Direct Grilling Basics

[William_Cannon]

Hi Guys,
After several years of a Genesis and WSM, I picked up a 22" Premium to complete the trifecta.


I cooked some young chicken breasts (tenders) last night and it took much longer than anticipated.  I followed the directions from the manual and used 50 briquettes  (K Blue), started with a chimney.  I spread them evenly across 75% of the cooker (leaving 25% for safety).   Vents were open fully.

What advice can you give for direct heat grilling?  How many coals do you start off with for high heat?  What about for other temps?

Tks in advanced,
WC

Tapa

[j05hua]

I don't count bricks. I just fill up my chimney and dump most in the middle and towards one side.  Creating 2 1/2 zones. Hot, warm and cold

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[kettlebb]

I don't count bricks. I just fill up my chimney and dump most in the middle and towards one side.  Creating 2 1/2 zones. Hot, warm and cold

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I do this with the charcoal baskets. Moving the food direct and indirect as needed.


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[Travis]

Hello from Il. I cook with baskets mostly for grilling. I don't remember who posted the thread, but someone had said before they fill one basket with unlit coal, dump it in a chimney, light and that amount gave them a 350ish "medium" heat. That was real good advise in my opinion. It eliminates using too much coal for those types of cooks, or if you need higher temps you just use more.

Maybe they'll chime in with this topic. Good luck bud. Keep on grillin


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[TheDude]

I use baskets as well. Just fill the chimney, light and dump. I'm a sear and slide kinda guy.

[kettlebb]

Hello from Il. I cook with baskets mostly for grilling. I don't remember who posted the thread, but someone had said before they fill one basket with unlit coal, dump it in a chimney, light and that amount gave them a 350ish "medium" heat. That was real good advise in my opinion. It eliminates using too much coal for those types of cooks, or if you need higher temps you just use more.

Maybe they'll chime in with this topic. Good luck bud. Keep on grillin


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Not sure about the thread but when I first got Stubbs I cooked chicken thighs. I counted 40 briquettes and put 20 lit in each basket. My lid temp hit 400 and I didn't really do anything else for the cook. My goal is to get pretty good at hitting temps with the right amount of fuel as to not burn through it too fast.


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[Travis]

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/how-to-hit-350-ish-every-time-manicotti/.

Here it is. Pretty straight forward

[William_Cannon]

Thanks!  I will give it a shot this weekend.

Tapa

[William_Cannon]

Quick update.  I was going to follow Travis' advice but I did something similar the weekend prior and the natives rebelled at the longer cook time.  Against all advice, I light 3/4 chimney which equated to 2 baskets.  Needless to say, I hit 500 very fast and cooked with the bottom vents closed.  This weekend, I'm sure I'll find the happy medium with an overloaded basket. 

Tapa

[haeffb]

Not sure about the thread but when I first got Stubbs I cooked chicken thighs. I counted 40 briquettes and put 20 lit in each basket. My lid temp hit 400 and I didn't really do anything else for the cook. My goal is to get pretty good at hitting temps with the right amount of fuel as to not burn through it too fast.

I have to say I've never worried about number of briquettes. I fill up my baskets if needed, throw some lit briqs on top and cook until food is done. Then turn the grill "off" and reuse whatever's left in the baskets by adding more briqs (if needed) at the beginning of the next cook. Add some lit briquettes. Rinse, wash , repeat.

[kettlebb]

True with the briquettes. I found it a little more challenging with lump


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[HoosierKettle]

I don't count bricks. I just fill up my chimney and dump most in the middle and towards one side.  Creating 2 1/2 zones. Hot, warm and cold

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This is what I do as well.  I don't worry how much coal I'm using for any given cook because I shut it down and reuse the remaining coal on the next cook.