Master Touch Grill - New User

[deans6571]

Just some other small questions regarding clearing up afterwards....

Personally, I like to clean my Weber, right after I have finished cooking and the coals have cooled down, however, pretty much all the info I have seen online says that many people just leave the coals in, until the next cook, and then go ahead and clean the grills, right before their next cook (just as you are pre-heating the grill)?!

What's the done thing here then? I'm not sure I would want to leave my Weber all greasy and oily after cooking until the next time I go to cook?!

It's best to leave the grates greasy and dirty until the next time you cook. Helps prevent them from rusting. In some respects, the Weber Kettle actually works best with a little bit of "seasoning." Like for instance the top vents on mine have a nice seal from the greasy soot. Also some schmutz helps the lid seal a little better to the bowl. With regards to the black crust that forms on the lid, I'm not sure what it is, but it is safe to eat though not very tasty. I usually give my lid a tap or two when I'm setting up the grill and see if it's at the point of falling off. If so, I'll do a pass on it with my grate brush. Doesn't take much to loosen it up. Finally, if you're really concerned about keeping the bowl clean, I'd wrap the charcoal grate section away from the charcoal (I use the Slow n Sear for most of my cooking, which leaves a large empty section of charcoal grate) in aluminum foil and place the largest drip pan that'll fit on top of it.

Finally, I don't think you really need to use water in the drip pan unless you're doing real low n slow BBQ like a pork butt or the like. For things like chicken or burgers, it's not necessary and may be making clean up a little more difficult if it's spilling or boiling out.

...sound like  like good advice as just read yet another website stating the same thing:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/how-to-clean-your-grill-barbecue-oiling-thegrate-charcoal.html

Looks like I may have to re-train myself to NOT clean my grill after every cook!!! 

[RobertBaron]

Yea, I was actually thinking whether it would indeed be worth wrapping the bottom grate, which holds the charcoal, in silver foil, in order to make cleaning up a little easier afterwards, but I guess it depends on what layout I decide to use. My first cook, was as wrote in my original post - half the bottom grate with the charcoal baskets and the drip tray on the other half, so I had a 50/50 direct/indirect zone to cook on, whilst at the same time, catching the drips!

Just to clarify... don't wrap the entire the charcoal grate with foil or the fire won't be able to draw oxygen from the bottom vent and probably snuff out or at least not burn very well.

[deans6571]

I like to do my chicken with my homemade vortex. 1 full chimney of K Comp or Stubb's ashed over, dump in votex. Place the grate on and preheat for 10-15 minutes. Place chicken in a circle around the vortex. Bigger peices closer smaller ones outside. Add a couple of small blocks of hickory on top of the grate over the center and close lid. 35 minutes then flip for another 20 and add one more block of Hickory.

After 55 minutes all vents wide open.
You can do a similar cook with your baskets in the center.

I did another cook yesterday, following your advice here - and it worked beautifully!

Had my baskets in the centre with a small gap in between, and just literally filled the centre of the grill with all the charcoal. I then seared my meat (chicken pieces, sausages, burgers) over the hot coals (1 minute on each side with the lid closed) and then moved the meat (did the chicken first, then the sausages and finally the burgers) to the outer circle of my grill, over indirect heat until my thermometer probe showed me the correct temperature.  Food came out perfect.....

Still very messy cleaning up afterwards though - scraped the grill as best as I could afterwards, and gave it a sponge down (warm soapy water after the grill had cooled), but still quite blackened in places!

I think I may just leave it next time and scrape it just before I start to cook on it (once it has preheated).

 

[kettlebb]

Good job but don't worry about scraping the grill after every cook. They can take it, I promise. A quick scrape once per year would be fine. Enough to not have grease fires.


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