I just picked up a weber kettle and have a general question about how to lay out the coals. I'm not advanced enough to do indirect cooking, so could you please advise on how I should layout the coals after I dump them from the chimney. Should they be spread out across the bottom fully (about one coal briquette in height) or should I leave a higher pile somewhere and thus create a "hotspot"?
Also related to this, it seems that it take the coals in the chimney about 20-25 minutes to all burn and get some ash on them. I'm sure by then that the coals at the bottom of the chimney are burning and ready to go. I might even be wasting their heat while waiting for all the coals in the chimney to get ashy. Should I wait until they are all ashy or ok to dump them out when some coal briquettes are still black?
Thanks...