

I wanted to do a 2 zone fire. While its probably not the ideal way to do it, I went ahead and used the Weber charcoal baskets that came with my grill and used a drip pan in between them. I loaded up a chimney full of Red Oak natural lump coal and when ready, split that load between the 2 baskets. The plan was to sear the chicken over direct heat (a couple of minutes per side) then move the pieces to the center and finish them indirectly.

Started off fine. I seared the chicken then moved them to the middle and closed the lid. This is wear the problem started. Almost immediately the temps shot up to 400deg. I was looking for something more like 300-350deg so I closed the top and bottom vents to ~50% open. I gave that a few minutes but didn't see any results so I then closed them both to ~1/4 open. I checked the grill about 5-10 minutes later and saw the temp was down to 325. Perfect I thought and left it for about 20 minutes. When I came back the temp was down to 225-250. I then realized I cut off too much air and the fire was dying/almost dead and it was too late to save it without firing up some new coals and adding them to the mix. The chicken was at around 150deg internal temp at that point so I decided to just finish them off in the oven.

I think I know what mistakes I made...

1. Not watching the grill closer
2. Probably could have let it go at 400deg and been fine.
3. Was too aggressive with the vents and didn't give the grill enough time to react to those changes before closing the vents more.

This was a disappointment but it was my first cook on a new grill and I think the problems were all self induced. I'll use it as a learning experience and move on.
 
That is how we all learn on these things. And you are right on the money. Make smaller adjustments and give it a little time for it to move the needle. Also keep in mind it is likely hotter at the lid where your thermometer is than it is on the grate when cooking indirect so you have time to make the adjustments. You will eventually find the vent settings that cook at the temps you want and you can pretty much get it started wide open and then adjust to your settings.

By the end of the weekend you are going to be an old pro.
 
1. I usually dump the coals, adjust my vents and put the lid on for a few minutes. This gives you a better idea of what temp you are starting at. You can then make some vent adjustments.
2. Yes, you would have been fine @ 400 indirect on chicken. 350-400° is no problem for chicken indirect. I do not sear first and cook at 375-400°, the hotter temp cooks the skin just fine indirect.
3. Yes, give it more time before making a second adjustment. Also, cutting the top vent down by 50% is a large adjustment. I mainly adjust the bottom vent and may only slightly close the top vent by a 1/4 . If I were trying to cook at 250° then I would have the top vent down by half.

If you drop a little too much you can always open all vents back up and crack the lid a little bit. This creates a lot of exhaust and will get your fire back up in 5 minutes. Just pickup the lid slightly and rest it on the lip so on the fire side you have small gap between the lip & bowl.

Also, for a 2 zone fire I create a direct & an indirect side. Using the baskets I would have put both on 1 side of the grill not on each side of the grill. Spin the exhaust vent over your chicken while indirect and you will have good convection over the chicken.

The easiest way to learn how to do something better is to screw it up the first time around. You'll have your vent settings and timing down in no time.
 
JSMcdowell said:
for a 2 zone fire I create a direct & an indirect side.
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Ideally that's what I wanted. In the future I will either pick up some fire bricks and/or build a new larger fire basket to setup a true 2 zone cook. I guess in the mean time I can do as you suggest and just use both baskets on one side or just skip the baskets and lump all the coal over to one side.

Thanks guys
 
ChrisV said:
Ideally that's what I wanted. In the future I will either pick up some fire bricks and/or build a new larger fire basket to setup a true 2 zone cook. I guess in the mean time I can do as you suggest and just use both baskets on one side or just skip the baskets and lump all the coal over to one side.

Thanks guys
Click to expand...



I just pile it up on one side and it works fine.
 
Skip the baskets. The grill will let you learn its ways the more that you use it. Looks like its a keeper now.
Grill me a ribeye?
 
I've cooked almost every night with my Gas-Assist Performer. Leftovers the other days. I find 5 minutes plenty for having the gas on to light coals. Just some info so the tank lasts. Really do like the side table and not having to use the Weber Chimney. I've used the charcoal baskets on every cook so far and will the rest of them. Just push to the sides for indirect and cook over them for direct. Just add fresh charcoal over the used. Snuffs out the flame really good
 
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I'm also of the basket on each side and a foil drip liner in the middle crowd. Works fine for me, but if i want a true indirect - i fire up the mini or the wsm. Suggestion - Pick up a bag or 3 of smoking chips from Walmart or the like. I toss a fist full of chips into each basket just before I close the lid. The flavor is incredible!
 
ChrisV said:
Well guys, I decided to go ahead and pop the cherry on my Performer last night and cooked up some chicken thighs. Unfortunately, it did not go as well as I had hoped :(
...
This was a disappointment but it was my first cook on a new grill and I think the problems were all self induced. I'll use it as a learning experience and move on.
Click to expand...

This sounds like what I did first time... seems like pretty normal learning curve. Make smaller adjustments and pretty soon it'll become largely automatic.
 
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