RK Agrawala
New member
Hello and thank you for allowing me to join your board. I started grilling a couple years ago after coming back from a group camping trip, and have enjoyed doing it ever since. I mainly grill in the summer of course, but I have in fact occasionally grilled in mid-to-late December if I'm home during the day, the sky is sunny and clear, the winds are calm, it's not too cold (maybe in the 40's), and my patio isn't covered with ice & snow. While I've only been grilling for a couple of years, I've done it so often and have watched so many videos on Youtube, and read many blog posts, that I feel I have about as much expertise as my peers. (Or so I thought until arriving here.)
I live in a condo apartment in Metro Detroit, with almost no separation between me & my neighbors. The board regularly patrols and gives notices when co-owners don't maintain "a park-like setting", including pulling weeds and maintaining the edging (even though they hire out for doing the lawncare). So I've found the 14-inch grill ideal for this purpose. I started out with a cheap knockoff thin-gauge-steel grill from Lowe's, which worked pretty well the first year. It was side-vented, and even had a hinged attached lid and locking/carrying handle. I mainly found that while it was domed, it had a flat bottom and the charcoal grate was too close to the bottom, so that the ashes would collect and tend to snuff out the coals. I also dabbled with a portable gas grill, but I hated the flare-ups and the icky taste compared to charcoal.
I decided it was time to upgrade to a Weber. I wound up getting a Smokey Joe Gold, because, well, gold is better than silver, right? I could have gotten the Jumbo Joe at Lowe's Depot, but I didn't want an 18-inch grill. The SJ Gold was hard to find; I had to go to an outdoor products store several miles away to find it, and even then they had to order it. That was about a year ago and I've been using it since. While it sort of did the job, I felt that its side venting also limited its ability to get hot and stay hot. I felt embarrassed taking it to the park and having it go cold while someone else's cheap Char-Broil bottom-vented grill would stay glowing hot for an hour or more.
Before Memorial Day this year, I decided to "downgrade" to a Smokey Joe Silver with its bottom vent, which I thought would burn better. I didn't like having to give up the lid locking ring and easy portability, but I figured I could get around it. I had also heard of some mods to try to either put the locking ring onto the Silver, and/or to add bottom venting to the Gold. I got a Silver from Meijer for $30, minus $15 in rewards coupons I had, so net $15 + tax, then I started doing some internets searching (I've decided not to use the "G"-word).
In this research effort is where I found TVWBB, and particularly a post entitled "How I made my SJG hot". The advice in that post worked so well for me, it basically saved me from chucking out my Smokey Joe Gold. Last week I grilled a very thick steak (over an inch thick) to near perfection, searing it over the high heat at first, then cooking over medium heat for close to an hour.
My Smokey Joe Silver sits, fully assembled, shiny and new, in my living room, until I can decide what to do with it as I already threw out the box and can't return it.
So I decided to become a member on this board so I could follow and share more advice.
A few of the things I do when using my grill:
- I did start out using the old "starter fluid on a pile of coals" method, but I didn't like the mess and aftertaste. After seeing videos on the internets, I soon started using a chimney starter. I have a smaller cheaper simpler one as the smaller grill doesn't need as many coals. It's a bit rusty but still in good shape. I also use the Weber starter cubes as they are nearly smokeless (so I don't annoy the neighbors too much with burning newspaper smoke) and burn consistently.
- I started out just dumping all of the ashes and unburned coals, but I didn't like the waste and the mess it made. So I progressed to sifting out the unburned coals over a grate and dumping out the ashes. This was still messy; so I got a small galvanized steel bucket (about 5 gal) with carrying ring and lid. I dump the ashes into that; putting a grate on top to sift out the unburned coals for re-use. The can filled up in about a year, so I put a note on it and set it outside with the trash for the city to collect, which thankfully they did (obviously leaving the empty can & lid).
- The only caveats I find with re-using coals are a) you have to thoroughly knock the ashes off the coals, and b) the smaller bits will tend to fill the spaces between larger coals in the chimney and restrict airflow, so don't be tempted to try to recover every small piece.
- I put a layer of instant-light (Match Light or generic equivalent) briquettes at the bottom of the chimney, and fill the rest with regular coals or lump, including the previous unburned coals.
Best Regards,
-Raj
I live in a condo apartment in Metro Detroit, with almost no separation between me & my neighbors. The board regularly patrols and gives notices when co-owners don't maintain "a park-like setting", including pulling weeds and maintaining the edging (even though they hire out for doing the lawncare). So I've found the 14-inch grill ideal for this purpose. I started out with a cheap knockoff thin-gauge-steel grill from Lowe's, which worked pretty well the first year. It was side-vented, and even had a hinged attached lid and locking/carrying handle. I mainly found that while it was domed, it had a flat bottom and the charcoal grate was too close to the bottom, so that the ashes would collect and tend to snuff out the coals. I also dabbled with a portable gas grill, but I hated the flare-ups and the icky taste compared to charcoal.
I decided it was time to upgrade to a Weber. I wound up getting a Smokey Joe Gold, because, well, gold is better than silver, right? I could have gotten the Jumbo Joe at Lowe's Depot, but I didn't want an 18-inch grill. The SJ Gold was hard to find; I had to go to an outdoor products store several miles away to find it, and even then they had to order it. That was about a year ago and I've been using it since. While it sort of did the job, I felt that its side venting also limited its ability to get hot and stay hot. I felt embarrassed taking it to the park and having it go cold while someone else's cheap Char-Broil bottom-vented grill would stay glowing hot for an hour or more.
Before Memorial Day this year, I decided to "downgrade" to a Smokey Joe Silver with its bottom vent, which I thought would burn better. I didn't like having to give up the lid locking ring and easy portability, but I figured I could get around it. I had also heard of some mods to try to either put the locking ring onto the Silver, and/or to add bottom venting to the Gold. I got a Silver from Meijer for $30, minus $15 in rewards coupons I had, so net $15 + tax, then I started doing some internets searching (I've decided not to use the "G"-word).
In this research effort is where I found TVWBB, and particularly a post entitled "How I made my SJG hot". The advice in that post worked so well for me, it basically saved me from chucking out my Smokey Joe Gold. Last week I grilled a very thick steak (over an inch thick) to near perfection, searing it over the high heat at first, then cooking over medium heat for close to an hour.
My Smokey Joe Silver sits, fully assembled, shiny and new, in my living room, until I can decide what to do with it as I already threw out the box and can't return it.
So I decided to become a member on this board so I could follow and share more advice.
A few of the things I do when using my grill:
- I did start out using the old "starter fluid on a pile of coals" method, but I didn't like the mess and aftertaste. After seeing videos on the internets, I soon started using a chimney starter. I have a smaller cheaper simpler one as the smaller grill doesn't need as many coals. It's a bit rusty but still in good shape. I also use the Weber starter cubes as they are nearly smokeless (so I don't annoy the neighbors too much with burning newspaper smoke) and burn consistently.
- I started out just dumping all of the ashes and unburned coals, but I didn't like the waste and the mess it made. So I progressed to sifting out the unburned coals over a grate and dumping out the ashes. This was still messy; so I got a small galvanized steel bucket (about 5 gal) with carrying ring and lid. I dump the ashes into that; putting a grate on top to sift out the unburned coals for re-use. The can filled up in about a year, so I put a note on it and set it outside with the trash for the city to collect, which thankfully they did (obviously leaving the empty can & lid).
- The only caveats I find with re-using coals are a) you have to thoroughly knock the ashes off the coals, and b) the smaller bits will tend to fill the spaces between larger coals in the chimney and restrict airflow, so don't be tempted to try to recover every small piece.
- I put a layer of instant-light (Match Light or generic equivalent) briquettes at the bottom of the chimney, and fill the rest with regular coals or lump, including the previous unburned coals.
Best Regards,
-Raj
welcome!