How can i get it hot enough

[1buckie]

The tips of letting coals get really hot in the chimney starter and cracking the lid a bit seemed to help a lot. Thanks.

One nice thing I've noticed about the kettle grill, it cooks the food better without burning the crap out of it. My old rectangular grill would basically burn the outside of the food while leaving the inside of meat raw.

That's good....you're on the right track now!

There are a bunch of ways to "place" the charcoal to get different heat zones or areas for all different types of cooking...really, really hot for say like, pizza.....much lower heat setups, arranged around the outer edge for baking (yes, people bake pies & cakes in Weber Kettles!!).
Setups that will burn for hours to slow cook things that benefit from that type of treatment & like what you asked about first, straightforward grilling.....ask questions & experiment around some...you'll get the hang of this quickly!

[meopilite]

What kinda heat does one get if the coals are placed in the middle?

[HoosierKettle]

What are you trying to cook and what temp are you trying to achieve?


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[meopilite]

steak. want it hot enough to get a good sear and get the steak well done.

[HoosierKettle]

There are many methods for cooking steak or anything for that matter on a kettle but here are a couple simple methods that work.

I usually utilize a two zone set up. Lit coals spread out on one half of the charcoal grate and none on the other. This gives a direct area and indirect. Sear first then slide over to finish cooking to desired doneness. You can also use baskets or just pile the coals higher in your sear area for more intense heat.

You can also reverse sear with the same set up. Whichever you prefer.

With the lid off and red hot coals you will get a good sear. If it flares up just slide the food over and put the lid back on to calm it down.


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[kettlebb]

Steak well done? Say it isn't so.  You can get awesome steak results using the reverse sear method.  Basically you cook the steak on the indirect side of the grill to your desired internal temp minus 15 degrees F.  Remove the meat, let it rest and get the grill as hot as you can get it.  Once the grill is 450-500 then put the steak on to get a nice even crust on both sides, continuing to flip it so it isn't blackened, but evenly browned.

One tool that helped my cooking more than anything else was a fast, accurate thermometer.  I highly suggest you get one.
https://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-Mk4

[AZ Monsoon]

steak. want it hot enough to get a good sear and get the steak well done.

I was gonna help until I read "well done"