Churrasqueiro Bob
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2011
- Location
- Boston, MA
Sorry for the n00b questions. I have been using a gasser for many years and just gave charcoal a try again very recently. I bought a Weber Smokey Joe Silver to get my get my feet wet, or should I say smoke in my eyes. :-D From what I have been reading here, the SJS isn't the greatest when it comes to keeping a good fire burning, especially with the lid on. It seems to be an air flow problem. Anyway, I have several cooks under my belt as I have been using it almost daily. I am grilling, not smoking or long cooks.
I use a Weber chimney to get the charcoal started. I have used Royal Oak lump, Stubb's and Kingsford blue briquettes. For direct cooking, the RO lump burns the hottest, followed by Stubbs and Kinford. If I put the lid on, it does make the fire diminish somewhat, with the Kingford being the most affected.
I have done a few indirect cooks too, but not with the lump yet, just the K and Stubbs. I have used the split fire as suggested by Weber and also fire on one side, cook on the other. I have had problems with the split fire, especially when the lid is on. I had excellent results the other night using Stubbs on half the grill, even with the lid on. I had a nice for for an hour or more. I repeated the procedure with the Kingsford and had much poorer results. In fact, I had to add some lit Stubbs to the grill to finish my cooking. The K wouldn't tolerate the lid on for more than a few minutes at a time. There was no such problem with the Stubbs. The Stubbs burns hotter and longer, with less ash.
I am using more charcoal than Weber suggests, about 40 briquettes for an indirect cook, and even more for direct, although most of my direct cooking has been over lump. I am also piling the charcoal a few layers deep as a single layer just hasn't worked for me at all. I see pics posted here of the full size Weber kettles and it looks like they are using the same amount of charcoal that I am using in the SJS. Also, it looks like a single layer in some of the pics.
What am I doing wrong? Is it easier on a full size kettle? Does the charcoal make that much of a difference? Does Kingford perform better on a bigger grill? Is the Stubbs performance really that much better? How would the lump perform for indirect grilling?
I would appreciate any help or suggestions, info etc. Please help me improve my techniques. How much charcoal should I use? How should I place it on the grate? Again, sorry for such a long post and for the lack of experience.
I use a Weber chimney to get the charcoal started. I have used Royal Oak lump, Stubb's and Kingsford blue briquettes. For direct cooking, the RO lump burns the hottest, followed by Stubbs and Kinford. If I put the lid on, it does make the fire diminish somewhat, with the Kingford being the most affected.
I have done a few indirect cooks too, but not with the lump yet, just the K and Stubbs. I have used the split fire as suggested by Weber and also fire on one side, cook on the other. I have had problems with the split fire, especially when the lid is on. I had excellent results the other night using Stubbs on half the grill, even with the lid on. I had a nice for for an hour or more. I repeated the procedure with the Kingsford and had much poorer results. In fact, I had to add some lit Stubbs to the grill to finish my cooking. The K wouldn't tolerate the lid on for more than a few minutes at a time. There was no such problem with the Stubbs. The Stubbs burns hotter and longer, with less ash.
I am using more charcoal than Weber suggests, about 40 briquettes for an indirect cook, and even more for direct, although most of my direct cooking has been over lump. I am also piling the charcoal a few layers deep as a single layer just hasn't worked for me at all. I see pics posted here of the full size Weber kettles and it looks like they are using the same amount of charcoal that I am using in the SJS. Also, it looks like a single layer in some of the pics.
What am I doing wrong? Is it easier on a full size kettle? Does the charcoal make that much of a difference? Does Kingford perform better on a bigger grill? Is the Stubbs performance really that much better? How would the lump perform for indirect grilling?
I would appreciate any help or suggestions, info etc. Please help me improve my techniques. How much charcoal should I use? How should I place it on the grate? Again, sorry for such a long post and for the lack of experience.