I must admit, I haven’t felt this defeated in a long time. I recently attempted reverse searing on my brand new Weber 22-inch grill, and let me tell you, I was a complete novice. I hope my next cooking attempt turns out better. It was definitely a matter of me. Managing the temperatures and being new to charcoal didn’t help matters, but surprisingly, it was strangely enjoyable until the steaks came out overcooked. I left them on the grill and seared them too late. Additionally, I was struggling to maintain a temperature of under 300 degrees Fahrenheit for the first half an hour.
by Main-Earth1434
38 Comments
You have thermometers?
I know how it feels to have super high expectations with results that are not up to snuff. Watch some YouTube video’s, plenty of guidance out there. Maybe start with grilling some steaks and not trying reverse sear. It’s going to be delicious either way. Don’t be too hard on yourself, you got this.
My first cook was a disappointment but I kept reading and learning. I’ll be honest some times it doesn’t turn out how you envisioned. It’s ok come back at it again and try some thing else.
Don’t over think it , get two charcoal baskets , make sure your coals are hot in the chimney.
Let it get hot and put your steaks on the cold side of the grill for 10-12 minutes then sear that sucker. If it’s till overcooked lower the time in the cool side.
If you want it under 300 you need to close the bottom vent between halfway and a quarter open and is the vent on the lid around halfway…after the coals are good and hot. That top vent is the one I use to fine tune the temp.
Its comes with practice. Ive really like dry brining my steak prior. Did you do a two zone cooking set up?
Here’s what I do:
I’ll make a charcoal pile with unlit coals off to one side. I will light only six or seven coals in the charcoal chimney. When they’re about halfway ashed over, I place them in the middle of the pile. Once the grill is above 165, on go the steaks on the cool side of the kettle. The heat will increase as more coals catch fire. Manage that with the vents. When the steaks are around 115, pull them. Open up all the dampers, or even just take the lid completely off. Your coals will rapidly get very hot, so you can get that nice final sear.
It’s all about how you set up your coals for the cook. In this case, I want a hot fire at the end. If I want a low and slow cook, that’s when I do the snake method and the six or seven coals are placed at one end of the snake.
You’ll get there, keep trying
The baskets do help. Your next cook will come out better. If I reverse sear (which I always do) I will make sure to put the steaks all the way on the opposite side of the grill. I’ll go by the temp it seems to be running at. Sometimes it just runs hotter. If it’s hotter, I just reduce the time I leave it on the grill. I find the bottom vent to control the heat of the coals more so than the top, which is contrary to what someone said earlier. If you close bottom vents completely your temp will generally pause within a few minutes max and then go down. Playing around with the combo of the two just takes a little getting used to.
Fun part is the kettle is the process. It’s abstract in a way and rustic and the best part of grilling imo.
It takes time 💪 I recommend getting some charcoal baskets they do wonders
Grab ya a set of baskets. I love mine. When I do steaks , I light a full chimney. Dump in the baskets and push them to the back. Put grate in , put lid on and open top and bottom vents wide open. I give the grill bout 15 mins to get everything hot. Lay my steaks on the cool side. Put lid on and check every 5 mins or so until they hit 120. Pull em and let em rest , leave the lid off until the coals get white hot again then I sear each side directly over the coals a minute or so or until they probe 130. Lay them on a bed of butter and lay a foil tent over them until the butter has melted down and made a gravy of sorts and enjoy
That’s what she said.
Reverse searing is the wrong technique for beginners. Try to sear first, and then finish the cooking indirect. This allows you to pull the steak at the exact temperature you want. There isn’t much difference in the crust you get, but you get much better control.
I’d recommend doing a dry run or cooking something that you can pull off at any time like corn on the cob or potatoes
Practice maintaining different temps before you throw expensive cuts of meat on there again. Try maintaining 225°, 275° and maybe 350°. There’s a lot of variables. But having the right amount of charcoal in the grill is imperative. Too many hot coals and it’s way too difficult to maintain a lower temp. Second tip would be to try to leave the top vent open and just control the temperature with the bottom vent as much as you can. After you get that down you can fine tune with the top vent.
Try not to get to discouraged. It was only your first time. It takes a long time for most of us to “master” it. But with a little bit of practice you’ll be producing awesome cooks in no time!
I’d also recommend checking out Meathead’s website, amazingribs.com It ain’t all about ribs. Lots of good info on there. Happy grilling!
So my suggestion if it isn’t already said is put some water trays next to the coals and that will steady your temperature a bit and provide some moisture, it’s definitely a learning curve and so fun to cook on weekends, you can make anything in these, keep at it and you’ll absolutely find success
There is a learning curve to becoming confident on charcoal. Keep at it. You’ll get there.
You’ve probably done this already…but watch a bunch of YT videos on charcoal grilling.
Also – buy an inexpensive meat thermometer. I bought a wired setup for like 20 bucks and it made all the difference
Don’t worry like everyone else has said you learn more every time. Last summer I grilled chicken fajitas which I do various parts or whole chicken frequently. This time though for whatever reason I removed it from the marinade. Then patted them with olive oil while I started the fire. After they sat oiled I had constant flare up’s. I told my wife it was charcoal chicken.
Snake method for slow cooking, vortex for the hot stuff…that’s all you need to learn the ropes
Start with pork butt to learn and gain confidence. Almost impossible to screw up and you can turn it into so meals
Best color, blue for the win 🏆
No pics of the after meat?
Keep practicing. The amount and type of charcoal, as well as placement definitely makes a big difference with temps. If you don’t have a good multi probe thermometer I highly recommend one. Wired as opposed to wireless to start. Keep it simple. The wireless ones tend to cut out and are a pain in the ass. Don’t go crazy, really you just need 2 probes. One for ambient and one for protein.
I came here to commiserate how terrible the instructions are to put that thing together but seems I was wrong lol.
As far as the grilling itself, you’ll get there. Takes time, some fails will still be edible. Don’t lose too much sleep over it.
More importantly than all of that is getting that grill off that deck, please! So many structure fires are started by grill accidents. Get a spot in the yard or garden or driveway, whatever. Just get the hot metal top heavy thing off the extremely flammable thing.
I always sear first on the kettle. Use a chimney to get the coals started. Put coals on one side and put the top vent opposite the coals to make two zones. Get the coals ripping hot. Put the steaks over them and flip often until seared. Keep the lid off while searing. A little fat flaming up on the steaks is actually a good thing in moderation.
Then move them to the cool side with the lid on and the vent over the steaks. Move the bottom vent to the second dot and close the top vent down to 1/2″ ish. Aim for a grate level temp of 300. I used a stepped drill bit to put a small tell tru at about grate level, the top thermometer is almost useless.
Flip a couple times checking their temp every 5 min until you get the hang of it and pull them before they hit the doneness temp you want because they’ll carry over a bit. Basically what he said. https://youtu.be/4obx-InjT84
You don’t need the Slow and Sear for steak, but I use one and it makes life a little easier.
Get a vortex. Super easy to use. You don’t have to mess with the vents, just keep them wide open.
Using a Weber is like choking your chicken, the more you do it the better you get…
Don’t worry, you’ll get there!
I like to have my coals on one side and the meat on the other. Use a wired temp gauge. I just have a Weber one. The wire just sits under the lid.
Cook at 200c until your meat comes up to 42-45c
Lid off and sear direct over coals until meat comes up to 54-56c
If you like more crust start your sear when the meat is 40deg
This is using a piece of applewood for smoke flavour while doing the offset
https://preview.redd.it/xl2br0fb9lhg1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de5888866208c2119acc5b0051b9a0eb586f01fd
I recently bought a Weber also – anytime I cook a steak, I care about temperature of the steak and sear.
I want my grill to be super hot. I do 1 charcoal chimney, once I pour it I let my grill heat up for about 10 minutes. Put all your charcoal to one side.
Place your steak on the cool side – I give it about 6 minutes on each side. Once in about 15 degrees from my final temp I put it directly over the coals usually about 1-2 minutes on each side but constantly checking the temp until I’m about 5 degrees away from where I want it.
Probably not the best method, but it works for me and only takes 15-20 minutes of actually cooking time
YouTube will be your best friend along with trial and error. I learned so much just by watching pit masters and other cooks explain their methods.
Pushing the coals to one side and putting the steak on the grill at the other end is the way to slowly bring the temperature of the steak up. Judicious use of thermometer to check.
I do that until the steak reaches 110 degrees, then move it over the stacked coals to sear, only 1-2 minutes per side. Pull at 125, let it rest and coast to about 135. That’s medium rare for me (or slightly towards medium) depending on steak thickness. You can arrest the temp gain by slicing.
You can do it!
Hang in there it’s definitely worth it nothing is better than charcoal!
Keep at it you’ll get it dialed in for sure. I like to take the steak off the grill for a few minutes to let the temperature drop before searing. Seems to help me anyway. Give a tri tip a shot if you can get one – it’s pretty forgiving – and see if you can get the temps to hold around 275-300.
If you don’t have a temp probe that’s a must!
You tried to do two things simultaneously. Going from low and slow to screaming hot is a challenge. Option 1, just grill the steaks normally over hot coals. They will taste amazing. Option 2 for a reverse sear, arrange coals so they burn very slowly…ie the snake method. Then finish on a screaming hot gas grill or cast iron pan on the stovetop.
I just forward sear. There’s a bunch of hot coals in the beginning. Then they chill out after the sear. Just move the meat over and hit your target temp.
Get a slow and sear. One of the best investments you can make for your Weber.