what am i doing wrong.....


 
B

Becky M-M

TVWBB Pro
i dont know if this goes in Grilling or Barbecuing.... but here goes....

ever since i have started using my chimney starter....which i love, love, love! i am having problems with my heat/cook time being shortened. not in the sense that my food cooks faster, but in the sense that i have a shorter time to cook that when i would light without the chimney.

i usually fill the chimney all the way.... when the coals are whitish on top i dump them out.

am i letting them burn too long in there?

should there still be some black coals when i dump them?

yesterday i made pork chops and baked potatoes underneath. the chops were thin so it was not a big problem.

but i have stuffed peppers and 18 chicken legs on there tonight and im afraid that everything is not going to cook as it should.
 
Thanks Don.... you know i had checked that little tutorial out.... but i guess i just forgot about it having some dark coals on top.

i am definitely leaving them in the chimney too long. definitely. i will dump them a bit earlier next time... which with this gorgeous weather will be again this week.

its not too terribly bad, because the chicken and peppers i have on there tonight are looking awesome!
 
I wait until the coals top start to ash over little on the edges and then I dump them. You want to make sure you bank them one side, the closer they are to the cooking grate the hotter it will get which means a better sear. If you spread them out you will not get enough heat at the cooking grate, if you try to stack them in a mound in the middle of the charcoal grate they will still spread a little. By banking you are using the bowl as a support to hold up the charcoal. If you bank make sure you bank on a different side every time you use it as banking on the same side could cause damage over time. I like to use charcoal baskets, a can move them around as I please and no banking.
 
thanks for the info.... i am going to have to play with dumping them earlier. i was waiting until i could see them redhot on top as well....
when i would dump them, they were considerably smaller and no black at all.

Richard, i have always banked them to one side. what i didnt do was rotate the area.... after reading on here that it can hurt that same area of the kettle i have begun to rotate the grill when banking the coals.

banking them to one side really works for me, to have a cool spot to move food around to if need be. i have been wanting to get some charcoal baskets to play with, but i am holding out until i have a hinged grate first.
 
By rotating where you bank the coals in your kettle, you can also avoid having a buildup of greasy crud too. It will burn off your previous cooks residue if you bank your coals on the same side as whatever you last cooked. I move mine from handle side to handle side, then 90° and across from 90°, and I clean out my kettle every four cooks. That way, I know how many times I have cooked since I last cleaned the grill.

That reminds me... it's about time to clean it out again.
 
Originally posted by Becky M-M:


i have been wanting to get some charcoal baskets to play with, QUOTE]

Becky M-M, you can get fire bricks around here for $1 ea. I put 2 together on the coal grate and cover with foil especially the edges next to the side of the kettle. This makes a wonderful 2 zone grill. Also put foil on the coal grate where there are no coals. The hinged cooking grate is wonderful for adding smoke wood or more coals on long cooks.
I always use the minion method of heating the coals, only a few hot in a small well of cold. The temp will be consistant and if you want higher heat either wait longer or add more hot. I too dump the hot when the flames peak thru, no need to wait for ash formation IMHO.
Good luck.

Mark
Click to expand...
 
There are all sorts of techniques that can be used to "control the burn" in your grill:

First - it sounds like you have the chimney starter issue figured out.

If you are planning a longer cook, and are having problems with your coals burning-out/down before you're done - you can always:
-Add some un-lit coals on-top or around the lit
-If you want a medium fire that lasts, you can dump the lit at one end of a "bed" of un-lit, and the fire will burn across over time.
 
i am going to start dumping them out ealier..... and if i feel i might be running out of heat, will throw a few on there.

yup.... i have the chimney starter down. i feel so silly for waiting so long to get one. i mean it is the best thing EVER! so much easier and better than the other alternatives.
 
Becky, you've gotten a lot of great advice. I too use my chimney faithfully, and I too dump it when I can spot some red glow beneath the top layer of black. That way all the coals are hot, if not ready. Once I dump them there is a mix of prepped coals with hot fresh coals to keep a hot grill going.

But the best trick I've found for heat and time is to preserve coals from each grilling by snuffing out the oxygen after the cook, spread around the preserved leftovers, and scatter about half a chimney of red coals on top. The heat after a few minutes is incredible and hangs on for a while, better than anything I get from a clean charcoal grate and full chimney. Good luck, whatever you try.
 
Havent really read all reply´s. But as some stated dump it earlier. When i se flames shooting out of the top i dump it. Gives you bout 70% lit - 30% not lit but licked by fire. And that will give you a Super hot Minion fire.(the unlit will be the base of this ofc) Holds up great and is ready to cook on in 5 min with the lid on.(after dumping...time around the 10 min mark) I always wait the 5 extra to heat up the grate/dome.(if its not a tater or anything with a long cook time)

Once i set my timer for 15 min and started a chimney of lump. It was almost burnt up when i came out. Now i use a weedburner for all my lump cooks.
 
i have always how people reuse charcoal..... i didnt know how they did it. unfortunately, i cant because my bottom vents are rusted open. but good to know , now i can do that with my smokey joe.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Wolgast:
Havent really read all reply´s. But as some stated dump it earlier. When i se flames shooting out of the top i dump it. Gives you bout 70% lit - 30% not lit but licked by fire. And that will give you a Super hot Minion fire.(the unlit will be the base of this ofc) Holds up great and is ready to cook on in 5 min with the lid on.(after dumping...time around the 10 min mark) I always wait the 5 extra to heat up the grate/dome.(if its not a tater or anything with a long cook time)

Once i set my timer for 15 min and started a chimney of lump. It was almost burnt up when i came out. Now i use a weedburner for all my lump cooks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I use virtually the same method; I often dump them on top of unused coals from my last cook, which will also lengthen the cook if you need it. I always shut it down tight as soon as I'm finished; I always surprised how much fuel you can conserve and save for next time.
 
I too dump the coals from the chimney when the flames are licking the top coals. I use the propane assist on my performer, but only for about five minutes or less when I see that the lower coals are starting to glow red. No sense in wasting the propane after that.

As far as the charcoal baskets, they are great. You can move them around and add coals and smoke wood easily. What's also nice about them is that after I've snuffed out the fire, they keep the unused portion of the coals contained. When I fill my chimney, I fill it about half with new coal and dump the leftover on top right out of the baskets from the last cook. You can give the baskets a good shake before dumping into the chimney and most if not all of the ash will fall off. Also, the new coal on the bottom of the chimney keeps the smaller pieces of leftover from falling through the bottom of the chimney.
 
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