Any advice

[Hardtime01]

Recently purchased a Weber Performer Gold. First charcoal grill I ever owned. I have used it 3 times now, burgers, brats, dogs. It seems to have too much smoke. Whenever I lift the lid the interior is full of white smoke even though both top and bottom vents are wide open. I was using Kingsford briquettes lit with a chimney smoker, a full one. It seems like the food was extra greasy and the grate had a grease coating. Smoke came out of the vents but still filled the interior.
Before my first use I did spray the inside with non stick spray, like I was told people do to season their grill, could this be it? Any advice? ... Mark

[jcnaz]

The cooking spray could be the culprit. Your kettle is coated inside and out with a porcelain enamel and does not need to be seasoned like a bare metal cooker does. I would try lighting a very full chimney of the KBB, let it get roaring hot, put it on the charcoal grate with the lid on and all vents open. Then just let it burn all of the vegetable oil residue away.
Good luck, welcome to the madness and keep us posted on the results!

[1buckie]

Howdy Mark & Welcome Here !!!!

Bit of a guess as I'm not sure of the exact order of things & the heat you might be running at.....

The spray is not a bad idea, not absolutely necessary, but OK........the cooker will automatically season just by way of cooking various items....

Did you allow the coals in the chimney to burn all the way thru to orange, or even to somewhat ashed over ?

Reason I'm asking these things is, one, the spray may be causing some of this if it's a little thick and two, if your charcoal is partially lit at the start it can be a bit smokier than normal........

Might want to just do one cleanout burn (no food) with a good sized batch of coals, like 1 chimney + some unlit laid across the bottom of the grate.......lite up, pour all across, let it burn for a few, add cooking grate, let it burn for a few, then the lid & just let it go all the way thru 'till the coals burn down.......all vents open........

For higher heat grillings, I try to let the charcoal get good & going before placing the lid......

One other 'slight' possibility is if the charcoal picked up any moisture.....bag open, heavy dew in the morning could be enough to cause a little bit of a problem....it would likely not burn as hot, maybe smoulder, even go out in some places that didn't have good contact with burning coals....

[Heyjude]

If its slime grease, just take it apart and clean it with some dish soap and an sos or steel wool. Rinse it out and then a small fire.
Don't go crazy on charcoal and I trust that lighter fluid is not being used.
A good cleaner is EZ Off oven cleaner, but tread lightly, its not for everybody. Its quite caustic.

[Hardtime01]

It was the charcoal! Changed bags, problem solved, no cloud of nasty smelling smoke. I guess the one I was using was either old or moist. Thanks to all...Mark

[1buckie]

It was the charcoal! Changed bags, problem solved, no cloud of nasty smelling smoke. I guess the one I was using was either old or moist. Thanks to all...Mark

So, you're not having a hard time, Hardtime?


Glad it got figgered out !!!

You can burn the stuff up by using just a few at a time so as to not waste it if you want.......