Need help deciding on first kettle purchase

[Tommy B]

I would just buy a glen blue MBH kettle off ebay.... I kid. Looks like you have a great plan.

[Quadman750]

I think everyone has convinced me of what I already knew.....if I don't get the performer I'll regret it in the long run.   So quick follow up question: what should be on my shopping list when I go to pick this thing up (hopefully this weekend)?   Cover, propane, charcoal.   Anything else I need in the immediate future while I'm learning my way around it?



David


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BEER

[toolhead]

Shopping list: chimney starter, charcoal n wood chunks.

With your diagram...you will not need to swap out axle wheel with casters.  You want the axle wheels in the front bumper side to lead the way...you turn with casters in the rear.

Btw the performer is very easy to move...id set it up oem style first and try it out before modding wheels.  It may not seem like it..but its not easier to turn performer with caster wheels leading..weber designed the wheel placement correctly

[toolhead]

And propane tanks

[Loonysup]

Do I still need the chimney starter even with the built in starter?   I was hoping to avoid that. 


David

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[toolhead]

You can use the charbaskets which come with premium and deluxe performers...you can also just pule the coals...that said..the chimney starter will start your coals with the minimal amount of propane gas assist (saving propane gas costs) and will gets the coals cook ready much faster than the aforementioned options...its well worth the 15.00

[toolhead]

 Ither option...start without and see how chimneyless coal starting wirks for you..it may work effectively for you

[addicted-to-smoke]

I'd be looking to swap the locations of the two grills.

[charred]

The diagram seems to indicate the Performer's wheels are already in the desired location. They are moved by getting behind the caster side and lifting, then walking. 

I have a few Performers and I've lit the fuel (I use/ endorse lump) both with and w/o the chimney. The chimney does get it lit quicker, and it's a bit easier to dump the lump in it and set it over the flame rather than piling the charcoal up on the grate by hand. Either way, though, it's no big deal.

Performers are cool. Copper ones are really cool. Of course, SSPs are THE COOLEST. 

[MikeRocksTheRed]

I love the propane start in my performer.  Even if I am using one of my other grills, my chimney gets started on my perform with the gas assist.

Thoughts on getting a performer....Have you checked around on Craigslist and OfferUpNow?  You can probable save $200-$300 if there are any listed in your area, leaving you money for accesories, and you will want some accesories whether you know it now or not.

Items you will need with your grill wheter you purchase it new or not.  I'll try to list them in order from greatest to least needed/used:
1.  Chimney starter - If your get a performer with gas assist that comes with charcoal baskets, you don't have to have a chimney starter, but for the price and effectiveness of the chimney I would get one anyway.  You absolutely can start your coals in the charcoal baskets placed over the gas assist.  If you want to get into smoking (225-250 degrees) you might want to get a compact chimney as well for lighting a smaller amount of coals.  The chimney also give you the ability of starting more coals if you need them mid cook by either placing it on a patio or walkway or on the cooking grate of your gasser.  With my performer I usually gun the gas assist for 3-4 minutes to get the chimney going then shut it off.  with 3-4 minutes of usage each cook my propane lasts a really long time.

2.  Lighter cubes - if you don't get a grill with gas assisted start these inexpensive gems are easy to use, work well, and are a lot cleaner than using newspaper or paper towels to light your chimney.

3.  Charcoal baskets -  let you easily setup zoned cooks where you have the coals on one side, in the middle, on the sides but not the middle.  This is a basic must have and eventually will be replaced on some cooks by some pricier accesories (smoke-n-sear, vortex, smokenator, etc) should you choose to get into them.

4.  Wood chunks -  even if you don't get into slow and low smoking right away, a chunks or two of wood for normal cooks is never a bad thing.  Apple and Pecan lend themselves to almost everything and are more mild than some of the other options.  I think most people here would agree these are the top 2 go to wood flavors, followed by hickory, mesquite, cherry and oak (in no particular order).  I started off with wood chips, but quickly switched to chunks.  I think the chunks work a lot better.  Also, don't soak your wood, it causes it to burn less clean that dried wood.

5.  Multi-probe thermometer -  Give you the ability to monitor the temp in the grill and the temp of the meat you are cooking.  The performers and MT's do have thermos built into the lid, but they are usually off by about 25 degrees on the new grills.  Not a big deal if you know it 25 cooler at the grate level, but being able to see the exact temp where your meat is sitting and inside of the meat is a good thing.  There are lots of different models so you have a little bit of research you can do on these.  I have the Maverick ET-733 and love it, the ET-732 is a favorite as well for many members here and a little cheaper.

I think I'll leave it with that.  This is a good getting started list.  Once you have these things and figure out if you are doing a lot of smoking, hot cooks, reverse sear, etc, then your wish list is going to go crazy with things like:  rotisserie ring, smoke-n-sear, cold smoking tubes, vortex, ribolator, etc)

[JDD]

Performer.

[Loonysup]

Alright...this is happening.   My local Ace hardware has the copper performer deluxe in stock.   One last question...should I start with lump charcoal or briquettes?   This is literally the first charcoal grill I've ever owned since I've always had Weber gas grills.


David

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[MikeRocksTheRed]

oh man, that is an whole other can of worms you just opened there!  I'd suggest briquettes to start (KBB which is Kingsford in the blue and white bag), then graduate to trying out lump after a few cooks.  Lump isn't really harder just different since the lump will have all kinds of different sizes in it, where the KBB will be very even an consistant.

[LightningBoldtz]

Buy a good briquette. many like stubbs or Kingsford competition.

[MeatAndPotatos]

oh man, that is an whole other can of worms you just opened there!  I'd suggest briquettes to start (KBB which is Kingsford in the blue and white bag), then graduate to trying out lump after a few cooks.  Lump isn't really harder just different since the lump will have all kinds of different sizes in it, where the KBB will be very even an consistant.

Meh just buy lump.
For one, you said it yourself... not harder just different... So why learn something different then switch?

Everyone talks about how lump is all different sizes... So? I have found it to be plenty consistent. Only thing the different sizes matter really is how much fits in an area/burn time.
Assuming that your not grabbing little BB size pieces, and using pieces big enough for some air gap between them (pieces big enough to not fall through baskets and grates)... Temps seem fairly consistent. If the coals are screaming, anything within reasonable sizes seems to cook pretty even to me. More worry about consistency in the thickness of meat then size of lump.
Then again I never really cooked with briquettes so maybe I am missing some ultimate in consistency.