I think I'm about to pick one of these up

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-One-Touch-Gold-22-1-2-in-Charcoal-Grill-in-Black-1351001/203597028#.UcG8Qefryoc

6/19/2013 10:13:25 AM

^I love our weber charcoal.

Since the last post never gets read:

Has anyone ever used an infrared grill before? Specifically the charbroil infrared or weber genesis attachment?

6/19/2013 12:49:59 PM

^^might as well go ahead and double your money and get an Akorn. it'll do everything that kettle will do plus so much more and it'll do it with a fraction of the charcoal.

6/19/2013 1:15:15 PM

Made some great London broils last night. Had them marinading in teriyaki / brown sugar for 4 days.

We used a bunch of match light for a base and once they got white we threw on natural lump char coal and it got super, super hot and we got a great sear and then finished it in the oven with a meat thermometer.

I can't speak more highly of lump charcoal and how much better the taste / heat was.

7/11/2013 11:25:49 AM

i have a small Weber Smokey Joe grill for me and my girlfriend to grill on. i'm still getting the hang of it as i've never been a charcoal guy; always used gas grills. but i gotta say, every time i've made london broil steaks on it, they've come out so juicy and delicious. while charcoal is a bigger pain, i think the flavor is so much better over gas.

7/11/2013 11:30:37 AM

Bacon wrapped corn on the cob wrapped in foil. Awesome.

7/11/2013 11:34:13 AM

that sounds amazing.

7/11/2013 11:35:24 AM

you should google "mini WSM". you use a tamale pot and some other odds and ends to turn your smokey joe into an awesome little water smoker. you can turn it right back into standard smokey joe form, so it's very versatile.

Quote :

"We used a bunch of match light for a base and once they got white we threw on natural lump char coal and it got super, super hot and we got a great sear and then finished it in the oven with a meat thermometer"

you should try setting up your grill for dual zone (direct for searing, indirect for roasting) cooking so you can do it all on the grill. then do the roasting first and finish with the searing. this is called reverse searing. you can do it in either order, but it's easier to roast it first and then get the heat way up for a sear instead of cooling it down from searing temps to roast.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 12:34 PM. Reason : asdf]

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 12:34 PM. Reason : also, skip the match light and go all lump]

7/11/2013 12:28:51 PM

the problem I've found is that digital thermometers break in grills whereas you can leave them in the meat in the oven to make sure you get it perfect. My charcoal grill doesn't have thermometer and I'm not experienced enough to try to get it to 350-375 consistently. I'd definitely try that for other meats though, particularly chicken. This London broil turned out fantastic though and it's a family recipe so we've cooked a lot of them but the lump coal was just awesome.

7/11/2013 1:12:06 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Remington-Wireless-BBQ-Thermometer-17339/dp/B008PU3OJ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373562860&sr=8-1&keywords=remington+meat+thermometer

this is a Maverick ET-732. you clip an air temp probe to the grate and stick the meat temp probe in the meat. the probe leads are braided stainless and will be fine. the wireless receiver has a range of 300 feet.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 1:24 PM. Reason : on overnight cooks, i set alarms for air temp and go to sleep.]

also, here's a link to a special open box/refurb sale on Thermapens. this is the standard in instant-read meat thermometers. they use a thermocouple, so they give an accurate reading in just a few seconds instead of the 30 seconds or more that cheap thermometers require. these are selling out quick. the sale is not advertised on their site and the link only went out to folks on their mailing list.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/splashproof_thermapen_open_box_sale_july_2013.html?utm_source=Nl-2013July9&utm_medium=email&utm_term=title&utm_content=inbox&utm_campaign=13_summer_openbox-cs

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 1:31 PM. Reason : asdf]

7/11/2013 1:22:18 PM

damn, that's a pretty good discount on those things. never seen all those colors either.

7/11/2013 5:07:12 PM

Those things look cool, but I can't justify $75 for a meat thermometer. Maybe if I grilled more :shrug:

7/11/2013 5:10:46 PM

Did 3 steaks, shrimp, zucchini, and mahi last weekend.

Mahi was the best I've ever cooked fish, though maybe a slight bit under. I had 2 of the 3 steaks at a perfect medium rare.... but those two guests wanted medium , the third steak (mine) was a overdone at little less than medium. Overcooked the crap out of the shrimp, though I figured I would (I'm allergic to shrimp, thus I don't cook it normally, and I thought it was supposed to get to a more white color than translucent). The Zucchini was great.

Also got another cup holder and 3 utensil holders for the grill


On another note, how clean do you all keep your grill? I clean/wash mine after each use, though I can't get a good bit of stuff of of the grate and pan (admittedly, I haven't really tried hard to clean it; just scraped, spray with cleaner, and rinsed).

7/11/2013 6:19:00 PM

^sounds like you need to grab one of those thermometers

wadded up aluminum foil is good for scraping burnt-on bits off of metal.

7/11/2013 6:57:21 PM

Quote :

"I clean/wash mine [before] each use"

I just heat the shit out of the grill (or maybe just the section I wanna cook on) before I'm about to cook and scrape the shit off with a brush. Works for me. I won't use a cleanser...don't like the idea of dousing my cooking surface with chemicals.

7/11/2013 7:22:38 PM

^^

^well, I do that too (heat, brush, and scrape prior to cooking).

7/11/2013 7:43:29 PM

don't clean it. all that brown shit is the only flavor you're gonna get out of a gas grill.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 7:49 PM. Reason : brush the grate, but that's it]

actually, you do need to make sure that excessive drippings don't build up. they will catch on fire and turn your grill into a fireball. but cleaning it out every time is excessive.

there's truth in the flavor thing. there's a reason weber calls their burner covers "flavorizer bars".

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 7:51 PM. Reason : adfs]

7/11/2013 7:48:44 PM

picked up a Weber Genesis off craigslist today. no side burner, no sear station. brown porcelain model. $300 for what probably cost $700-800 new.

also got a Weber Performer Platinum off craigslist for $100. pretty much a 22.5" One-Touch Gold built into a rolling cart with a table, charcoal bin, and propane charcoal lighting system.

[Edited on August 4, 2013 at 4:57 PM. Reason : got a 22.5" One-Touch Silver for $30. gonna use the lid and grates to build a UDS.]

8/4/2013 4:52:53 PM

i guess since i didn't cook this meal on my kamado then it needs to go in this thread instead. probably just gonna start posting everything in this one.

here's the Weber Performer i picked up off CL:


and here are the chicken thighs i cooked on it tonight:


cooked them indirect skin up and then went skin down direct for a few mins to crisp the skin.

and here's the Weber Genesis i got off CL loaded up and headed to its new home:

8/5/2013 7:03:48 PM

i spatchcocked a chicken and brined it for 9 hours. patted the skin dry and rubbed it with veg oil and Chachere's cajun seasoning:



cooked it indirect at 350-375 with some pecan wood:



this was by far the juiciest chicken i've ever had. the brining worked well. the legs and wings were a little on the salty side, so next time i'd probably shorten the brine time to 6 or 7 hours. otherwise, this was excellent.

8/10/2013 9:14:28 PM

Smoked 2 boston butts on the chargriller today. Brought 1 to 180 degrees to slice and the other t0 199 for pulling. Burning nothing but hickory.

8/10/2013 11:34:27 PM

i normally pull my butts off around 185, is 200 a better approach?

8/11/2013 11:55:55 AM

Pull it when an ice pick goes in like in butter. This will be closer to 200 than 185. Temp is only a guide.

8/11/2013 2:07:10 PM

180 was actually too high for slicing in my opinion. Next time I think i will bring one up to 170 for slicing. ^^ I have always had good results between 195 and 200 degrees for pulling pork. You can pull at 180 or so but they never break down enough for me and I end up doing alot of chopping.

8/11/2013 2:43:40 PM

if you want slices, just cook some pork chops

8/11/2013 8:42:28 PM

Anyone watch them make the BBQ meatloaf on BBQ pitmasters today? Definitely wrapped in bacon.

8/18/2013 8:43:50 PM

Anyone watch them make the BBQ meatloaf on BBQ pitmasters today? Definitely wrapped in bacon.

8/18/2013 8:43:50 PM

Anyone watch them make the BBQ meatloaf on BBQ pitmasters today? Definitely wrapped in bacon.

8/18/2013 8:43:50 PM

Anyone watch them make the BBQ meatloaf on BBQ pitmasters today? Definitely wrapped in bacon.

8/18/2013 8:43:50 PM

Anyone watch them make the BBQ meatloaf on BBQ pitmasters today? Definitely wrapped in bacon.

8/18/2013 8:43:50 PM

Cedar Plank salmon on the egg grill.

8/19/2013 9:00:06 PM

That looks like a piece of corn

8/19/2013 9:07:29 PM

Moving into first home in November. Anyone have recommendations for a solid grill to start with? Or should I just start feet first into something like the Big Green Egg?

Have been in a condo for about 7 years, so no grilling in a while.

10/21/2013 9:46:40 AM

This might be a good time of year to scope out some used grills off CL. You want charcoal? Weber is a pretty popular brand...

10/21/2013 9:50:47 AM

weber kettle. go ahead and get the 22.5" version. used off craigslist is fine as long as there isn't a bunch of rust. you can get a replacement for any part on it.

or the chargriller akorn. very versatile grill.

10/21/2013 9:53:13 AM

I own the one at the top of this page and love it, but see if you can find one like NRR did that has a shelf or two on the side...

10/21/2013 10:42:44 AM

^4 Honestly the BGE is a name. All of its competitors have advantages over it. I own (and sell) Primos which have a lot of advantages over the egg and I'll readily admit the Akorn and a few of the others offer 95% of the benefits of mine or a BGE for like 40% of the cost. I'm actually considering picking one up because I want a 2nd ceramic cooker and can get it cheaper than my cost on a Primo.

And a Weber kettle is going to be all the grill that 95% of people will ever need. Unless you want to do a LOT of grilling (or "specialty" stuff like smoking/pizza temps/need surface versatility) a Weber kettle will serve you very well. I'm a fan of the Weber Performer if you can find a good deal. The table and propane ignition are pretty useful.

10/21/2013 6:28:55 PM

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most of that was cooked on my Akorn. some of it on the Performer. i've also got a Genesis for when i'm in a hurry.

10/21/2013 6:34:28 PM

Get the egg.

10/21/2013 8:50:53 PM

Appreciate the responses. I'm thinking I may just go with a gas grill for now, don't really want to deal with the mess of charcoal for what will most likely be quick usage to cook enough food for two.

10/24/2013 12:52:53 PM

if you're making a mess with charcoal, then you either bought a piece of crap grill or you aren't too bright

10/24/2013 1:36:51 PM

Haha, I more or less meant that firing up a gas grill will be easier / cleaner than dealing with charcoal / ash.

10/24/2013 2:00:41 PM

it's really not that much hassle. stuff some paper under a chimney starter and pour in some charcoal or pile up some charcoal, soak a few cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol, toss them on top and light them.

clean up cosists of dumping an ash pan after it cools down. it takes 30 seconds.

quit being a wuss.

10/24/2013 4:53:57 PM

It is slightly more labor intensive, but it's oh so worth it.

Quote :

"soak a few cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol, toss them on top and light them"

Hmm never heard of that before. That how you normally start your chimney?

10/24/2013 5:22:27 PM

would it not work better to start the fire from below?

10/24/2013 6:03:51 PM

^^no, i start the chimney by just sitting it over the propane-assisted starting thing in the Weber Performer. before i had the performer i used newspaper.

^depends on how many coals you want to light. i use the volcano method for smoking.

10/24/2013 6:40:57 PM

ah, gotcha. similar to the minion method i suppose (same idea anyway.)

10/24/2013 7:37:09 PM

http://www.amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/grills/charcoal_grills_vs_gas_grills.html

10/24/2013 11:45:39 PM

did a pork shoulder the other night. ~8.5 pounds. Dry rubbed seasoning and left overnight. Smoked it indirectly at low temp for 7 hours with hickory and oak (jack daniels barrel chips). turned out well, I think.

10/26/2013 2:05:24 PM

if you want to keep it from turning black like that, you can wrap it in foil whenever the bark gets to the color you want and finish cooking the rest of the way in the foil. black bark like that will occur if you have a lot of sugar in the rub.

10/26/2013 4:53:54 PM