I got my Performer set up Friday morning and did a couple test/seasoning sessions on it. The target was to do dinner with it that night, and overall I'd call my first run was a qualified success. I've used my Weber Spirit gas grill for many years and am very comfortable with it. This whole charcoal thing felt like going from an auto-everything camera to a pro-body where you control most of the elements...once you've learned how things work (guess what my one of my hobbies is
). I entered the cook a little nervous and probably over-thought things during the process, but I wasn't literally or figuratively running around with my hair on fire (I don't have much hair anyway
).
My wife told me to use some skinless/boneless thighs we had that needed eating, so I dry-brined them for several hours beforehand. In the meantime, I did some research on a basic DIY rub since I didn't have anything handy. I found a salt/pepper/garlic powder ratio mix - the salt ratio sounded high, especially since they were brined, so I reduced it. I got some briquettes going (Weber - will sample others over time) and put them in the Slow & Sear. I set up a temp probe on the cooking grate and let one hang down to stick in a thigh. I'd quartered a bunch of small potatoes, tossed them in olive oil and just before I pressed the button to warm up the oven I realized I'd have an oven in the grill, so I just put them on the indirect side in a cast-iron skillet. I seasoned the thighs. I had the potatoes in the grill and the readings at the grate were around 375 most of the time. It would drift down a bit and I tried to manage it using the bottom grate, mostly successfully. After about 25 minutes I put the thighs on the direct side and cooked them for 7 minutes or so on each side. Once the internal temp hit 180 or so I pulled them off. After getting things settled inside for serving, I pulled the potatoes.
Things I learned:
- I need to be careful when pouring coals
- Hot coals can make your deck burn. Thankfully it was just some spots. I might want to put some flat pavers down in front of my grill and make a spot where I can put the chimney that isn't the grate of the grill. Will probably make that one a couple layers.
- The remote thermometer is worth its weight in gold. Takes so much guesswork and learning curve out of the process.
- I need to get comfortable with all the parts so I can pay more attention to the details
- I can successfully manage two different cooking styles on the same grill.
- The table for the performer is awesome. I'd considered adding a wood top or even making a whole cart, but I think I'm just going to get a good-sized cutting board to move things out/in.
- The Slow & Sear worked great. It isn't a rocket-science product, but it sure does make things easy. I used the baskets for the seasoning runs, and they were a little clumsy. Fine, but I'd be happy to have paid less and used the money on the Slow & Sear.
What I did right:
- The chicken was cooked well.
- The potatoes were cooked well.
- I was able to light lump and briquettes without trouble using the chimney
What I did wrong/need to improve:
- I waaaaaay over-seasoned the chicken. Too salty. It wasn't fatal, but I'm going to be more judicious in the future. The "you can always add more" rule applies (which should have been obvious, but the number of new things I was doing somehow pushed it out of my mind). I think the mixture was OK, I just watched too many videos where the seasoning seemed pretty generous. I'm guessing most of those are designed with little salt...
- I didn't manage the hardware all that well. The Slow&Sear Grate doesn't drop in easily due to the nuts for the dome-rack, so that was clumsy for me. The removable part of the grate...removed when I was putting coals in. I'm not sure what makes removing that part useful (other than sparing it the heat cycling if I'm cooking indirectly), so I'm considering crimping the "hinges" so they don't allow removal. Any insights/thoughts on that appreciated.
- I didn't do the cold-grate thing. No biggie at all, but it was my intention to. I just forgot about it. I wasn't really set up well with the grate-level probe, the frying pan with the potatoes, etc.
I'm going to play around a bit before I start putting hardware away. I've got a fair bit and I'm happy I got it all as I know I'll use it all, but I think some of it will be only occasionally-used (griddle/roasting rack, 2nd tier rack, the baskets the Weber came with). I'm planning to do wings tomorrow for lunch and I hope to try a low-and-slow Boston Butt this upcoming week.
Overall I was pretty happy for a first-time-out with charcoal in...30 years? And then it was pretty basic and not at all controlled. So I'm going to give myself a C+ on the meal and a B on the grilling itself.
. I really dig the Performer!