When is one chimney is not enough?

[MartyG]

Lesson learned from last night's cook: use 1.5 -2 chimney's worth. No pics this time, but I had a bunch of legs and thighs to cook up, along with a dozen ABTs and a pile of mixed peppers. Lit one full chimney and was surprised how quickly it cooled off. Not that cold out in PA - maybe 35, but enough that the temps struggled to hit 250. I did not use baskets as I wanted a larger area of direct heat, and noted that my two-level fire quickly became a one level fire - the single layer of charcoal simply died after 20 mins or so. Next time I'll double up and get more mass of lit coals across the grate.

Anyone have a better idea?

[Tim in PA]

How long did you leave the coals in the chimney? I don't think I've been getting as much heat from a full chimney as I should and I think it is because I'm leaving the charcoal in the chimney too long. I've already read to wait until all of the coals are grayed over but it seems by that point the ones at the bottom are mostly spent. My last cook I dumped them when the top coals were only half gray and it seemed to last a long longer. Maybe what I've been doing previously has been completely wrong and I also have a much smaller sample size than most people here but that has been my initial observation. I'll have to keep testing that theory.

[1buckie]

 Two things I do commonly.....

Dump when the coals are still orange (mostly) & lay in some unlit for the dump to go onto.....

Found that it takes awhile for the unlit to catch.....the lit ones are beginning to degrade after a time & it will extend the cook time with less fiddling......let's call this the "Overlap Method"

Downside for me is I actually have to stop & think about "HOW MUCH?" before getting things overheated...........

[5280Jeff]

How long did you leave the coals in the chimney? I don't think I've been getting as much heat from a full chimney as I should and I think it is because I'm leaving the charcoal in the chimney too long. I've already read to wait until all of the coals are grayed over but it seems by that point the ones at the bottom are mostly spent. My last cook I dumped them when the top coals were only half gray and it seemed to last a long longer. Maybe what I've been doing previously has been completely wrong and I also have a much smaller sample size than most people here but that has been my initial observation. I'll have to keep testing that theory.

I've come to the same conclusion. Dumping the chimney when the coals on top are only slightly grey has really made a difference in my charcoal use. I cooked a 9lb standing rib roast on 1 full chimney that was a 75/25 mix of Cowboy lump and Kingsford blue. I did have the vents closed to about 1/2 to keep the temp around 275-300 though. I do use baskets which also seems to make coals last longer

[MartyG]

Thanks guys - I've been wondering about the conventional wisdom of leaving coals in the chimney until the top ones seem ready. (Convectional wisdom?) Next time I'll pull the trigger ten minutes earlier and see what happens. I never time myself, but I should start doing that. The other factor may be the length of time I run the burner on the Performer. Once in a while I get distracted and leave it on too long, and I'm sure those lower coals are dead soldiers by the time I dump the rest. I might also try a side-by side test using the burner on one chimney and a paraffin cube on another. Something tells me the burner puts out a lot more intense heat, and might lead to premature burn-out of the lower coals.

Of course, someone here may have already tested/perfected all this, and if that's the case I'm all ears!

[MacEggs]

+1 on baskets making the charcoal last longer.

I assume you are using a full sized Weber chimney? 

I will usually dump lit charcoal onto unlit, or previous used / saved charcoal in a basket.
I don't lite very much. I find that I am using the "mini" Weber chimney more now.