Would you rather dump a charcoal chimney of coals to one side for indirect cooking, or use the two weber charcoal baskets in the orientation shown in the picture?
by noob_investornz
9 Comments
Down2theNubs
Just use one basket. Dump your chimney in it and leave the grate open above it. Any extra you can stack up close to it. That’s plenty of heat for any indirect cook.
GSrider12
I find using both baskets moves the heat too close to the food unless I just use one basket. Dumping the coals just on one side seems to work about the same. Bought the knockoff SNS from Amazon and it works very well for indirect as the water chamber seems to control the heat better and adds moisture. I added the drip tray to redirect the airflow to the coals and it allows me really good temp control
InnocentPrimeMate
Before I go to Slow and Sear, I would often use either the orientation that you have with the baskets, or I would actually push the round parts to the side, so it looked like a Pac-Man with his mouth open. Sometimes, I would bank them, if I wanted a lot of open space on the indirect side.
Also, if I was doing rotisserie, or just one rack of ribs, I would put the meat in the middle over a drip pan, and put the baskets in the either side.
TL;DR. It depends on the space I need. You can’t go wrong with any of them
EC_TWD
Use the baskets – for everything.
I use the baskets together in the center for a sear and then move food off to the sides for indirect. I use them on opposite sides for indirect cooking in the center. I only cook using the baskets unless I use a vortex or a snake for a long cook.
Close your vents when finished and save the charcoal for the next cook. Knock the ashes off with your charcoal rake and then light the existing with a torch (Bernzomatic torch head connected to a 20# propane tank with a 6’ hose) and then add fresh on top. Always fill the baskets full. I add 16-24 new briquettes every cook for pretty much anything under an hour.
I just bought a 26” and haven’t used it yet, but plan to do the same with it. The distance from grate to grate is the same so it shouldn’t use any more fuel but it will give me more room to move food around to dial in temps for indirect cooking – you always have a breast or steak that one side is nearly done but the other is further out, now it’ll be easier to position so the heat goes where I need it
90xjs
The baskets are pretty neat. I’d definitely use them in whatever way you think makes the most sense because it makes cleanup and reusing coals much quicker. I use them in quite a few ways (and more not written down):
1) For direct grilling I orient like you have them, sometimes I leave a small gap (maybe 1/2”-1”) to create a larger sear zone. This is for things that I spend a lot of time cooking on direct heat but still need some space for a cool sone (burgers, boneless skinless chicken things, etc.).
2) For indirect I usually create a “C” with them. In your photo I’d take the one on the left (push it against the outer edge). The one on the right I flip around. If the baskets are D shape, the lower third is sitting against the flat part of the left basket. This kind of creates a ghetto slow n sear.
3) Alternative for indirect, I’ll put one basket on either side. I think you end up with more even cooking on multiple pieces of meat (e.g. bone in chicken thighs) since they’re all a more similar distance to the coals and cooks a bit hotter. There’s less indirect real estate compared to Option 2 above, and you should probably also flip the vent location midway through to ensure even airflow.
Purple-Personality76
I haven’t used baskets for 10 years and have never needed them.
pyrotechnicmonkey
A lot of times a single basket is enough depending on what you’re trying to make. However, I’d highly recommend looking up the bro and sear on YouTube. It’s basically a very simple model where you use those baskets and you combine them into a single one like the slow and sear using a couple of bolts and washers. It’s very nice because it lets you put charcoal along 1/3 of your grill very easily. I find if I put some unlit charcoal as a base and then half a chimney of lit charcoal on top on one side using that method I can get around 400 to 425°f over the indirect side, which is great if I need to grill some chickens. Or if I have mostly unlit and then just about 10 lit charcoals in one corner I can get several hours of around 250°F for smoking. Although if I’m gonna be smoking for longer than five hours, the snake method works a bit better. If you really wanna build up a wall, you can even get some very cheap fire bricks from your local big box hardware store, and build up a small wall on one side of the grill for indirect cooking. It lets you pile up the coal a little bit taller than the baskets, which makes it easier if you want to smoke something for 8+ hours without having to reload the charcoal too many times.
Depends on what I want to do. Two baskets next to each other can run a killer sear setup. Sometimes I’ll finish my cooks that way. Typically I’ll just run one basket with a foil wrap of wood chips above or go snake method. Slow and sear looks cool but unnecessary.
PeriApex
For me it depends on how much food and the shape of it. I’ll sometimes put the two together in the center of the bbq and put food around the sides of the grill for indirect, sometimes use just one off to the side, sometimes use two with one at each side of the bbq so I can do indirect in the middle of them. Totally depends but options are good.
9 Comments
Just use one basket. Dump your chimney in it and leave the grate open above it. Any extra you can stack up close to it. That’s plenty of heat for any indirect cook.
I find using both baskets moves the heat too close to the food unless I just use one basket. Dumping the coals just on one side seems to work about the same. Bought the knockoff SNS from Amazon and it works very well for indirect as the water chamber seems to control the heat better and adds moisture. I added the drip tray to redirect the airflow to the coals and it allows me really good temp control
Before I go to Slow and Sear, I would often use either the orientation that you have with the baskets, or I would actually push the round parts to the side, so it looked like a Pac-Man with his mouth open. Sometimes, I would bank them, if I wanted a lot of open space on the indirect side.
Also, if I was doing rotisserie, or just one rack of ribs, I would put the meat in the middle over a drip pan, and put the baskets in the either side.
TL;DR. It depends on the space I need. You can’t go wrong with any of them
Use the baskets – for everything.
I use the baskets together in the center for a sear and then move food off to the sides for indirect. I use them on opposite sides for indirect cooking in the center. I only cook using the baskets unless I use a vortex or a snake for a long cook.
Close your vents when finished and save the charcoal for the next cook. Knock the ashes off with your charcoal rake and then light the existing with a torch (Bernzomatic torch head connected to a 20# propane tank with a 6’ hose) and then add fresh on top. Always fill the baskets full. I add 16-24 new briquettes every cook for pretty much anything under an hour.
I just bought a 26” and haven’t used it yet, but plan to do the same with it. The distance from grate to grate is the same so it shouldn’t use any more fuel but it will give me more room to move food around to dial in temps for indirect cooking – you always have a breast or steak that one side is nearly done but the other is further out, now it’ll be easier to position so the heat goes where I need it
The baskets are pretty neat. I’d definitely use them in whatever way you think makes the most sense because it makes cleanup and reusing coals much quicker. I use them in quite a few ways (and more not written down):
1) For direct grilling I orient like you have them, sometimes I leave a small gap (maybe 1/2”-1”) to create a larger sear zone. This is for things that I spend a lot of time cooking on direct heat but still need some space for a cool sone (burgers, boneless skinless chicken things, etc.).
2) For indirect I usually create a “C” with them. In your photo I’d take the one on the left (push it against the outer edge). The one on the right I flip around. If the baskets are D shape, the lower third is sitting against the flat part of the left basket. This kind of creates a ghetto slow n sear.
3) Alternative for indirect, I’ll put one basket on either side. I think you end up with more even cooking on multiple pieces of meat (e.g. bone in chicken thighs) since they’re all a more similar distance to the coals and cooks a bit hotter. There’s less indirect real estate compared to Option 2 above, and you should probably also flip the vent location midway through to ensure even airflow.
I haven’t used baskets for 10 years and have never needed them.
A lot of times a single basket is enough depending on what you’re trying to make. However, I’d highly recommend looking up the bro and sear on YouTube. It’s basically a very simple model where you use those baskets and you combine them into a single one like the slow and sear using a couple of bolts and washers. It’s very nice because it lets you put charcoal along 1/3 of your grill very easily. I find if I put some unlit charcoal as a base and then half a chimney of lit charcoal on top on one side using that method I can get around 400 to 425°f over the indirect side, which is great if I need to grill some chickens. Or if I have mostly unlit and then just about 10 lit charcoals in one corner I can get several hours of around 250°F for smoking. Although if I’m gonna be smoking for longer than five hours, the snake method works a bit better. If you really wanna build up a wall, you can even get some very cheap fire bricks from your local big box hardware store, and build up a small wall on one side of the grill for indirect cooking. It lets you pile up the coal a little bit taller than the baskets, which makes it easier if you want to smoke something for 8+ hours without having to reload the charcoal too many times.
https://youtu.be/lb-BLQok6-o?si=5zF3YTlTRRQjsez0
https://youtu.be/lb-BLQok6-o?si=5zF3YTlTRRQjsez0
Depends on what I want to do. Two baskets next to each other can run a killer sear setup. Sometimes I’ll finish my cooks that way.
Typically I’ll just run one basket with a foil wrap of wood chips above or go snake method. Slow and sear looks cool but unnecessary.
For me it depends on how much food and the shape of it. I’ll sometimes put the two together in the center of the bbq and put food around the sides of the grill for indirect, sometimes use just one off to the side, sometimes use two with one at each side of the bbq so I can do indirect in the middle of them. Totally depends but options are good.