New to charcoal and need tips

[Ryan Stocker]

So, for a couple of years I had my heart set on buying a Holland Grill. They're an indirect gas grill without the ability to create flare ups. Well, unfortunately, the price of the grill went up to around $650 this year and that was getting a little too steep for me. So I started doing some DD and came across the Weber Performer. I had some Home Depot gift cards left over from my wedding, so this made the performer VERY affordable

I figured, what the heck, the pros swear by charcoal and this one lights the stuff for you.

The first thing I cooked were brats and they came out pretty tasty - but I cheated and had them on the grill in a pan with hard cider and onions and only crisped them up a bit after they were pretty much cooked. We did some bone-in chicken at the same time which kind of brings me to my biggest problem I'm having adapting to charcoal: stuff coming out tasting like charcoal smoke.

The first bag of charcoal I used was K comp. Being the first time I've ever used charcoal, I was a little surprised at just how much smoke was produced as it was lighting. It was like a campfire smoke - the kind that stays in your clothes for the rest of the night. The chicken came off the grill with a hue of this smoke. It's not really pleasant, IMO, and I believe my problem was not allowing the coals to "set".

So, a few weekends ago, I tried cooking my first ribs using the "stack" method described in the Weber cookbook. This time I used a bag of cowboy lump charcoal as this was the only thing I could find at Home Depot. The cowboy didn't seem to have quite the offensive startup smoke. After around 3+ hours, we took the ribs off and they ended up not being ready. So, with people getting pretty hungry (around 8pm), we decided to try to get the grill hotter by adding k comp. Of course, this was a bad idea as some of the meat tasted like charcoal again.

So, I guess what I'm asking is, when you're doing longer cooks on a performer, is adding new coals always going to have this effect on the meat? Or is this really just a k-comp thing and could be fixed by using a different charcoal (like RO) for longer cooks? For example, most rib recipes call for adding new coals every hour or so. Should I be using a chimney for the new coals? Perhaps just leaving the lid off until the new coals are ashed over?

Thanks in advance. Sorry for the long post!

 

[Tom A.]

Re: Brats
What did you use to light the coals?

Were the coals ashed over (grey) before you started the cook?

Did you have your lid vent open 100%?

Re: ribs
Ribs need low and slow indirect heat. You can't rush ribs.

Never leave the lid off longer than it takes to reload the fuel. You will lose heat and extend your cook times

Whatever you are cooking, you adjust the lower vents to regulate the heat. I always leave the top vents 100% open on all cooks.

I'm going to speak for all the members here and state that we cook with coals (briquets & lump) to get that authentic flavor.

Good luck.

 

[Ryan Stocker]

I used the Performer's gas ignition to light the coals. I left it on for five minutes, then moved the coals (in their baskets) to each side of the grill, with a pan of water underneath (ribs). I then added some cowboy lump every hour to keep everything between 250-300. When the ribs went back on the grill, we took the water pan out and moved the coal baskets to the center, this time with k comp. This was most likely the mistake - having the food directly over the fresh coals while they're smoking up (Did I mention I'm an idiot?)

Here's what I'm going to try:

- get a chimney, invert the cone at the bottom for lighting with the performer's torch
- when adding fuel, ensure that no food is hovering too near the new fuel
- get a rib rack so I don't have to rotate every 45 min
- cook longer and slower
- may try to find a natural briquette that doesn't seem to smoke as much during startup
- only adjust with bottom vent (I was only adjusting with the top)

 

[John Peterson]

Hi Ryan,

The only thing I can recommend is to make sure the coals are ashed over (grey) before starting your grilling. For me, it's about a 20 min wait in a chimney. You don't need to leave the Performer gas-assist on for that long, though. I run that for about 5 mins, and let the hot coals grow naturally from the bottom up. When the coals are ready, they should not be that smokey at all. Also, leave the top vent wide open, control the temp using the bottom vent. It's a good idea to mark the bottom vent handle area so that you can know for future cooks about where to set the bottom vents for the temp you are trying to reach.

Good luck, be patient, you'll be fine!

John

 

[doug ep]

The lid therm does not represent the temp at the cooking grate. So, you'll to adjust the cook to allow for the difference. The therm is not wrong, because that is the temp at that location, it is just not the temp where the food is cooking.

On my P, I find the temp is as much as 35 degrees different. Therefore, I do ribs with the lid therm showing 260-275. If I maintain a temp of 225, then the cooking grate is only 190, and the ribs will never get done.

Charcoal produces the most smoke while igniting, very little smoke while burning. Your best bet would be to use what is known as the Minion Method: if using KComp, light maybe 10-12 briquets, or if lump approx 1/2 chimney, with the P gas ignition for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the gas, let them ash over pretty well. Have the charcoal baskets or Smokenator on the side filled with unlit charcoal, then add the lit on top of the unlit. Put your ribs in the kettle, close the lid, and leave both top and bottom vents 100% open until you reach a lid therm temp of 260-275. Then adjust the bottom vent only to control temp. They will take 3-4 hours.

Closing or adjusting the top vent will oversmoke your food, creating the bitter flavor. You have to allow the smoke to escape. Always leave the top vent wide open.

I second the motion to mark the ash ring, so that you know the bottom vent range, from closed to open.

I've only used one bag of KComp, and a couple of bags of Cowboy many years ago. Cowboy is not a very good lump charcoal, it burns up too quickly. Try to find Royal Oak Lump (Walmart, Kmart, Menards) or something besides Cowboy.

Good luck, and practice practice practice!

 

[Don Cash]

Ryan, welcome.

I use Blue Bag K almost exclusively and you're right, it does smoke a lot. I use it as an "indicator" however...Fill the chimney and put it over the gas assist. When it's smoking heavily that tells me I can turn off the gas assist. When it is no longer smoking and flames are licking the top coals, it's time to dump them in the kettle. Then put the lid on and let everything preheat for 5 minutes or so, allowing all the coals to ash over.

I don't use the baskets so I can't offer any advice on that.

For long cooks try a Minion Method for charcoal setup...Basically it's a few lit on top of a lot of unlit instead of replenishing with a few unlit over lit...The lit will slowly light off the unlit and for some reason it doesn't smoke this way (at least not enough for me to notice any off flavors). Check out this link

Hope this helps!

 

[Bob Correll]

Welcome Ryan!

Just want to add, if not yet mentioned, is to remember that more air equals more heat.
Many first time charcoal users mistakenly think "Oh the fires too hot, I'll take off the lid, and open the bottom vents."

As stated by others, start with a good amount of charcoal, control the heat via bottom vents, and chances are you won't need to add more coals.
Good Luck on your next cook!

 

[John Solak]

You are right about The Kingsford Comp smoking a lot when they are starting and IMO they are not a good choice for the minion method because of it. I haven't tried the new formula Kingsford blue bag but I did use the old blue bag for low and slow and liked it. I finally tried some Royal Oak Lump I found at Walmart and REALLY like that for grilling, haven't tried it low and slow yet.Give it a try if you can find it.

 

[Joe Gallo]

I just tried the new 2010 version of Kingsford Blue Bag and I was shocked to see significantly less smoke during the start up. The old formula used to smoke out my entire patio area. The new formula was thinner and much more manageable (smoke wise)

Joe

 

[Willie S]

I was a little surprised at just how much smoke was produced as it was lighting. It was like a campfire smoke - the kind that stays in your clothes for the rest of the night.

I love campfire smoke...When I cook ribs I use the indirect method at fairly high temp the whole cook and all vents wide open. Wood chunks of choice; I use pecan, mesquite, hickory. Just watch when the meat starts to pull back from the bones and use the tear method to determine when the ribs are ready to take off the grill and eat.. Try it, you'll like it!

 

[Scott Dace]

Get yourself a reliable thermometer, whether its a turkey fryer one (like I use) through one of the top vents holes or get crazy with a fancy electronic one that monmitors internal meat temp and grill temp.
Let your coals ash (everyones in agreement here), control the temps using the lower vent, top wide open (though the BBQ pit boys always adjust with the top vent) and slow it down. BBQ is about relaxing and having fun. Plan your cooks, good bbq is not spur of the moment. As far as smelling like a camp fire, most women dig that in a man, mine does.