New to Q grilling

[LeeC]

Hi Folks,

I'm new to the Weber Q120 which I bought to use with my travel trailer and so far am not having much success. Every thing is coming out burnt or well over done. Steaks and burgers so far. I heat the unit up as recommended then cook on low after searing. What am I doing wrong?

 

[LMichaels]

Cooking too long

 

[MikeLucky]

Are you using a thermometer to check the temp of the meat?

 

[Bruce]

What Mike and Larry said! Get yourself a $20 instant read thermometer and be amazed how much you are over cooking your steaks.

This is a very affordable one that is popular with members of this list.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R18W3W1/?tag=tvwb-20

If you want the cadillac of instant read thermometers, then you want this:

Thermapen® ONE

Experience rapid, precise temperature readings with ThermoWorks’ best-selling Thermapen ONE. Essential for every cook, it’s your key to culinary mastery.

www.thermoworks.com

They go on sale fairly often for about $80

 

[Jon Tofte]

I agree with the above. Those little Qs can get really hot. You might want to even back off on the preheat temperature. I have recently been using a similar Q for the first time and found that I had to do that to avoid overdoing it. Aluminum radiates heat really well. Also, make sure your grates are well oiled. I am lazy about it and just use Crisco or Pam grill spray, but you can use regular oil with an applicator, too.

Either of the above thermometers will do very well. Here is my personal one and one that I have gifted a couple times now because I like it so well:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XXSYLL8/?tag=tvwb-20

For just $19 right now you can hardly go wrong. It is very solid and even has a brass screw and brass screw sleeve on the battery compartment that also features a tiny rubber seal. Pretty outstanding in my book for a thermometer in this low price range. Hard for me to see what more you can get for 4X the money!

 

[Jerry L]

The new Q's will burn hot until they break in. I did a temperature comparison and side by side cooking test between my Q2200 that is four years old, and a Q1200 that my neighbor bought and on the same settings, hers was running 50 degrees F hotter. Burgers cooked for same amount of time (8 min total), but on my older Q that has accumulated grime, soot, and smoke came out medium, the one on the new Q cooked for the same amount of time was well done.

 

[Jacob - Grillin’]

Another thing to consider, the iron grates also serve as flavorizer/heat deflectors. They get very hot, and hold heat for awhile. For steaks/burgers you need to rotate (to create cross hatch marks and also prevent burning) before flipping. You will probably cook on a lower heat setting that you're used to. For chicken, longer cooks, you should cook on foil w/ a raised grate

 

[Ed P]

I found a Q120 on CL a couple of days ago...a redhead. Spent the last couple of days cleaning and fired it up today. 688*F on the cast iron grate after 20 minutes, over 200*F hotter on the grate than my Q200,

ThermoWorks has a 30% off sale on their industrial IR gun today so I ordered one. I also ordered a thermometer for the Q120 which looks like that will be the one I'll be keeping.

EDIT: I got the fitting for the reg delete but I don't want to lose the ability to use the 1 lb tanks so I'm going to think on it for a while.

 

[Bruce]

How much is the Thermoworks IR gun?

 

[Ed P]

$63 + tax & shipping. I just posted it in the deals section.

Industrial IR with Circle Laser (IRK-2)

Explore ThermoWorks, the trusted leader in precision thermometers. From the kitchen to the grill, ThermoWorks meat thermometers ensure culinary perfection.

www.thermoworks.com

 

[A Lee]

I found a Q120 on CL a couple of days ago...a redhead. Spent the last couple of days cleaning and fired it up today. 688*F on the cast iron grate after 20 minutes, over 200*F hotter on the grate than my Q200,

ThermoWorks has a 30% off sale on their industrial IR gun today so I ordered one. I also ordered a thermometer for the Q120 which looks like that will be the one I'll be keeping.

EDIT: I got the fitting for the reg delete but I don't want to lose the ability to use the 1 lb tanks so I'm going to think on it for a while.

View attachment 14013 View attachment 14014

Ok so I'm not the only one who noticed the little Q gets crazy hot. Using an IR gun, my q1200 measures around 680F after 15minutes of warming up. At that temperature, it's pretty close to the flashpoint of fat. I find it great for searing steaks, but the drippings from ribeye steaks can end up in instant flames that can be challenging to control, since the q1200 doesn't have a cold zone I can move the meat to. Has anyone else experienced this? Maybe I need to trim off the fat cap before searing ribeyes. Striploins seen to be less of a problem.

 

[BillSmith]

$63 + tax & shipping. I thought Chris would be all over it but I just posted it in the deals section.

Industrial IR with Circle Laser (IRK-2)

Explore ThermoWorks, the trusted leader in precision thermometers. From the kitchen to the grill, ThermoWorks meat thermometers ensure culinary perfection.

www.thermoworks.com

A pic for when the sale is over:

View attachment 14016

Have you used this to measure the temp of cooking oil? I have a Dewalt IR gun but the temp seems to jump around when measuring oil.

 

[LMichaels]

My buddy bought a 1200 for his camper. I have cooked on it (ribeye steaks in fact) and did not notice any of the overly hot issues you all seem to be having. It actually cooked about equally to my 320 just a lot smaller

 

[Bruce]

There seems to be a lot of variance with Q grills in heating capabilities. I have owned several and some would heat up much better than others and I can think of two reasons for this.
First, the burners on the Q grills tend to get clogged up quicker than regular grills with flavorizer bars and need cleaning more often. Second, I think the regulators on them are not as consistent. It does seem like some just won't heat up quite as hot as others, no matter what you do. Even with new burners, I have had Q grills that just never got real hot. Still fine for grilling, but not 650 degrees at the grates in 15 minutes.

 

[Ed P]

There seems to be a lot of variance with Q grills in heating capabilities. I have owned several and some would heat up much better than others and I can think of two reasons for this.
First, the burners on the Q grills tend to get clogged up quicker than regular grills with flavorizer bars and need cleaning more often. Second, I think the regulators on them are not as consistent. It does seem like some just won't heat up quite as hot as others, no matter what you do. Even with new burners, I have had Q grills that just never got real hot. Still fine for grilling, but not 650 degrees at the grates in 15 minutes.

I found an old thread on TVWBB that, among other things, gives a reason for regs going bad as well as why you should turn the tank off before the valve when using a long hose before the reg.

Another VERY interesting note (to me anyway!) When I shut the tank off and bleed out the hose on the Q120 (the hot one), it takes maybe 10 seconds for the flames to die out at the burner. With the Q200, they die out immediately. I know, bigger burner, but still...

EDIT: Here's the old thread:

Weber Q - low flame or no flame

Hello everyone! I am a certified gas fitter and I have been working in the barbecue repair industry for about 5 years now. As you all know, the Weber Q grill is extremely popular, both for portability for camping, etc., and for size in small condos. Far too often I hear people complain that...

tvwbb.com

 

[LMichaels]

Bleeding out the hose is a bad idea. It's the basis of many issues people have with using a Q with the larger tanks

 

[Ed P]

I did the reg delete mod on the Q120 today, using a reg/hose assy. from a Gold C donor grill I picked up some weeks ago. Still hotter than the Gates of Hades...one part of the grate is over 700*F (the area where the burner loop closes...evidently that 90* intersection concentrates the heat there), the remainder of the grate is in the mid- to late-600s. (Temp control set to High).

Tip: The area where the burner loop closes would be the best area for searing...708*F

 

[A Lee]

I did the reg delete mod on the Q120 today, using a reg/hose assy. from a Gold C donor grill I picked up some weeks ago. Still hotter than the Gates of Hades...one part of the grate is over 700*F (the area where the burner loop closes...evidently that 90* intersection concentrates the heat there), the remainder of the grate is in the mid- to late-600s. (Temp control set to High).

Tip: The area where the burner loop closes would be the best area for searing...708*F

View attachment 14178

That's exactly how my q1200 behaves. Any idea why that side burns hotter?

 

[Ed P]

If I still had access to the thermal camera we had at work, I'm sure it would show hot spots at the slots cut into the burner. Also, the intersection where the loop closes seems to be hotter, too, but I need to verify that now that I see what the flame pattern looks like.. A quick check at the lowest valve temp setting showed lowest temps a little over 500*F and a mid-range of about 635*F, but when I have time I'll check those numbers more accurately with the IR gun.

 

[A Lee]

If I still had access to the thermal camera we had at work, I'm sure it would show hot spots at the slots cut into the burner. Also, the intersection where the loop closes seems to be hotter, too, but I need to verify that now that I see what the flame pattern looks like.. A quick check at the lowest valve temp setting showed lowest temps a little over 500*F and a mid-range of about 635*F, but when I have time I'll check those numbers more accurately with the IR gun.

View attachment 14201 View attachment 14200

I used to have access to a flir e6. Pointed it at everything around the house. I found it useless on grills because the camera's temperature range maxed out at 462F.