New to charcoal - having issues and need advice


 
J

JoeinVA

New member
So for the better part of 15 years I have been using a Weber gas grill, and I have it down pretty good.

Recently started getting bugged by my wife about how much better charcoal flavor is after visiting a friends outing, so after some research I went out and bought a Weber Kettle.

Now I feel like I'm pretty smart, and I am fully aware that this is not rocket science, but after countless hours of research and multiple grilling attempts, I gotta say I'm feeling really really stupid here, as I cannot seem to get this right.

I started with match lite, and moved over to a weber chimney (I believe the full size one that was $20 at Lowe's) and lump charcoal as I was starting to feel uneasy about the amount of chemicals in match lite.

Heres the issue. I filled the chimney up to the top with Royal Oak Lump charcoal and started the fire. Waiting the 10-15 min the coal burned down a bit but got ashy, so I dumped it.

Covered and that baby was smokin hot. The thermometer (which I am aware is going to be somewhat inaccurate) was reading 500+

5 min later I put my chicken on and the temp plummets to barley 300, no smoke and feels like hardly any heat coming off the lid.

Vents all full open, kept lid on (I understand the on off on off is a no go), but there were no embers to speak of in the coal. I tried not to spread it thin, but honestly there seemed to be very little charcoal in the grill. I would say maybe 1/4 of the grill grate had charcoal?

So my assumption is not enough charcoal...

My question is, how am I to have more in there? The chimney was full when I started, slightly lower when I dumped, but I can assure you that little that was missing was not going to be the answer.

Should I have a few handfuls of cold coal sitting on the grate before I dump the chimney?

Looking for some advise, as all the youtubbing in the world has brought me to the conclusion that I am either an idiot or just really bad at life as they seem to use one chimney full and have plenty :)
 
Lump can be tricky to work with. It does get hotter than briquettes, but it also looses that heat faster. When you are starting out, consistent repeatable results are what you are looking for. I suggest you switch to regular Kingsford, called KBB around here. When using the full size Weber chimney, you want to see the coals at the top of the chimney have just a little gray on the edges before you dump. If you wait until the top coals are completely ashed over, the coals on the bottom have been used up.

Lump is irregularly shaped. As it lit in your chimney, some pieces of it collapsed in on themselves. When I use lump in my WSM, I do not use a chimney.

Second, lid thermometers are notoriously inaccurate and tell you nothing about what is going on at the grate where your food is cooking. It is more of a guide to what the temp is doing. Is it going up or down?

Consider reading this book and trying the recipes:

https://www.truevalue.com/catalog/p...g-cookbook-the-art-of-cooking-with-live-fire/

Also, look on Weber.com there is lots of good info there:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/grill-skills/mastering-charcoal/weber-33332.html

And on their youtube channel:



Welcome to TVWBB!
 
I appreciate the advice, and will look into getting a bag of standard charcoal to do some "testing with".

However my current issue is that the wife bought a 30 pound bag of lump charcoal and while I can probably give it away, the flip side is if I fight to learn this way I will hopefully be better in the long run :)

Again, not shooting your info down, just looking to see how to fight so to speak with the product I already have at the moment :)
 
Also, there is no reason you can’t mix the two together. When I use leftover briquettes that might have absorbed some moisture, I quite often add some lump on top for the extra heat as the used briquettes will not get as hot. Probably not for chicken which takes awhile to cook but it is good for brats, hotdogs and burgers.
 
The thing with RO lump is you have to dump it once you see flames lickin around the top or sooner.

Tim
 
timothy said:
The thing with RO lump is you have to dump it once you see flames lickin around the top or sooner.

Tim
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Thanks Timothy. I have my first bag of RO lump in the shed so will try to remember this when I get to it. Been using some off brand from the local BBQ shop up until now so bought a bag at WM just to try.
 
I’m a lump fan but it isn’t anywhere as consistent as briquette. Eliminating variables until you have more experience is worth doing.

Brand to brand, or even if you stick with just one brand of lump, it burns differently each time. In lumps favor, it produces less ash, gets hotter, and has a nice wood scent (Unless they slipped some wacky, funky smelling wood into the mix)
 
Richard in NS said:
Since Weber makes two chimneys, lets make sure you have the large one. It is 12 inches high.
View attachment 9078
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Yes that is the one I have.

I get it on the briquettes and will have to get a bag. Maybe I can do as suggested and do a mix to try and get more consistent temp as well as the better flavor.

As I mentioned before I'm feeling my issue was not enough charcoal so maybe I let it burn down too far but I still feel like more would be needed. Maybe leaving the vents open the whole time all the way cuz they get too much air and burn out?
 
Leaving the vents open will give you higher heat but burn up faster. You did not say what type of chicken you were cooking. I use the vortex for wings and drumsticks for high heat but if I am cooking breasts I do them indirect at like 325 F and finish them off over the hot coals to crisp them up. I really think using briquettes and dumping them sooner will work for you. Keep us posted! 😀
 
Charcoal baskets also really help with lump charcoal to keep the smaller pieces from falling through the grate. I use either the charcoal baskets or Slow n Sear for every cook...except if I do snake
 
I hate lump on my weber, it pops and leaves cinders on my meat, I use Kingsford and add wood of my choice, hickory it is a lot of times, also Kingsford has charcoal that has hickory or apple already in it that works great, I just don't like the price lol. throw 1/2 of a chimney unlit into the grill then light the other 1/2, when ready pour it on and give it 5 minutes or so and put the meat to it ,use the bottom vent to creep up on the temp you want to cook at. its tuff to get the temp back down when all of your charcoal is red ,
 
So last night I didn't have time to run out for the Kingsford so I needed to use the lump I have.

I ended up probably overdoing it as I filled the chimney to a little bit overflowed but also threw about 3 handfuls on the grate around it.

Dumped it as soon as the smoke stopped and overall the thing held fine. A little too fine as once the cold charcoal caught the thing ended up going over 500 degrees.

I'm guessing I wasted a bit of charcoal, but that's ok.

I also learned we weren't crazy over the oak flavor on our steaks it was too overpowering, so possibly too much coal or maybe just a bad choice for red meat.
 
One trick to conserve charcoal. After you are done cooking, close both vents. It will snuff out the fire and some charcoal will be able to be used for your next cook
 
Adding another charcoal grate placed 90 deg over the other one helps keep smaller pieces of lump falling thru.
Another tip is to put a layer of briqs in the chimney then fill remaining with lump. That also helps small pieces falling thru.

Tim
 
Kyle in Woodstock said:
Charcoal baskets also really help with lump charcoal to keep the smaller pieces from falling through the grate. I use either the charcoal baskets or Slow n Sear for every cook...except if I do snake
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This ^^^^^^^^

To me the char baskets are essential for charcoal cooking, especially with lump.

When anyone asks me about cooking with charcoal, I say the things you need are a Weber Kettle, a Weber Chimney Starter, two Char Baskets, and a really good strong set of tongs.
 
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