Brand new to charcoal cooking. Have always cooked on propane and picked up a Weber kettle to learn to smoke on. Doing a little burn off tonight and will start with some ribs tomorrow for the first attempt.
Wanted to pick your all’s brain. What’s something you wish you knew starting out or maybe some words of wisdom?
by Forover100years
50 Comments
Buying high quality charcoal saves you money.
It is a very tasteful journey with many tasty mistakes my friend. Amazingribs.com , Franklin bbq YouTube
Don’t open the lid to see how things are going too much. Everytime you open that lid, you’re delaying the cooking and are more prone to temp swings. Trust the process and let her do her thing
1. Snake method/modified Minion method
2. Temp control/Fire management
3. The indispensable nature of a good instant read thermometer
If you don’t have time to have a beer, your doing it wrong! 🤣🤣
Buy a cover!! so you can protect it when its in standby mode
Use the indirect method as much as possible. Coals on 1/2, nothing on the other. Cook over the no coals side, sear/finish over coals.
Two-zone cooking.
Keep it simple
Just have fun, enjoy the cook, have a beer, and listen to sounds of nature.
For me grilling on my gas Weber or charcoal kettle is better than therapy.
Be sure to light your charcoal otherwise your meat will NOT cook!!
That I could smoke with a kettle!
If you lookin, you ain’t cookin
There is a time frame in your late 20s to 30s where a lot of the women you meet will be divorced or post serious relationships with kids, making dating a bit more difficult.
Use a chimney and never use starter fluid or matchlight or similar charcoal.
We would ultimately defeat wokeism.
I went 6 months throwing leftover charcoal away. Can’t believe i didnt know to reuse the leftovers
Use a chimney starter and Weber starter cubes
Enjoy yourself is rule 1, and rule 2 is consume a beverage or two to enhance rule 1.
I have a 26 in. I consider this my outdoor oven. I joke that I mostly bake. Left side of my grill is the hot zone w coals. Right side is where I start most of my cooking whether it’s burgers, dogs, chicken or fish. I finish very briefly over direct heat. Also use snake method for longer cooks like brisket or ribs which is also baking.
I measure my cooks in number of beers. Burgers are a 1.5-2 beer cook. Chicken is 2-3 or more. Fish is 1-1.5. 😂😂😂
Edit: fixed a spelling error
I should have bought a Spider Huntsman grill instead of the Weber kettle and the Spider Venom.
If you want great chicken wings or thighs, get a Vortex for hot and fast.
Don’t sweat infrequent and short temperature spikes on long cooks.
I started Weber charcoal grilling in 1994 when I was in my 20s. My FIL introduced me with his hand me down kettle. Any 21st century modern advice would have been welcome. We didn’t have the snake method, SnS, rotisserie, vortex, baskets, upper deck, Bluetooth thermometers, or premium charcoals. I did learn to smoke on the kettle though. Briskets and ribs turned out really well after I figured it out. Too bad about the whole time travel paradox discussion, though. I could have been the OGriller. 😜
Gotta click the tongs twice. Started doing it after my first dozen failed attempts and instantly became better.
How many ladies charcoal grilling would attract 😏😏
0. The answer is 0
Beer goes down 10x faster when grilling/smoking
BBQing is not a season, it is a state of mind.
Slow n sear grill grates and baffle are overly complicated. Pass.
The blowtorch is the way to go
Instant light has no home in real bbq ..
You’ve already got the #1 accessory, the chimney. I am interested in what 2nd-tier rack that it though. Here are other accessories that I would suggest:
* Slow-n-sear (get the deluxe w/ the removable water tray. Watch Amazon for sales)
* Rotisserie (oh, the places you will go!)
* Performer conversion cart (again, check Amazon. For ~$175 +/- you can buy a cart to convert your kettle to a Performer.
* Vortex (a bit redundant to a S-n-S, but serves a different purpose. Great for small things (e.g. wings) that you can spread in a circle for indirect heat.
* Instant read thermometer (I’m a big fan of things from ThermoWorks)
* Wireless probe thermometers (a must for rotisserie cooks)
* Round steel insert (3/8″ thick minimum) for either pizza or smash burgers)
The sky is the limit after that.
Keep it simple and have fun.
if you can skip charcoal and use wood it does take longer to get right but adds a better flavor.
Get a 2nd charcoal grate and set it perpendicular to the one that’s in there and your coals don’t fall through into the ash as quickly.
Biggest thing I wish I knew is to be patient and don’t stress. Some cooks go great, some not so much especially when you are learning. You will learn your way of doing things to produce good food. Don’t always follow other folks methods 100% if your gut tells you otherwise. You’ll find your way, and even if something doesn’t come out right, it usually isn’t a waste, you can always repurpose it for another dish. Think chili, soups, stews, or tacos. Speaking of soups, save those bones from your cooks for stock, I never buy any stock from the store I make my own. Good luck! And enjoy the kettle, I have 2 and I love them!
Wish I spent the extra on the premium ash catcher. So you are already ahead.
Don’t rush the start. The chimney will help getting everything warm and burning nice, but if you’re building a bigger banked fire or doing the snake method give it plenty of time for the fire to stabilize (with lid shut, grill on, and vents set) before introducing food. Much cleaner and better tasting food will result.
Second, burgers are the bomb if you cook them indirect and aren’t soaking them with burning grease smoke. Can’t understate this.
Don’t adjust the vents until you wait 10 minutes.
Don’t worry about hitting an exact smoking temp. A range is fine, let it ride.
Any youtube video with a fat dude making the food, dial back the ingredients/volume
Salt pepper garlic is king
Learn the snake method, use a water pan with boiling water. Don’t add too much smoking wood
Don’t buy store brand charcoal
A lot of smoke isn’t good
Most people’s palates are terrible so don’t sweat it if you think it missed the mark.
It shouldn’t take 5 hours to do ribs
If you plan a meal or party finish early and hold the meat. I like to give myself 2 hour extra window
Don’t let grease build up at the bottom, if possible store in a garage or covered patio
Have fun, drink beer.
How flimsy a Weber grill really is.
How bad Weber customer service can be
Patients, trial/error, research.
If you’re looking you ain’t cooking.
How obsessed I would become about Weber kettle grills and all the accessories 🤣
A table attachment or a performer are a game changer.
No more juggling around or trying to find a place to set things.
Chimney is essential and learning to use less charcoal is clutch.
Also, royal oak lump is the shiz.
Fire configurations.
B&B
What’s helpful is to notes on each cook and when making improvements limit the amount of variables to give good feedback. Also prep as much as possible so you’re just focused on temp control. I’ve only ever cooked on a kettle and it’s been great. Enjoy!
Temperature not Time
Only the result matters. Trust your gut and learn to adapt. There are few strict rules.
Electric smokers suck
Always use a grill cover and don’t get a cheap one.
I wish I had known that I couldn’t find a better charcoal grill than a Weber kettle. It would have saved me a lot of money buying other grills.
I also wish I had Slow ‘N Sear insert when I first became aware of them. It has revolutionized the way I cook on the kettle.