Question on Kingsford Charcoal Level - 26" Weber Charcoal Grill - Gold


 
C

ChrisP- Michigan

New member
Hi everyone. I'm happy to be a member of this board. I recently moved from a 22 inch to 26 inch Weber charcoal grill and am having some issues with getting proper temps in the grill. The weber manual says to use about 80 lit coals total for direct cooking or indirect for an hour cook. It says add 9 coals more for each additional hour of cook time.

I was trying to get my temps up to 375-400 deg and struggling a lot. I am using a two-zone cook (1/2 charcoal, 1/2 empty). The lid thermometer (stock one) is on the indirect side and never shows much above 300 deg. I have read these dome thermometers can be relatively useless and don't reflect temps at the grill level often. So far my cooks are usually in the 1-2 hr range max and the heat is not staying high enough long enough. I'm feeling like the 80-90 coal quantity just isn't enough for a 26", but I'm relatively new so I could be off.

Temps here in Michigan have been mid 80s, low winds.

The thermometer seems more useless on the 26" model. My goal was to sear on the direct side shortly and move to indirect to finish off until correct internal temps are reached.

I have tried to search this answer out and saw a write-up from a person named Kettle Pitmaster that has recommended lit/unlit charcoal amounts for various cook times/heat levels. The issue is these amounts are written assuming you have a 22" kettle.

Even when opening vents 3/4 to full top and bottom, that temp guage on the indirect side rare goes over 275-300 deg using the charcoal quantity mentioned. Given this kettle size, what temp variance would one expect on each side of a two-zone fire?

I was thinking of getting a Thermoworks Smoke to better monitor temps at grill level and in the food, but I know it can be tricky to use under grilling conditions. I don't want to burn probes out.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Chris
 
Chris,
I don't have any experience with the 26". However, one basic principle applies. If the heat is not hot enough or is not lasting long enough, add charcoal. I have a couple of Thema-Smokes. Just keep the probes away from the direct fire/heat. Put them on the indirect side and you will not have a problem. I have altered my smokers, with a small slot in the smoker to feed the probe wires outside. You could easily do the same thing with your grill. I bought a small grinder to do it with excellent control. I much prefer this method to having a feed through grommet as supplied by the newer Weber smokers. You can "google" this forum for pictures of how to do it.

It will only take a few times of grilling to get a plan that works for you. An old acquintance of mine had a saying, "You've got to do a bit of it before you learn how". If you have experience with the 22.5" grills, just add proportionally more coals until you are happy. Buy the Charcoal at sale prices in quantity when and if things return to normal, and it "won't hurt a bit" to experiment.

You'll do it my friend, and THAT is a guarantee! :)>))!

FWIW
Dale53
 
Don’t have a 26 but, Robert is on the right track. That’s a lot of air mass to get where you want it, I used to use the “book method” from the factory literature and found the time taken to add nine coals to each side every hour was not efficient. Consequently, I simply use a very full chimney and drop half a dozen or so raw briquettes in the baskets before I dump the chimney. Have not had a failure in many years. That said I’d simply increase charcoal quantities and fun the vents FULL throttle. You should be getting plenty of airflow for full combustion.
Where in Michigan are you?
 
Start using some lump charcoal with your briquettes. When I light my chimney I put a good layer of briquettes on the bottom and top off with lump. The lump will burn much hotter than briquettes.
 
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