Looking down the pike at two road trips that would feature grilled foods, I was pleased to see a charcoal Go-Anywhere on CL for $10. I figured I'd clean it up, use it, and then sell it for $20. I'm sure you can guess what happened next: once it was shiny, I started to think about what a great sear station it would make, and how my favorite Weber kebab skewers would fit *exactly* across the body of the grill, and how it won't take up too much room, really, and would probably squeeze under the corner of the shed. Looks like it'll be in the family for awhile.
I'm three cooks in with it, though, and having a bit of trouble. First cook was a raging success-- I dumped about half a chimney of mesquite lump into it, and roasted about 6 red peppers in a matter of minutes. And the grill was still raging hot for a good while afterward. Second cook was much less successful: about half a chimney of KB only gave the bare minimum to cook several pounds of Korean beef. So tonight I figured I'd go back to lump (RO), but once again it just didn't have the oomph to put a good sear on some burgers.
Can someone give me some quick tips? Should I be lidding up? Using more/different charcoal? Adjusting down the vents (I've been running them fully open)? Using smaller shards of lump? This machine seems like an incredible searing station, but my early results are disappointing and I'd love to use this to crank out some killer fish tacos next week at the beach... or should I pack the Jumbo Joe instead?