Too Much if a Good Thing

[clarissa]

I will check that out. Not sure who sells Stubbs in my area

[Joetee]

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.

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[clarissa]

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






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[CarrieAnn]

@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!

[clarissa]

@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. 

[SmokeVide]

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

[clarissa]

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.

[Rub]

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.

[demosthenes9]

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  :-)

[MikeRocksTheRed]

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!

[Big Dawg]

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

[Yendor]

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?