Weber Kettle Club Forums
Cooking & Food Talk => Charcoal Grilling & BBQ => Topic started by: clarissa on July 19, 2017, 06:07:52 AM
-
Since I came into this forum I have learned a huge amount about grilling. Yes, grilling, not smoking......that is a completely different subject and skill set.
I have been using my kettle every chance I get and my family pretty much loves the meals that come off the grill. Here is the thing tho.....there really is such a thing as too much. When every meal has that smokey taste, just from the briquettes. I give my coals plenty of time to develop the ash, and there really is not much smoke going on.....but the taste is still there.
So once n a while I need to just roast in my oven to keep delicate flavors pure, despite being in a heat wave and trying to keep the house cool. Don't want to go to a gas grill again. Will continue to use my kettle, but every now and then my family wants smoke free food.
Anyone else have this issue?
(PS. I was trying to correct spelling on post title but it would not let me)
-
I had the same issue. I used the roti over direct coals and no lid. Cooked great without the smoke/charcoal taste. Have done pork, beef, and chicken this way.
-
@clarissa has been removed from the group.
Just kidding!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
I had the same issue. I used the roti over direct coals and no lid. Cooked great without the smoke/charcoal taste. Have done pork, beef, and chicken this way.
I thought about using the roti without the lid, but figured it would take longer to cook because of heat loss. Going direct makes the difference? Guess you put the grate in and the drip pan on it to avoid juices dripping on the coals.
-
No grate and no drip pan, just over the coals. Like original spit cooking. Marinated pork tenderloin cooked in 30 minutes. The only time I had any flare up was when I decided to baste with an oil based marinade. Now I marinate first with no problem. You need to add charcoal for longer cooks.
-
Probably a chicken would drip more and need the pan????? I will try this one day soon. Actually my next roti will be 3 cornish hens end to end. Also, when I need to add coals for a longer cook I start new ones in my chimney. That made more sense to me than just adding unlit coals
-
@clarissa has been removed from the group.
Just kidding!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Uh Oh. Sorry, not wanting to offend anyone in here. I love this group. It is a real treasure trove of knowledge based on actual experience rather than hear say.
-
@clarissa totally joking! Love learning here too! It's 100+ degrees right here. I will not be firing any grills.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
I was going to grill this evening . Heat index of 110. Unless I put the kettle close to the back door . [emoji848]
-
I pretty much only cook on the grill for me these days and that is fine with me. Some times I'll cook up the usual burgers and brats on the cast iron with lid open and that works well.
-
I am thinking of doing chicken drums in my roti basket. Don't need to be out there with them. But we are just in the low-mid 90s here, so more comfortable than you are.
-
It shouldn't be this hot in Illinois !
-
Just wondering what is your go to fuel choice and what have you experimented with?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Just wondering what is your go to fuel choice and what have you experimented with?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I use Kingsford briquettes direct or 1 or 2 zone indirect using my coal baskets placed accordingly. If I see that I will need to add more coals I fire some up in my chimney and add lit.
-
Not sure how clean KBB burns as I don't use it but I do use Stubbs and it's very clean. Maybe try some others to see if you notice a different flavor profile.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
I will check that out. Not sure who sells Stubbs in my area
-
I think Stubb's is the best. I'm currently using Royal Oak because the price was good at $4.00 a bag. But I think the Stubb's burn longer and hotter.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91018)
-
Right now all I have is Kingsford. I stocked up with the recent sales. So for now that is it. I put some chicken on the roti along with carrots and potatoes. Cooking over direct
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170719/37b0775d4632948fec2f99ea57d63c8a.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170719/b6492f685584deec000f6d3dacf36632.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app (https://siteowners.tapatalk.com/byo/displayAndDownloadByoApp?rid=91018)
-
@clarissa I get it. Too much of a good thing is still too much. If you are still looking to roast, remember your grill is simply a big briquette fueled oven. get thee to the Goodwill (or dig through your personal stash), and pull yourself out a dutch oven and pop that bad boy on your grill. The lid and method should severely reduce the smokey grilled taste.
Or pull out the slow cooker. or if you have an instant pot, try some stuff in that.
If you have one of those turkey roasters (also sometimes called a Nesco roaster) and an outdoor outlet, you can put it outside and cook with that. I do that all the time. Heck, I will also put the instant pot outside if I need to.
Or if you are truly crazy, like me, you can buy yourself a cast iron camper dutch oven and a couple of cinder blocks and bake a charcoal ring of hot coals, put your DO on it and then a ring on the top and cook with that. No smokey taste at all. I make carnitas like this, slow roasted in the DO.
I also embrace a whole slew of summer dinner salads and sandwiches! No heat involved! :)
-
@CarrieAnn those are great suggestions. Tonight was almost perfect, but I now realize that if I Roti over direct.....I need to raise the coals closer. I started a second chimney and refilled my coal baskets but in the end I removed the rotisserie and put my meat on the grate to finish off. I will get a couple of fire bricks for raising the baskets. I really think that is the way to go if the lid is off.
-
Other options include wok-cooking on the kettle, or getting a big cast iron skillet or paella pan, and experimenting with different things. Mix things up. Maybe grill some romaine to make a caesar salad. Or maybe just make a dessert on the grill -- in fact, with peaches in season, I was looking at maybe trying this, grilled peaches with blackberries: https://www.weber.com/US/en/recipes/desserts/grilled-peaches-with-blackberry-sauce
Or maybe this, peach shortcake (except I was thinking I'd use store-bought shortcake to simplify it): https://www.weber.com/US/en/recipes/desserts/peach-shortcakes
(https://476343dd60686491a262-192409bd95508847c5120d21ffc8ab86.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/admin/uploads/transforms/20151023095526_135_13_704x388.jpg)
-
I have already done many of the suggestions......I do cook in various ways.
My post was really about getting my meats to have a little less smokey flavor. We like it most of the time, but when you cook out pretty every day it gets same old same old. That is why I need to experiment with lid on/off and maybe try some other coals to compare.
-
I'm pretty sure cooking direct with juices dripping on the coals is going to make for a very intense grilled flavor. I don't know if you equate that with a smoky flavor or not. If it was me I'd cook indirect and use foil a lot. A quicker browning period followed by braising in sealed foil.
-
I'm with kettlebb on this, watch the forums and next time there's a sale, grab a few bags of other brands of charcoal to try out, both lump and briquettes. Also, are you using marinades or bold seasonings ? For example, if you grilled a flat iron marinated in Teriyaki glaze, I seriously doubt that the charcoal taste would be an issue :-)
-
Use Weber Briquettes. I hate how expensive it is but with Home Depot selling it for $14 something and it's worth it. It isn't smokey and gross like KBB is and I'm a KBB die hard. I still use KBB but for slow and low and situations where you need to light a chimney with a crowd around Weber coals are worth it!
-
While I use KBB almost exclusively, with no complaints, I have heard that there are few people out there that don't like the flavor it imparts.
I agree with other here that, if that the smoke taste is the problem, try some other brands, and particularly some lump, to see if you get that milder flavor that you and your family are looking for on those occasions.
BD
-
I was thinking that lump is the way to go with the initial post. I am not a fan of KBB as I feel it imparts an off flavor that I just don't like. A nice clean burning lump can really be smoke free flavored. Although if the OP was in my family they'd be kicked out. I smoke everything I can get my hands on. What? You've never smoked water (cold smoke) to freeze and put into your bloody mary?