Weber Kettle Club Forums

To piggy back on the "Grilling mistakes that amateurs make" thread, I thought it would be helpful for beginners like me if you guys would post your own lists on rookie mistakes. I know you all didn't agree on the list that was posted in that thread so now is your chance!

First time using my Performer, I already made a rookie mistake and didn't use enough fuel. What else do you have?

My rookie mistakes........ I can't believe I'm telling this, but when I was a grilling pup I used lighter fluid......on K Craplight! (I was young and dumb) And I cooked with the lid off constantly and burnt the hell out of my food. And this was on my then newly inherited 18.5 redhead that belonged to my Grandfather. When I was doing this, I'm sure somewhere in the great beyond, Grandpa was shaking his head and saying "what are you doing to my grill!?" He used an electric charcoal starter that I still keep for sentimental reasons. Fast forward 10 years, and today lighter fluid is forbidden at our house, it's chimney's and white cubes. I hate the flying embers from newspaper. No more Crap Light, though I use K blue with some wood chunks. I learned to control temps. Lid stays on to keep foods tender and moist! That's when you discover that something happens, and only seems to happen in a Weber cooker! Ok, bad reference to the '70s TV ad, but it's true!

Craig

i used to always add enough wood chips or chunks to make a giant smoke plume come from my grill or smoker. I've since learned the error of my ways.

one time i also closed the top vent to extinguish some flare-ups and then walked away forgetting that it was closed (i was probably drunk)
I came back 10 or 15 minutes later and the temp had dropped to less than 100 and the coals were completely extinguished :(

When I first started smoking I went out and bought a crapload of wood CHIPS......sigh...  I don't like to waste so will use them up and then finally start to use chunks.

My first mistake was to buy a Masterforge grill (aka leaky pete) and did nothing but struggle >:(   My other mistake when using my new to me "Redhead" i used to few briquets and took forever!

Now i cover and let the magic happen ;D

1st fattie I did, I rolled everything around together....

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/7-24-2011%201st%20fattie/7-24-20111stFattie062.jpg)

It needed help...

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/7-24-2011%201st%20fattie/7-24-20111stFattie065.jpg)

Since then, things have gone better !!!

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/Last%20Sun%20Aug%202012%20015/LastSunAug2012070.jpg)

Please Note: I STILL get edgy & use small skewers or large toothpicks....
Bad experience as a child sticks with ya !!!

Cooking bacon on my gas grill which was on the deck and near the house...direct heat...right on the grate...with the lid closed :o


The fireball and smoke were magnificent.

I quickly killed the gas and moved the grill away from the house; tragedy averted...except for the bacon of course.

Probably qualifies more as a dumb-ass mistake than a rookie mistake.

I like this ~~~>

"The fireball and smoke was magnificent."

;D  ;D ;D

Great thread idea!  When I got my first WSM back in the nineties I used to stay up all night watching temps and barely sleeping. I kept running back outside every hour or so making sure the temps were stable and messing with the fire. Then I bought one of those cordless weber thermometers so I could stay in bed and watch the doneness of the meat. I was so paranoid. :o  I don't do overnights very often anymore, but I definitly get lotsa sleep when I do now. I just pick it up in the morning wherever I left off.  :D

Quote from: 1buckie on September 27, 2012, 06:33:17 AM
I like this ~~~>

"The fireball and smoke was magnificent."

;D  ;D ;D

Probably would have been more of an ooOOOOhhh moment had the wife, son, and house not been near by ;)

I even remember about what day mine was on. We moved into our house in December of 95. The following July 4th we had most of the family out to visit and I was running my "Char Broil" gasser, ( I know, I know ). One of my cousins brought out a load of Renfros sausage that I cooked along with all the other food , Renfros is a great local sausage but man is it fatty. Anyway, fast forward a week and my cousin from New Jersey comes down to visit with her husband and we cook steaks for them. I wasn't sure how done they wanted them so I erred on the under side a little and brought then in while leaving the grill on in case they wanted them cooked a little more. They were fine with them  (except for asking where the steak sauce was which got them a short lecture from me), and we settled in to a nice long visit at the table. I finally got up and took my plate over to the sink where I saw my grill leaning over and the hose laying on the ground shooting a jet of flame about ten feet long ! I ran outside and shut off the gas, the knob and tank both were pretty hot. The grease had caught on fire and had burned off the wooden handle on the lid, the shelf in front of the grill and had melted one of the plastic wheels which led to the lean. No more gas grills for a loooong time after that. That story was featured very prominently when we visited them in Jersey and they had their friends over for a "meet the rednecks" cookout.

Man these stories are great!  I don't have one as good as Chad or Eastex but it seems all the mistakes were on gas.  Guess it just gives one more reason for switching to charcoal.   

My wife bought some super cheap frozen hamburgers.  I had to cook for 20 people.  Fired up the gasser threw the first 15, closed the lid, and almost instant fireball.  Black smoke starts pouring out!  The whole bottom of the grill by the burner is on fire.  Shut the gas off and cooked the next 15 or so burgers on the grease fire from the first ones.  Those could not have been good burgers. :o

Another time half way through grilling the propane hose came loose from the clip and starts whipping around with flames shooting out of it about 6 inches.  Managed not to get burned, but that was the end of gas.  Started using charcoal in the gasser using the propane to start it like a crappy performer.  Not good for a propane grill, needless to say it did not last long after that.

Geez, scary stories!!

So, what is the correct way to cook bacon on a grill? Indirect heat?

Quote from: Tim in PA on September 27, 2012, 11:27:14 AM
Geez, scary stories!!

So, what is the correct way to cook bacon on a grill? Indirect heat?

Direct heat in a cast iron pan, IMO anyway. Much safer and no grease messing up your grill or threatening to burn your deck and house down.

when i grill bacon, put it on indirect first (and i leave it all stuck together, just like it came out of the package)

after 20 minutes, i either move the whole thing to direct, or peel it off piece by piece and put them direct.
the trick is to close the lid when the flames start.

you have to be fast with the lid and the tongs ;)

Quote from: Tim in PA on September 27, 2012, 11:27:14 AM
Geez, scary stories!!

So, what is the correct way to cook bacon on a grill? Indirect heat?

I can tell you it's not direct! >:(

I was in a hurry tonight and went direct. After the grease fire (pic 2) it turned black. :-[

(http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6011/152tr.jpg) (http://img155.imageshack.us/i/152tr.jpg/)

(http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/39/154cj.jpg) (http://img217.imageshack.us/i/154cj.jpg/)

(http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9475/156gr.jpg) (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/156gr.jpg/)

(http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/7089/155yl.jpg) (http://img837.imageshack.us/i/155yl.jpg/)

(http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7393/157j.jpg) (http://img528.imageshack.us/i/157j.jpg/)

It was still a good burger though.  :D

The onions were another tale of woe. :(

I used to boil my ribs for 30 minutes in beer and garlic, then finish them on the grill.  I used lots of sauce on the grill, cooking it pretty low to really get a heavy layer of sauce.  The grill would be trashed after ribs from the sauce.  After a couple of rib sessions in a row, without cleaning the grill, everything caught on fire.  All the sauce, rib fat, etc.  burned very hot.  Melted the plastic and left the grill with nasty discoloration on the stainless. 

Quote from: Duke on September 27, 2012, 08:37:39 PM

Quote from: Tim in PA on September 27, 2012, 11:27:14 AM
Geez, scary stories!!

So, what is the correct way to cook bacon on a grill? Indirect heat?

The onions were another tale of woe. :(

What happened with the onions?   I have a grill basket similar to the one in your picture and grilled four green peppers and two large onions sliced up in it last night .

Quote from: Cookingmama on September 28, 2012, 06:05:27 AM


What happened with the onions?   I have a grill basket similar to the one in your picture and grilled four green peppers and two large onions sliced up in it last night .

Well, I must have missed a step because the batter seperated from the onions when I set them in the oil. I am going to practice onion rings until I get them right.

Quote from: Duke on September 28, 2012, 08:28:13 AM

Quote from: Cookingmama on September 28, 2012, 06:05:27 AM


What happened with the onions?   I have a grill basket similar to the one in your picture and grilled four green peppers and two large onions sliced up in it last night .

Well, I must have missed a step because the batter seperated from the onions when I set them in the oil. I am going to practice onion rings until I get them right.

.

Ohhhhh onion RINGS..... I just grilled ours to go with the steaks.  I have never attempted onion rings.  We like them, but I rarely fry.  And with a large family like mine its hard to get things like that timed right for everyone.

Thanks, yeah that's where I went wrong. I was trying to fit too much in and had too little time to do it.

Quote from: Duke on September 28, 2012, 11:11:21 AM
Thanks, yeah that's where I went wrong. I was trying to fit too much in and had too little time to do it.

Yeah frying is tough sometimes.  I fried fish awhile back for fish tacos....they were awesome!   But with two cast irons going it was still time consuming and just tough.

My latest want...... A turkey fryer for frying stuffs outside!

Quote from: Duke on September 28, 2012, 08:28:13 AM

Quote from: Cookingmama on September 28, 2012, 06:05:27 AM


What happened with the onions?   I have a grill basket similar to the one in your picture and grilled four green peppers and two large onions sliced up in it last night .

Well, I must have missed a step because the batter seperated from the onions when I set them in the oil. I am going to practice onion rings until I get them right.

Not sure if we're supposed to help with these confabulations, or laugh at / with / next to, each other?

The "O" rings will hold whatever you dredge them in better if you peel & allow to dry, then slice & allow those to dry, first....
Kinda takes all of the last minute fun out of it, but they will come out better if they've lost a lot of
moisture before you dip & dredge.... :)

I've yet to try them in the wok, but so far the deep fried stuff that's been done has come out good!

Quote from: Troy on September 27, 2012, 06:10:05 PM
when i grill bacon, put it on indirect first (and i leave it all stuck together, just like it came out of the package)

after 20 minutes, i either move the whole thing to direct, or peel it off piece by piece and put them direct.
the trick is to close the lid when the flames start.

you have to be fast with the lid and the tongs ;)

The bacon I do like this, I'm too old to do the fast dance direct anymore......

Oh, and I used water once to put out my kettle........... 2 years ago.....not because I was a rookie, but we live in tornado alley and a storm was approaching and I was grilling chicken and it was about 30 MPH gusts and the civil defense sirens sounded as I was taking the chicken off the grill. I didn't want to have a kettle full of hot coals body check the house since the winds were coming out of the southwest and my patio faces southwest. So I grabbed the hose quick and sprayed out the grill fast. The next day there was no damage to anything or anyone thank God, so I let it dry out in the sun and I gave it a good cleaning.

Craig

Quote from: husker_red on October 02, 2012, 07:53:55 AM
Oh, and I used water once to put out my kettle........... 2 years ago.....not because I was a rookie, but we live in tornado alley and a storm was approaching and I was grilling chicken and it was about 30 MPH gusts and the civil defense sirens sounded as I was taking the chicken off the grill. I didn't want to have a kettle full of hot coals body check the house since the winds were coming out of the southwest and my patio faces southwest. So I grabbed the hose quick and sprayed out the grill fast. The next day there was no damage to anything or anyone thank God, so I let it dry out in the sun and I gave it a good cleaning.

Craig

that's funny.
we got hit with a tornado last fall. i had two birds on the rotisserie when all the sirens and warnings were going off.
my family was in the basement, and i was out on the back deck holding onto the grill (and getting pelted with hail)

the chickens turned out fantastic :)

last weekend was doing marmalade wings
accidently put in 1 cup of srirachi sauce instead of 1/3 cup
fuck they were hot
to the point unedible
lesson learnt measure twice cut once (chippy talk)

I did a beer can pizza using K and turned out good the first time.  Second time used lump...disaster

(http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad55/bamboleo_photo/IMG_9231.jpg)

Melted cans
(http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad55/bamboleo_photo/IMG_3802.jpg)

Broke stone
(http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad55/bamboleo_photo/IMG_7636.jpg)

Chewey pizza  ::)
(http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad55/bamboleo_photo/IMG_1563.jpg)

Now THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT !!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about your pizza, your stone, your cans, etc. etc. etc.

the first time i used a skillet on the grill was a disaster.

i was grilling foot long hot dogs and i put a 10" skillet over the coals to heat up some chili for the dogs.

i opened the grill to check things and 'stovetop instinct' tookover. I went to grab the handle of the skillet to give the chili a little flip. totally scorched my hand. I had the handle shape burnt into my palm, fingers, and thumb for weeks.

today i dumped a bowl full of oil covered potatoes onto the hot grill.
the oil dripped and a big flame shot up about 3 feet.

i expected this. no worries.

i closed the lid, then closed the vents on the lid to extinguish the flames real quick.
i wiped the oil off my hand, openend the lid and spread the potatoes around real quick with my tongs.
then i closed the lid and went inside for 5 minutes.

I came back out and realized that I left the lid vent closed. Good thing i had forgotten to salt the potatoes earlier - otherwise I would have came back out 15 minutes later.

3 weeks ago I was doing another round of the marmalade siriracha wings, .....yeah totally forgot to put the drip pan underneath the wings, didn't realize this until I figured out why my one touch system was glued open. The next day when i spent an hour or so prying the blades loose and cleaning the shitty gooey mess out of the bowl. Almost bent the one touch lever working the blades loose. Lesson learned on that one!

Craig

Yep, some of those glaze type things just plain turn to epoxy when heated, then cooled....come to think of it, I've had to fire up charcoal a few times just to get the gunk to ease up & come loose.......... :-[ :D

Years ago with a challenge from my wife to switch places, she would grill and I would prep inside I took the shields out of my gas girl so it would flare up from the chickens.

I looked outside and she was in a scrape with flames everywhere!

No so funny today and definitely a rookie mistake!

I'm still making my rookie mistakes and so this thread is entertaining.

Some of mine are related to planning and timing. Those mistakes are boring but important.

I can tell you I no longer squirt or pour water on to cool a flare up unless I want ashes deposited on the food. Then again, I don't expect to be doing a lot of high, direct heating of animal fat going forward, which IMO is its own type of mistake.

I can tell you I won't be using any more lump charcoal before getting a proper mat under the grill. I have a few expensive, scarred deck boards as reminders.

Carry on!

TOOOOOO Much Smoke! that was my first real big screw up(of many). I had used a whole bag of chips on some pork steaks, Wow the smoke was so bad we couldn't eat the food!! Now i dont even use chips just chunks and only a couple.

Mesquite with chicken.  Worst food I have ever made.    Blechhhh!

Buying the wrong kind of grill! I wanted a Weber kettle but let my wife talk me out of it. Instead I bought a Char-griller horizontal grill/smoker.  It got me started on my path but I had way to many issues controlling the temp that ruined several cooks I was doing. Once I got my Weber I started getting the results I was looking for consistently. The kettle is also easier to upkeep during and after cooks too which is a HUGE plus for me.

Quote from: bryanw21157 on June 29, 2013, 07:56:11 AM
Mesquite with chicken.  Worst food I have ever made.    Blechhhh!

Is it just me or was mesquite really big (popular) back in the day? I remember as a kid my Dad and others using mesquite or hickory, didn't hear much about apple, cherry, or other woods being used.. or was that the extent of my little world at the time?  :-\

I am a big fan of mesquite, not sure I ever had it with chicken.

My biggest mistake, adding K matchlight for more coal in the fire.  My food tasted like petroleum. 

I also used a full chimney of matchlight, the flame out of that thing was about 8 feet high.

I lit some matchlight in a chimney as well....I had the same results you had. That was the first time I used a chimney.....when I lit regular charcoal the next time I thought maybe I did something wrong.....no flamethrower effect, maybe the charcoal is bad....DUh! ;D

This is some time ago now back in my propane days.  Back then all we were doing were the proverbial burgers, sausages, and steaks.   Wanted to try ribs.  Got a lovely rack all coated in sauce, put the burners on low, and walked away thinking, with tragic incorrectness, that that constituted "low and slow".

No more than 30 minutes later I went to check on them....and there, literally, was nothing there. The meat was completely burned away and even the few blackened bones which remained were in danger of disintegrating....

On a more practical level, rookie mistakes made with the kettle: too much coal...all coals in the middle....trying to cook pretty much anything directly over the coals.

  sunsanvil, take a look at these cookups from Cookingmama....she's got 'coal in the middle' down to a science.....

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/food-pr0n/pork-steaks/

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/food-pr0n/game-day-goodies/

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/food-pr0n/flat-irons-ala-coal-saver/


There are others....her's & other folks.....I don't remember exactly whom........

PS: Nice low 'n' slow story.....been there.... :-[

When I said "coals in the center", I meant to say "coals over the entire aperture with no indirect areas anywhere". :)

And I thought you were going to sew it on one of those Speedos you guys wear down there.  ;D

You need to wear it for the official portrait in front of GGG. When is the grand opening?

  MARTY.......................

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/Bunny.jpg)

Quote from: sunsanvil on July 03, 2013, 02:32:19 AM
When I said "coals in the center", I meant to say "coals over the entire aperture with no indirect areas anywhere". :)

AHhhhhh......

The old "painted into a corner" routine...... 8)

That makes two of us Buckie! Actually, this was misposted. It was supposed to be attached to Golly's WKC hat photo. I don't know how that happened...

figgered as much........you'll do better keeping track of that 'circle up the wagons' cooker setup ya got going.........that's the stuff that's real !!!!!

First major mistake was not opening the bottom vents.  For the life of me, I could not get the charcoal to heat up.  Doh!

I used to boil my chicken and then put it on the grill for a few minutes with bbq sauce.  I used to think that was really good chicken done that way.   I have learned so much after almost 20 years.  I know better now.  Chicken is one my most favorite things to grill or smoke. 

rookie mistake. 

letting the coals burn in the chimney starter and having the grill hanging on the nearby side.  and then grabbing the grill.  not smart.

Reading the Celsius part of the thermometer thinking it was Fahrenheit.  By the time I realized it my pork butt was slow cooking at about 450.

i used lighter fluid when tailgating...yum lighter fluid burgers nothing better NOT!! for the longest time i used nothing but a gas grill because of the lighter fluid taste untill a friend of mine cooked me a burger on the kettle using nothing but kingsford,a chimney and some news paper...

I once started a small fire. This happened many years ago when i got my first Weber kettle.
I was cooking chicken in very windy day, somehow wind blow some hot coals from ash tray and i did not notice that. I went back inside and looked back to my yard, then i noticed a burning bush in my backyard. Luckily i was able to extinguish the fire before i had to call fire department...  8)

Alright Folks, Refill your cocktail,  A couple of years ago..I was down at Mom's(Burbank, Cal), My cousin had fallen into 8 Pork Butts after a benefit BBQ.  She had them all in her freezer and asked me to help get rid of them..   I took 2 packages out and lo and behold it was 4 butts.  I had never seen or cooked one at that point.
I thought "OH &ell" I can cook this.  I called a friend who is a chef and he said 'lo and slow" about 8 hrs at 225. 
WEELLLLL. I put them in her oven(this is 4 butts) and set it at 225.  I figured there might be some drippins so I fabed a pan from aluminum foil(WRONG).  Next Morn.  4 perfectly done butts.  Foil pan failed.  Pork fat filled up the oven, the drawer under the oven and was running across the kitchen floor.   I spent 8 hrs. cleaning up everything I could find and figured I would run the OvenCleaning Program WRONG!!. We had flames.... I mean BIG YELLOW flames.  Every smoke detector in the house went off.  The Gardners came over to check on us.  I mean noisy.  Got it out.  Spent another 4 hrs. cleaning.  Tried the cleaning cycle.  FLLLAAAMESSSS!....At this time I found I didn't have the tools to dissassemble the oven further and said I would be back in 2 mo.. to finish the job.  The oven was clean but there was a pan under I couldn't get to.  The oven would work just not at cleaning temps.   
Anyway, My Brother(bless his heart) had the tools and spent another 8 hrs. cleaning up the oven to where it was clean enough to run the cleaning cycle.   End of saga till.......

I took another 4 butts home and put them on my Weber Summit Gold(6 burners+).  It was humming along at 225 for about 2 hours.  I left it alone for about 30 min. and come back to FLAMES!!!! Got that put out and cleaned out the drip pan.  Made it thru but it has a permenant gold cast to it.  The GLOW never quite went away.   Anyway.  That's my Rookie Mistake!  I hope I have learned a few things since.......

I sense somewhat of a theme here....................FLAMES !!!!!


                    "I mean BIG YELLOW flames."


wish I couda  been there.....I just love stuff like that ......... 8)

About 3-4 weeks ago I cooked ribs.   First, I boiled them to get them mostly done, then put them on the grill to finish them off.   I then added bbq sauce and proceeded to leave the ribs over the coals too long and charred the entire dish.

I scraped off the charred sauce and the ribs themselves seemed perfectly done.

What a bummer, and all that time and effort.

On the plus side, I'll never forget the lesson!

waited this long to get a kettle  :(

Back in college cooking brats we'd do match light WITH lighter fluid. How that apartment complex is still standing I don't know...also setting your beer on the ground while your buddy messes with the bottom vents was always good for a very unfiltered ale.

I was cooking for about 20 friends yesterday, thought I'd start with a little roasted broccoli.  When asked, I proudly announced it would take about 20 minutes, but the kettle never heated up over about 300.  After about 15 minutes I thought to check the bottom vents, which were closed. 

The good news was that it only took about 30 minutes total.  The great news was that people practically fell out of their chairs exclaiming that it was the best broccoli they'd ever had.  Weber Kettle FTW!

Quote from: harlanr3 on August 18, 2013, 05:28:42 PM
waited this long to get a kettle  :(

Yeah, but you're on it now & THAT'S what counts !!!

Quote from: mike.stavlund on August 18, 2013, 06:49:17 PM
I was cooking for about 20 friends yesterday, thought I'd start with a little roasted broccoli.  When asked, I proudly announced it would take about 20 minutes, but the kettle never heated up over about 300.  After about 15 minutes I thought to check the bottom vents, which were closed. 

The good news was that it only took about 30 minutes total.  The great news was that people practically fell out of their chairs exclaiming that it was the best broccoli they'd ever had.  Weber Kettle FTW!

Good Show & Nice Save !!!

The more confident I assume I've become, the more likely the simple stuff seems to elude notice.....

A few weeks back I decided we were having pizza for dinner. The dough took its time rising and all day I was thinking about this pizza for dinner. I watched a few videos on how to stretch dough to make a perfect pizza.

It was time too cook finally, I fired up the kettle and setup the weber entertainment center outside. I spent 20 minutes getting this dough stretched and absolutely perfect. This pizza dough looked like it was made at a high end restaurant. I was extremely proud about this pizza. So I sauced it, added out favorite toppings and cheese. This was it the pizza I had been working towards perfecting for a couple of months. Now to get it to the grill, turn on the DVD player and bask in the pizza awesomeness I just made. Well I forgot the most important step...

Before you add toppings you have to transfer the plain dough to a pizza peel. A bit of corn meal helps it slide off. I destroyed the pizza trying to get it on the pan, then completed the final death of what was a great pizza transferring it to the grill. So I present what I made I call it pizza slop...

(http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/Mbromleyphoto/null-159.jpg)

Lesson learned transfer the dough onto a corn meal coated pan or pizza peel before adding toppings!

It was a good Strombolish type of meal, but I haven't made a crust that nice again.


"my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

I made the mistake once of not checking the fridge before lighting the grill off.

I started the chimney and opened the fridge and there was no beer in it.   >:(

OK....let's dredge up an oldie thread........


Did some pork chops, chicken, corn on the cob & a tater packet for dinner...came out great & with a bunch of coals still left, thought I'd do up a batch of smoked corn & black bean salsa......

Belly too full, I passed out on the couch & the dawga (who were too full also, took a nap) woke up a few hours later to this:

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20007.jpg)

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20008.jpg)

Did up another, much bigger batch a few days later that went much better....

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20012.jpg)

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20013.jpg)


General recipe:

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/smoked-corn-and-black-bean-salsa/msg13616/#msg13616

Quote from: Chasing_smoke on August 18, 2013, 09:09:39 PM
A few weeks back I decided we were having pizza for dinner. The dough took its time rising and all day I was thinking about this pizza for dinner. I watched a few videos on how to stretch dough to make a perfect pizza.

It was time too cook finally, I fired up the kettle and setup the weber entertainment center outside. I spent 20 minutes getting this dough stretched and absolutely perfect. This pizza dough looked like it was made at a high end restaurant. I was extremely proud about this pizza. So I sauced it, added out favorite toppings and cheese. This was it the pizza I had been working towards perfecting for a couple of months. Now to get it to the grill, turn on the DVD player and bask in the pizza awesomeness I just made. Well I forgot the most important step...

Before you add toppings you have to transfer the plain dough to a pizza peel. A bit of corn meal helps it slide off. I destroyed the pizza trying to get it on the pan, then completed the final death of what was a great pizza transferring it to the grill. So I present what I made I call it pizza slop...

(http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/Mbromleyphoto/null-159.jpg)

Lesson learned transfer the dough onto a corn meal coated pan or pizza peel before adding toppings!

It was a good Strombolish type of meal, but I haven't made a crust that nice again.


"my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

Oh man that sucks!  I always make more dough than I need in case something like this happens to me.  At least it was still edible.

Quote from: 1buckie on August 22, 2016, 09:28:05 AM
OK....let's dredge up an oldie thread........


Did some pork chops, chicken, corn on the cob & a tater packet for dinner...came out great & with a bunch of coals still left, thought I'd do up a batch of smoked corn & black bean salsa......

Belly too full, I passed out on the couch & the dawga (who were too full also, took a nap) woke up a few hours later to this:

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20007.jpg)

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20008.jpg)

Did up another, much bigger batch a few days later that went much better....

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20012.jpg)

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/2016/BBQ%20at%20work%20013.jpg)


General recipe:

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/smoked-corn-and-black-bean-salsa/msg13616/#msg13616

I always see people asking about how long to cook things and a common response of "it's done when it's done."  In this case it looks like it was done a few hours ago!!!!  The recipe sounds great though...I'll definitely give it a shot.

I have had a Baby Q (called a Q 100 and now Q 1000) since 2004. When they first were produced, they were sold with no fold out shelf.  After a couple of years, Weber started selling ones that had fold out plastic shelves.  I called Weber and ordered two of the shelves.  I installed them as soon as they were delivered and folded them in on top of the cooking grates as designed for storage.  I walked in, informed my wife I installed the shelves on her Q and said "Now remember, you have to fold out the shelves before you fire up the grill".  See the Q is mainly her grill that she cooks vegetables on. You can see where this is going.  That night my wife goes out and turns on the grill to preheat it, without ever opening the lid.  After 10 minutes I go out to start the charcoal in the kettle and see a tremendous amount of smoke billowing from the Baby Q.  Then the "Oh Shit" moment hits me.  I grab the lid on the Q, throw it open and quickly fold out the shelves with tongs. Luckily the shelves were not yet melted to the grates, but they were too badly damaged to be of any use.  It was my rookie mistake not to have left the shelves folded out for use so my wife would have gotten use to them being on the Q.  I reordered a second set of shelves that are still installed and undamaged on the Q.

I stick bacon directly on the SS grates of my genesis and haven't had an issue with flare ups of any kind....yet.  I do wheel it away from the house before cooking it though.  I would have never dreamed of doing this with my old Sear's grill.  That thing was a flaring up nightmare.

My biggest mistakes, thus far, is using a "cheap-o" chimney starter and getting into a hurry, ie. not letting the grill pre-heat as long as it likely should.  I have since purchased a weber starter which is sooo much better(bottom briquettes aren't burnt up before top briquettes are started now) and I have increased pre-heating from 1 beer to 2 beers....sometimes 3. 

Great thread, thanks for reviving it

No photos of my rookie move, but a couple weeks ago I decided to reheat a rack of ribs on the kettle since it was ridiculously hot and humid and I didnt want to use the oven. Dropped a lighter cube in the corner of the smoke and sear and threw the charcoal in. Got an emergency call couple minutes later, so decided to just throw the rack on the grill and let the temps come up while I was gone.  Got back home 45-50 minutes later, temps were up to 250, ribs were warmed, so I took them off. Got them in the house and was wondering what smelled like an ashtray. Took a bite of a rib and spit it back out... tasted like cigarette with bbq sauce  on it... lesson learned, NEVER put your meat on until the pit gets up to temp!! That white smoke leaves a nasty taste... In retrospect, my gasser would've been the right tool for the job, but I store stuff under the hood for my kettles and didn't want to bother.

The first time I cooked ribs I cooked them over direct heat, sauced from the start for about an hour, then pulled them. I'll leave that right there for ya.


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First spatchcock bird. Cooked over direct heat. Burned hands twice while moving Maverick probes, chicken kind of fell apart but was edible. Must have had my brain removed that day.


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Wish I had a good one, but I found this place first. First few cooks, I piled a
Bunch of coals, doused in fluid and lit. I always knew to let
It ash over, so never really had an issue with lighter fluid taste. But that gives you a 4000° grill, with no indirect spots. After a few cooks, I knew this thing could do more. I don't do a lot of social media (I mod a piranha forum). Couple google searches and here I am now.

This thread is hilarious. 4 pork butts in the oven...LMAO!

I had a mistake last night making pizza....not sure at this point I would call it a rookie mistake since I've made enough pizzas to know better.  I spread my dough on my butcher block cutting board like I always do then proceeded to add all of the toppings.  It was one of the roundest pizzas of the four that I did last night.  Then I realized my mistake.....I usually spread the dough then fold it up and move it to my wood peel for assembly.  If you don't move your pizza to the peel before adding toppings it (in my experience) is almost impossible to get it onto the peel.  So I tried to get it on my wood peel by lifting the edge and pushing my peel under, but that wasn't going to work at all.  I then tried to do the same thing with my metal peel since it is a lot thinner.  That wasn't happening either.  I was going to end up with a scrunched up chunk of sauced and cheese dough.  I stepped back for a minute or two to try to let the panic subside.  Next I decided to see if I could slide a piece of parchment paper under the pizza.  This actually was working great.  I had to make sure to hold the front edge really tight to both sides of the pizza then move the parchment paper towards the pizza while doing a left to right sawing motion.  This was working great and I was able to get the paper a little more than halfway through the pizza then it started to scrunch again.  I grabbed another sheet and did the same thing from the opposite side with no problems.  Now my pizza was sitting on two piece of parchment paper and I was able to carefully pick it up and place it on my peel.  Once on the peel I figured the best way to get the paper out was by doing it magician style.  One quick fast pull making sure I didn't life up as I did it.  Well, it didn't work.  My pizza flipped over so fast it wasn't even funny.  Well, time to move on to the next pizza, right?  Nope.  Luckily when the pizza flipped over it happened so fast and it was the entire pizza, not just the half that was on that piece of parchment paper.  I was able to pick up the entire thing under the parchment paper and carefully flip it over onto the peel.  When I pulled the parchment off I had a few slices of pepperoni that needed to be relocated, but other than that the pizza was in perfect condition.  It actually ended up being the best of the four pizzas I did last night.  Phew!!!!!

As I am sitting here typing this I am thinking to myself that I will never make that mistake, but in reality I know it will happen.  I think moving forward as a little bit of insurance I will always put parchment paper on the cutting board I am using to stretch dough so I have a backup plan already in place if I forget to move my dough to the peel before assembling it.

This.

(http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a594/Bob_Whitney/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/IMG_20160720_142121807_zpsxbci5wf9.jpg) (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/Bob_Whitney/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/IMG_20160720_142121807_zpsxbci5wf9.jpg.html)

Quote from: fedex on August 27, 2016, 03:02:54 PM
This.

(http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a594/Bob_Whitney/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/IMG_20160720_142121807_zpsxbci5wf9.jpg) (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/Bob_Whitney/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/IMG_20160720_142121807_zpsxbci5wf9.jpg.html)

More than once for me!

I don't make mistakes... I prefer to call them "Lessons"...

Wow. That's really bad. Here's mine.

I was cooking beans. I cooked the bacon. I cooked the onion. Cooked the garlic and spices. Added the diced tomato and beans...sounds groovy, huh?...

I checked the beans after two hours and they were not done. Same at 2.5 hours. Damn, I soaked the beans from 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM. So I moved them closer to the coals and when I checked them next this is the result of what happened. Total Suckage.

(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/2016/09/02/image.jpg)

I had moved the pot into some 'Magic Spot' that apparently lifts the pot along with the lid. I tried to save the disaster to no avail. My stuff went everywhere. two thirds of the beans were lost. Some completely overboard, a bunch on the grill, and a ton into the SnSXL.

(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/2016/09/02/imagedffc4.jpg)

Three out of four golden retrievers approve this message. The one in the middle? Yeah. He's Batman.

And as far as "Rookie Mistakes" go, I started cooking on a Weber 22 forty years ago. This happened last Friday.

1. We once lived in a house with a gas grill mounted on the deck, connected to the natural gas system. I cooked a couple of steaks one evening and turned both burners to high to clean off the grates... and forgot to turn them off. The next day I happened to look out and noticed the heat shimmering above the grill. Fortunately it didn't set fire to the wood railing behind the grill. The grates got really clean after more than 12 hours.
2. I was doing an overnight cook of a couple of pork butts on my WSM. Luckily I chose to sleep on the couch so I could keep an eye on things. I was awakened in the middle of the night by the high-temp  alarm on my Stoker - the WSM door had fallen off and I had a roaring grease fire going. I was able to get the door back on and get things under control, I even saved the butts.

Fortunately I have no mistake stories that involve the turkey fryer. :)

Quote from: Jon on September 03, 2016, 11:22:07 PM
Wow. That's really bad. Here's mine.

I was cooking beans. I cooked the bacon. I cooked the onion. Cooked the garlic and spices. Added the diced tomato and beans...sounds groovy, huh?...

I checked the beans after two hours and they were not done. Same at 2.5 hours. Damn, I soaked the beans from 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM. So I moved them closer to the coals and when I checked them next this is the result of what happened. Total Suckage.

(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/2016/09/02/image.jpg)

I had moved the pot into some 'Magic Spot' that apparently lifts the pot along with the lid. I tried to save the disaster to no avail. My stuff went everywhere. two thirds of the beans were lost. Some completely overboard, a bunch on the grill, and a ton into the SnSXL.

(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/2016/09/02/imagedffc4.jpg)

Three out of four golden retrievers approve this message. The one in the middle? Yeah. He's Batman.

And as far as "Rookie Mistakes" go, I started cooking on a Weber 22 forty years ago. This happened last Friday.

Nice looking Goldens, Jon.  We have a couple that we refer to as the Knuckleheads.

WTB Original Wood Dale legs, triangle, wheels and legs.Blue SSP,  Blue mbh, Blue Mlh.

Quote from: Dsorgnzd on September 04, 2016, 01:48:41 PM
1. We once lived in a house with a gas grill mounted on the deck, connected to the natural gas system. I cooked a couple of steaks one evening and turned both burners to high to clean off the grates... and forgot to turn them off. The next day I happened to look out and noticed the heat shimmering above the grill. Fortunately it didn't set fire to the wood railing behind the grill. The grates got really clean after more than 12 hours.
2. I was doing an overnight cook of a couple of pork butts on my WSM. Luckily I chose to sleep on the couch so I could keep an eye on things. I was awakened in the middle of the night by the high-temp  alarm on my Stoker - the WSM door had fallen off and I had a roaring grease fire going. I was able to get the door back on and get things under control, I even saved the butts.

Fortunately I have no mistake stories that involve the turkey fryer. :)

@ #1 Been there, done that.

Had a new rookie mistake today....

wife woke me up at the crack of noon demanding that I grill this side of salmon that she picked up yesterday.
I was up all night working on a side project, so I was a little bit groggy...

I got up, decided to cook on the ranch (mostly because it involved the least amount of work).
I fired up a chimney and got the salmon all seasoned up (a blend of @jamesnomore 's rub and some brown sugar - my goto for salmon)

I dumped the coals and put the salmon on the grill indirect, went inside and chilled on the couch for 30 minutes.
The wife and kids were pestering me about being hungry, so i went outside to move the salmon closer to the coals - possibly even flip and sear and be done....

I walked outside to discover the lid of the ranch sitting WIDE OPEN, the coals about half spent, and the salmon still mostly raw.
WHOOPS. Forgot to close the lid.

Quote from: Dsorgnzd on September 04, 2016, 01:48:41 PM
1. We once lived in a house with a gas grill mounted on the deck, connected to the natural gas system. I cooked a couple of steaks one evening and turned both burners to high to clean off the grates... and forgot to turn them off. The next day I happened to look out and noticed the heat shimmering above the grill. Fortunately it didn't set fire to the wood railing behind the grill. The grates got really clean after more than 12 hours.
2. I was doing an overnight cook of a couple of pork butts on my WSM. Luckily I chose to sleep on the couch so I could keep an eye on things. I was awakened in the middle of the night by the high-temp  alarm on my Stoker - the WSM door had fallen off and I had a roaring grease fire going. I was able to get the door back on and get things under control, I even saved the butts.

Fortunately I have no mistake stories that involve the turkey fryer. :)

Last Xmas I didn't get the neck area dry enough. Started going in just fine, but that last little bit got VIOLENT. Watching flaming globs of oil falling all around my feet. Started thinking, "Well, this is how it ends." Stayed calm, got the lid on and bird came out awesome.

Cooked a beer can chicken on the charcoal grate with a slow n' sear. I knew better that this wouldn't work. I remembered (or so I thought) watching a YT review of someone cooking on the charcoal grate, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I had to pull the chicken off the stand and lay the bottom half over the coals to recover from my mistake, but it did work out in the end. (http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160918/bb4e936175175fdd4722ccf93c74bd99.jpg)

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Went camping once (I was 19) bought a rack of ribs and thought "I'll cook these over the embers from the fire, it'll take a few hours and they will be perfect" I was naive and ignorant.  I took some embers in the morning and pulled them aside, wrapped the ribs in foil with sauce and placed directly on the embers (silly, I know) and proceeded to go on a hike....
30 minutes later we return and to my surprise the barely audible sound of boiling sauce.  The ribs are over cooked with blackened sauce. I still ate them because ribs are very expensive to a college student, they were tough but meat was meat to me back then.
One day I'll redeem myself with excellent ribs.

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I've made more mistakes than I can remember and continue to do so, but the one that sticks out the most was when I was in my first apartment and a friend and I had our girlfriends over (now wives) to grill steaks for them.  I was using my a hand me down weber and we couldn't get the coal going.  Using lighter fluid of course.  I don't remember if the charcoal was wet or what the problem was but it must have taken an hour to the grill going while the ladies were complaining.  Finally got the steaks on the grill.  That part went well but it's late and everyone was losing dinner patience.  My friend and I were on the patio (in the dark) and he took the steaks off the grill onto a plate I was holding.  I turned to go inside and tripped.  All four steaks hit the patio.  We looked at each other for a second and promptly scooped them up and threw them back on the grill for 5 seconds then took them into serve without telling the girlfriends.  We still laugh about that one.

my rookie mistakes....
thinking that i had to have a heavy plume of white smoke billowing out of every cranny in order to be "smoking" something
using top vents to control heat(grill or smoker)
not letting the briquettes "ash over" before adding meat
soaking my wood chunks/chips in water before use
and just about every other rookie mistake you can think of, i probably have done. the one that i kick myself regularly for is putting my bandera smoker on the curb before finding the http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/ website. i loved the configuration, but gave it up because i didn't know what to do about the issues it had. had i known about that site prior to putting my bandera on the curb, i'd still have it and between my webers and it, be happier than a pig in slop.

We got a burn pit when we first got married 19 years ago and it doubled as a grill! Wow a two for one and it was a gift! ok a few hotdogs and burgers later I wanted brats! Well it was a damp day and the charcoal would not start! So charcoal lighter fluid will help this right???? NO!! Not at all! My sons godfather was over that night and how we all ate it and did not die I'll never know! That was my last time ever using charcoal lighter fluid!!!

Time to resurrect this thread for those that have not seen it. A comment on another thread reminded me to add my rotisserie rookie mistake to this list.

The first time I did a turkey on the rotisserie, I thought I had it tied up perfectly.  After about 20 minutes spinning, I noticed the rotisserie would shudder and shake when turning. Opened it up and found the legs had loosened and probably would have worked it's way off the spit had I not intervened. Try retying a turkey to a spit when they are both hot. Trust me, you don't want to have to do it. Does not take very long for the metal spit and forks to get frickin hot. Think I still bear a couple of those branding marks.  Also, don't pour coals from a chimney while wearing flip flops.  More memorable BBQ honor marks.

@Cellar2ful I too bear the scars of flip flop charcoal pour. Dad always said once he does it once, he'll figure it out...


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The list is long but distinguished. BUT, I just added one to the list-
The old lady wants to make me dinner, so I insist that it must require charcoal no matter what. OK, so she goes for Stroganoff and I offer up a free charcoal lighting service and grill prep. First mistake, assuming that a half used / half new load of charcoal would provide the heat she needs. Then, after the cast iron fails to get to temp and myself frantically pacing around..... I realize..... I NEVER opened the bottom vent after last cook. LOL. So embarrassing but kinda fun too. Now we're rolling some heat!!!
(http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b429/dubs564/IMG_3879_zpsxzvsbdvs.jpg) (http://s1042.photobucket.com/user/dubs564/media/IMG_3879_zpsxzvsbdvs.jpg.html)

Yep....you're in the right thread.....done that a number of times....even when it really mattered!!!

Several years ago, we had some friends over for Ribs.  They were beautiful. Tender, good color, perfect pull back.  I then sauced them with a sauce my wife had picked up at the store.  I didn't notice that it said HABENERO on it.  Anyway, we sat down at the dining table, everybody picked up a rib and about 30 seconds later emptied our beer, water glasses and we were headed to the kitchen to get some milk.  I ended up washing the ribs off in the sink and put them back on the grill for another 5 min. They were still almost inedible.  I know, Gringos right.  But I learned to read the labels....

Just learned this lesson a few days ago. While we were away on vacation in August, my SIL came over and used my grills and smoker. No problem, he is welcome to do that anytime. Fast forward to this past weekend, and my plan to smoke some poppers for a birthday cook. Timing was short, but I knew I had time. Until this:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4455/37576211906_087da3d0d1_c.jpg)
"Someone" forgot to clean out the smoker, and it sat for a month. Needless to say my timing was way off for those poppers, but no one got sick. Yet...

Note to self: get a hazmat suit.

Quote from: 56MPG on October 10, 2017, 04:09:57 PM
Just learned this lesson a few days ago. While we were away on vacation in August, my SIL came over and used my grills and smoker. No problem, he is welcome to do that anytime. Fast forward to this past weekend, and my plan to smoke some poppers for a birthday cook. Timing was short, but I knew I had time. Until this:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4455/37576211906_087da3d0d1_c.jpg)
"Someone" forgot to clean out the smoker, and it sat for a month. Needless to say my timing was way off for those poppers, but no one got sick. Yet...

Note to self: get a hazmat suit.

Note to self: LOCK IT UP!  >:(. I would be pissed! but its family and its... its... its... only  :-\ a grill  ???. Okay its not mine and I'm mad.

Quote from: Aawa on August 19, 2013, 12:05:20 PM
I made the mistake once of not checking the fridge before lighting the grill off.

I started the chimney and opened the fridge and there was no beer in it.   >:(

@Aawa I call beer starter fluid.  ;D

Revival #3

Hilarious stories fellas!   Butts in the oven, bacon on the gasser, and the leaning grill of flames are some great stories.

Thank God I haven't had any fire problems! But I've gotten the branding marks on my feet, only once never again, dam that hurt. I also won't leave a grill sit closed up more than overnight again. A lot of mold can grow in a month. And yes it's frustrating when you get the last toppings on the pizza and realize it's not sitting on the peel. A couple times I have closed the one touch and shortly after wondered why the temp is falling .

Thanks to everyone here for posting.

Quote from: 56MPG on October 10, 2017, 04:09:57 PM
Just learned this lesson a few days ago. While we were away on vacation in August, my SIL came over and used my grills and smoker. No problem, he is welcome to do that anytime. Fast forward to this past weekend, and my plan to smoke some poppers for a birthday cook. Timing was short, but I knew I had time. Until this:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4455/37576211906_087da3d0d1_c.jpg)
"Someone" forgot to clean out the smoker, and it sat for a month. Needless to say my timing was way off for those poppers, but no one got sick. Yet...

Note to self: get a hazmat suit.

Damn, that's a hell of a Petri dish ! :-)



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Quote from: Jan M. on January 29, 2019, 01:19:29 PM

Quote from: 56MPG on October 10, 2017, 04:09:57 PM
Just learned this lesson a few days ago. While we were away on vacation in August, my SIL came over and used my grills and smoker. No problem, he is welcome to do that anytime. Fast forward to this past weekend, and my plan to smoke some poppers for a birthday cook. Timing was short, but I knew I had time. Until this:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4455/37576211906_087da3d0d1_c.jpg)
"Someone" forgot to clean out the smoker, and it sat for a month. Needless to say my timing was way off for those poppers, but no one got sick. Yet...

Note to self: get a hazmat suit.

Damn, that's a hell of a Petri dish ! :-)



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Lol damn!!! The other day it rained really heavy out of nowhere i realized i left the lid off one of my 18s. Go figure it still had charcoal in it. Ran out and put the lid back on. Between rain and work a week later its nice out i go to clean and organize my grill area and pull the lid, a cast iron griddle was orange with rust the cooking grate was done, and the lid and bowl were covered in mould.

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Mine are pretty boring.  Just a few weeks ago...lit up a chimney, dumped it in the charcoal baskets, put the cooking grate on, closed the lid and went back inside to let it all get nice and warm.  15 minutes later i walk out with a plate of nice steaks only to find the grill pretty much cold.  Never opened the top or bottom vents.  My second has already been mentioned here a couple of times...the dreaded "flip flop charcoal dump."  NEVER again!

First beer can chicken, and I used too much smoke.  Poultry picks up smoke easily.  Generally, I over-smoked everything in the beginning only to learn smoke is another ingredient to balance with the others. 


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Too many for me to count. Mostly overcoming salmon. I can do cedar plank just fine, but if I just try it directly on the grate or even in a skillet on the dang stove I seem to over cook it.


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