New to kettle cookimg

[JTcooks]

I just acquired a 22 inch Weber Kettle Grill from my parents. I have not assembled it yet (they have had it for  a few years, never used), and may not until after we move in a little over a month.

What charcoal/thermometer/instant thermometer do you recommend?

[Lilyankee]

Welcome to the club! Charbroil makes one for around $20 and does the trick for me without breaking the bank.


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[jhagestad]

Welcome from Highland Park, Illinois! New-in-box 22" Weber kettles are a good thing! This group loves pictures and kettle history - we'd love to see what you got once you get settled into your new home!

[JEBIV]

Welcome from Doraville,Ga

[bamakettles]

Welcome from Huntsville Alabama!  I like B&B charcoal briquettes and lump.  As far as thermometers, I use a therm pro instant (Amazon $25) and a Maverick XR-50.  I tried more entry level units and now have a pile of cheap ones just collecting dust.  I’d recommend researching and cooking a while before investing in a thermometer system.


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[jhagestad]

What charcoal/thermometer/instant thermometer do you recommend?

Sorry - blew right through this! I use briquettes exclusively: Kingsford regular or Royal Oak. Key here is never pay full price - you can almost always find charcoal on sale somewhere. Find a sale, stock up on 6-12 bags, and enjoy for a few months!  For a thermometer, I've enjoyed Weber's iGrill 2 (bluetooth wireless with four probe ports). You'll see Maverick wireless thermometers all over this forum, so those are battle-tested as well.

[blu082003]

Hey everyone I’m also new to kettle cooking, never did a proper intro but I’m out of Southern California, Ventura county to be exact. I had a question about not paying full price for charcoal. What’s a good deal? I’ve seen 18$ for 2 20# bags is that the deal or should I wait to stock up?


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[View to a Grill]

Hello!


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[blu082003]

View to a grill. You inspired me to make my own Weber cart. Thank you


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[StuartG]

Welcome from sunny Swindon in the UK. I use both briquettes & lumpwood (not at the same time!) - just depends on what I’m grilling. For the low & slow smoke, I use briquettes with additional wood chunks. As long as what you use is good quality, you’ll be fine.
I’m using the thermoworks smoke at the moment with an eye out for an instant read thermometer.
Keep on grillin’ 


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[RedCedar]

Welcome! Some good advice in this thread so far. My two cents: original Kingsford for low and slow, lump charcoal for steaks. ThermoPop is a fantastic instant read thermometer and ThermoPro TP series is a great value for probe thermometers compared to the Mavericks. Make sure to check out the Slow n Sear if you even consider slow smoking.


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[jhagestad]

Hey everyone I’m also new to kettle cooking, never did a proper intro but I’m out of Southern California, Ventura county to be exact. I had a question about not paying full price for charcoal. What’s a good deal? I’ve seen 18$ for 2 20# bags is that the deal or should I wait to stock up?

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Welcome from Highland Park, Illinois! $18 for 40lbs of charcoal isn't terrible ($0.45/lb) but it's also not on sale. Home Depot typically will put that same 2-pack on sale for 50% off before the summer hits ($0.23/lb).  The best deal I've seen is at Lowes right now, which is currently selling individual 15.4 lb bags of Royal Oak briquettes for $1.99 a bag ($0.13/lb). Gotta go to the store though - no online purchases, but it's worth it!

[DaveG74]

Welcome from just south of Chicago, IL!

Try out different brands of charcoal and learn what you like and what works best for you. I use different brands for different cooks. I bought a Thermoworks Smoke last year at a good discount on their site, I love it. I have a Lavatools pt09 that a friend gave me that is really accurate.

Good luck and just have fun experimenting.