Newbie briquettes question

[Heatseeker]

I see they tell you to let the coals get completely ashed over before cooking. I realize there are situations that require adding lit to unlit for longer cooks. If I were to wait until the coals are all ashed over wouldn't they be spent in about a half hour? Seems like learning how many briquettes to add for what and how you are cooking is the hard part here as I understand vent control from other cookers.

Trying to learn from watching videos is tough because when I add the same amount of coals with the same set up I am not getting the same results. I have been using an oven thermometer on the grate and find that I need to get about 200 degrees above target on the Weber dome thermometer to get the right temp at grate level. Others say there will be a 25 to 50 degree difference between the dome and grate temp.

Maybe if I heat soaked the cooker for 4 hours but at 2 hours I was still far apart. I can do a boiling water test on the dome thermometer and see where it is. When I light the cooker though according to the oven thermometer at grate I would still have to wait a long time for the temp to get to 350. This cause me to use a large amount of charcoal for something like chicken. This was with something between the coals and food to block radiant heat. My KBB briquettes are a couple of seasons old but in sealed bags. The other thing I notice is that nothing sears quickly directly over the coals with the coals piled 2 or 3 high. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[iCARRY]

I never wait till they are completely ashed over. Is the lid thermometer above the coals or on the indirect side?


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[iCARRY]

If you want coals to get really hot to sear, you need to leave the lid off. More oxygen = higher heat.


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[Heatseeker]

My premium kettle has the temp gauge across from the vent, so if you cook indirect and put the vent over the meat then the dome thermometer would be right over the coals. I emailed Weber and asked them why they do it like that and they said the thermometer is placed to best suit a veriety of situations. Doesn't make sense to me, I have seen some performers with the dome thermometer to the side of the vent. Say the vent is at 6:00 the thermometer would be at 9:00 on the performer. I don't know if different levels of kettles have them in different spots or if it just different years that they were in different spots. I put the vent to the side as I lined the meat across and so the dome thermometer was not over the direct coals but halfway from the coals. The coals were at 12:00 and the thermometer was at 9:00 for a compromise.

I did have the lid off for searing.

[Travis]

You can't go by this lid thermos bud. They will lie. Sounds like your best choice is to either use your digi at the grate level if you're looking for precise "baking" temps or go by the old hand trick low, med, med-high, and high. The best part of grilling is to not over complicate it. Folks been cooking over fire a long time. Practice, touching, looking are all just as important as a thermometer when cooking. iCarry summed it up about searing. Lid off. Grab a beverage of choice, light them coals, sit back and ENJOY!

[TheDude]

Completely ashed over is if you're using lighter fluid. Not necessary if using a chimney. For searing, I like using the charcoal baskets. Gets the coals right up to the grates. Buy KBB on sale, stock up and don't worry about fule consumption. And as stated, pretend the lid thermometer doesn't exist.

[Heatseeker]

Thanks for the responses. The only thing I use the lid thermometer for is to know when the temp is dropping to add coals.
I have been using an oven thermometer at grate until I get a digital one. I have quite a bit of briquettes on hand right now but I get the impression from watching videos that others are using quite a bit less than me and I can't figure it out.

I am starting out with easy things so that if I don't get things right it will not be critical to what I am cooking. The Weber owners guide says 25 coals per side and add 8 per hour for indirect. 25 coals would be gone in a flash with me and adding only 8 would do almost nothing. So either they are misleading people or something is not right on my end and I am just trying to find out if I am doing something wrong so that I can correct it.

Something as easy as chicken thighs takes that many coals what about more difficult things. I had to place the thighs directly over the coal in the end or else I would have had to add coals again to finish indirectly and that can't be right. So either the videos and Weber and other instructions are not as they seem or I am missing something.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Pick up a set of 7403's, the charcoal baskets. $15 from almost anywhere that sells Weber. http://www.amazon.com/Weber-7403-Char-Basket-Charcoal-Briquet/dp/B000WEMGM4

Set aside for the moment any feelings you may have about why you "shouldn't" need them. What we want to do is set some baseline experiences here in a way that lets us easily manage charcoal and remove some usage variables.

Ditto the 7616 chimney, http://www.amazon.com/Weber-7416-Rapidfire-Chimney-Starter/dp/B000WEOQV8

And the 7417 cubes work great, http://www.amazon.com/Weber-7417-FireStarters-Lighter-Cubes/dp/B001AN7RGG You can use newspaper or whatever to start the chimney but again, we're looking to establish some baseline performance here before moving on.

I don't always wait until the tops are ashed over because I know the bottom coals will be largely spent. I want to see flames licking up near the chimney top however.

A full chimney dumped into the holders (regardless of what you are cooking) fills them up and provides an easily repeatable platform to begin adjusting heat.

Keep the baskets together for a sear zone or separated on opposite sides, cooking in the middle. In my experience cooking in the center with heat on opposite sides gives you a nice "rectangle" cooking area that won't require you to flip, rotate or move food around very much, and your cook grate's hinged openings can be positioned right over the heat for longer cooks when coals need to be added.

Position the lid vent over food, not heat and to hell with where the lid thermometer winds up. It'll never be your priority because they always lie.

With all vents open you'll see a solid 300-350 (or more?) at the grate which works for most cooks unless you're in a hurry. Yes, simple chicken dummies or thighs should take a while to cook. Only reduce heat down at the intakes, never with the lid vent unless desperate.

The next day, shake the charcoal basket(s), letting ash fall below and use them to dump back into the chimney so that you're not having to pick them up by hand or by tong to transfer to the chimney.

[TheDude]

Well said ATS.

[Travis]

Well said ATS.

Agreed👍

[SmokenJoe]

@Heatseeker;  First off, if I neglected to Welcome you to the WKC, please see it as an oversight on my part.  Sooooo, Welcome from Eugene, Oregon.

Now the more interesting stuff  ...  You are very fortunate because your in that special period where you are "learning" how to use your kettle.   This phase is way too short in my opinion, but it's a fond memory.

Outdoor cooking isn't really rocket science, just write down what you tried and the results in your log.  Make a change and log it too.   Lid (dome) temp gauges are notorious for being "off" (me thinks the heat circulates up and out over the curved dome).  Most of us use a Maverick 732, or some such, about an 1inch off the cooking grate to "learn" the actual cooking temp and then the difference between the two devices can give you a temp you can use to tell you if your kettle is getting hot or cold (not much more).

After a while you won't need the Maverick much anymore, but it's also handy for internal meat temps ...  e.g.  Steak Med-Rare is 130 degrees  ...  nice to know.

A-T-S gave you some sage advise (not his first rodeo), give it a try.  It's not you, it's not Weber or Kingsford, it's really the unknown and unfulfilled expectations.  Time and cooking will make all the difference.  Take up Cigars and/or Single Malt Scotch  ...  enjoy YOUR time with the Q.                                 SJ

[LaTuFu]

Came here to offer my sage advice.

I'm going to leave now, lest ATS and his well written response makes me look foolish.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Hey I have no lock on any wisdom here! I'm learning too!

[TheDude]

Hey I have no lock on any wisdom here! I'm learning too!

Constant learning experience. Did my first corned beef yesterday. Got some changes to make, for next time.

[VAis4BBQers]

I'm with not waiting until coals are completely ashed over. Whenever I use the chimney and I wait that long, the bottoms are about done. So I wait until the coals at the top are just getting going then I dump. That gives me the hottest fire.

I've also just started to really use the propane torch. Doesn't take much longer than the chimney to get going. Maybe 20 minutes?