Proper Training for Kettle Apprentices

[mike.stavlund]

I'm sure a lot of you good folks are like me-- all of your friends know all about your crazy passion for Weber grills.  Heck, Weber even comes up in the classes I teach (not related to grilling or even cooking or food or anything of the sort).  Some people are troubled by this passion, others are amused, and still others are impressed (both with the world of charcoal cooking and with the delicious food it produces).  And still others have the courage and inner fortitude it takes to step up and say, "I'd like to learn how to do this myself".  At which point they are officially welcomed into my unofficial little email group I call "The Circle of Fire".  Eventually they are invited to one of our WeberFests, where we line up everyone's kettle at some central location and start cooking our favorite dishes. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Once they show this initial interest, the first order of business is finding them a kettle (usually used).  And after that, I try to assign them their first project.  What I've always done is to send them off to roast a whole chicken, since I find that most folks already have some experience with gas grill direct-heat cooking of burgers and brats and stuff.  My intent is to get them to look at their kettle in a whole new way: as a very efficient and delicious convection oven.  Plus chicken is cheap and quick and forgiving and easy to season and widely enjoyed.  My hope is that this chicken project will be a portal to all kinds of other roasts and vegetables and even to baking on the kettle. 

So my question for the Kettle Crew here is, what would be your first assignment for a newbie kettle cook?  Pork tenderloin? Steaks? Burgers? Salmon?  The apprentice's favorite dish? 

[1911Ron]

Chicken is a good start.  I have found fire management to be the key to turning out  well cooked food.  I just picked up Weber's "Way to grill" and just looking thru it, it has a lot of how tos, such as how to trim  different meats or how to set up different fire zones etc.

[jacoblee]

Though burgers come out fantastic and with wood chips on the coals they will never go back to gas.

Next chicken
Then ribs

My two cents


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[Hogsy]

Can't beat brined chook
It'll be the most succulent, tastiest chicken they've ever had

[Jaronimo]

Brined chicken is a good first call.  I brine my pork tenderloins too.  Juiciest I have ever eaten.

Teach them about fire temp control.  Have them cook a perfect hot dog.  I have so many friends that consider themselves masters of the grill and they serve these blackened puss rocket hot dogs.  Seriously?  Why do so many people torch hotdogs?

[mike.stavlund]

This is all very helpful, thanks.

Brining is another key skill that I forgot.  Essential for turkey, and it's good to practice on chickens too. 

And ribs are rewarding-- they require fire control, but not for too many hours. 

It's funny, some of my apprentices never even get past burgers and steaks, but others go right from the roast chicken to whole pork shoulders.  I picked up a free kettle for a friend of mine last summer.  The guy giving it away needed room for his new huge whiz-bang side smoker/grill combo monstrosity that was easily 8 feet wide.  He was all frustrated because he had spent 14 straight hours tending the fire in his new smoker for two pork butts that turned out terrible.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was giving away a *great* smoker.  Within a week, my buddy was turning out great butts without breaking a sweat. 

...sometimes the kettle gets no respect, and that is great for those of us in the know.  ;-)

[1buckie]

...sometimes the kettle gets no respect, and that is great for those of us in the know.


     "But the ever versatile kettle reigned supreme"  

[Kilted_Griller]

As I taught the XC, brining is the key to poultry and pork.

The Webers Real Grilling cookbook is fantastic at explaining direct cooking, indirect cooking and fire zones.

When I first bought a WK, I found burgers and steak (mostly because I love my beef mooing when I put a fork into it) were simple. Chicken was easy as long as you didn't walk away to replenish your beverage.

With that being said, there is nothing like trial and error. The first several cooks the the XC did (and myself for that matter) were trial and error. We ruined a great many dinners. This might sound cliche, but cooking on a WK is feel. The "hot" zones aren't always the same. No matter what anyone says, all WK's aren't the same. There is no "magic touch" to a WK, but once you figure out yours, there is no limit to what you can do. As you go on you will learn that there are so many ways to do different things. I've been cooking on a WK for the better part of 20 yrs, but with the help of 1Buckie the XC and I learned a completely new way to do a pork shoulder and beans. It is a never ending learning curve.

Like jacoblee so eloquently said... my two cents.

Oh, and if the apprentice is your wife her favorite dish is absolutely what you want to perfect!!!!   

[HankB]

I would look for a Weber cook book - the one that comes with the grill. Weber has probably populated that with recipes that are as bullet proof as they come. My recollection is that they also include specific information down the how many briquettes you need. I'm sure they include information I would forget to tell the newby that could help to make the first experience successful and fun. Then the new owner can pick and choose what they like from the recipes provided.

I think you might be able to download the PDF from Weber.

Here's one that has the briquette counts: http://www.weber.com/assets/pdf/charcoal-user-guide.pdf

Looks like a lot of good information at weber.com under the GRILL OUT tab. (Not sure about the non-US sites though.)

[chriscw81]

Another vote for chicken.  I spatchcock all my chicken.  I don't always brine but brining makes for excellent yard bird, I just don't do it when I'm short on time.






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[Michael Packard]

My wife only likes burned hot dogs.  That's the way her father always cooked (ruined) hot dogs her whole life growing up.  I have to always cook hers until they're split and blackened.  ew.

[chriscw81]

My wife only likes burned hot dogs.  That's the way her father always cooked (ruined) hot dogs her whole life growing up.  I have to always cook hers until they're split and blackened.  ew.

I must admit, I like them that way also :-)




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[jperry1907]

I agree with chicken first, them I'd probably go with tri tip 2nd and ribs next. After that, maybe a chuck roast.

[ramsfan]

Roasting marshmallows? lol  j/k  Try cooking something with a rotisserie? Difficult to mess that up and it usually comes out great no matter what you cook.

[Craig]

I'm late to this one, but I'd start off by showing direct and indirect techniques. Do some burgers and/or Hot Dogs for direct cooking, then maybe a whole chicken or a roast for indirect cooking. I'd discuss fire management>> I like that phrase, and that at its root, its covered cooking and keeping the lid on for most of the cook and not constantly removing it and poking and prodding the food. I did that a lot when I was a grill pup.

Too many people that I'm around in the 'burbs just don't get nor want to understand the kettle or charcoal grilling in general, its too inconvenient since they have massive SS gas grills.