Charcoal Grill Help Needed

[Kismet]

Every now and then, I'll soak game in salt water over-night to get any blood out of the meat.

You killing your own poultry these days, Brian?

 

[jmings]

My alcoholic, brain-damaged (fell on his head from a roof) nephew from Ohio is a big fan of (groan) propane grills (I may vomit). He was did the BBQ here once. Removed the lid and covered the grate with several layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. "Jesus Christ!" I said. "Why even bother to cook outside. You could have done the same thing on the stove."
He then started waxing poetic about deep frying fowl on a propane grill.

Deep Fried Turkey

 

[Yvsa]

There are chimneys and then there are Chimneys! We found a really nice chimney at our local grill and BBQ dealership here and then found the same thing at Lowes for our daughter out in Phoenix a few years back the Chimneys are made of heavier gauge steel than the cheap little chimneys and last a helluva lot longer!
We like 'em not only because there is *Never* any lighter fluid taste or expense and with one or two sheets of loosely wadded up newspaper the charcoal is usually ready in 20 minutes or less!
We had a Weber for years but I really love and prefer the grills and BBQ'ers that are made like those made from a 30 gallon barrel so I finally got one of These...

We've used ours for several years now while the old Weber that still looks as good as new sets lonely on the other side of the patio. I think Barbie finally gave it away just a few days ago.:thumbup:

 

[Alagator]

Natural lump is the way to go. If you want a quick start, use an electric starter, otherwise the chimney works great and requires no nearby power outlet. To quick cook, spread the hot coals and place the steaks over them. For slow indirect cooking, leave the coals piled on one side, place the meat on the other , put the lid vent over the meat side. Throw hickory or pecan wood on the coals, the vent arrangement puts the hot smoke on the meat. Use a quick read thermometer, and remember that roasts will heat at least 10 degrees hotter AFTER you take them off, so don't overcook. I cook venison or fish on my Weber at least twice a week year round. I have one at home, one at hunt camp, and one at a friend's house on the coast. Catch of the day just doesn't get any better-- from the boat to the plate in less than an hour.

 

[Andrew Taylor]

There are chimneys and then there are Chimneys! We found a really nice chimney at our local grill and BBQ dealership here and then found the same thing at Lowes for our daughter out in Phoenix a few years back the Chimneys are made of heavier gauge steel than the cheap little chimneys and last a helluva lot longer!
We like 'em not only because there is *Never* any lighter fluid taste or expense and with one or two sheets of loosely wadded up newspaper the charcoal is usually ready in 20 minutes or less!
We had a Weber for years but I really love and prefer the grills and BBQ'ers that are made like those made from a 30 gallon barrel so I finally got one of These...

We've used ours for several years now while the old Weber that still looks as good as new sets lonely on the other side of the patio. I think Barbie finally gave it away just a few days ago.:thumbup:

That looks like the right hand version of this left handed version by Broil King. This was at the Toronto Ribfest weekend.

 

[Kevin the grey]

I have found several stores (not just in the south) where you can get a FREE Bar-B-Q Grill! This is not a joke. You can get a free BBQ grill from any of the following stores:


A&P
Winco Foods
Albertsons
Costco
Food Lion
Fry's
Kroger
Big Lots
Brookshire's
Meijer
Publix
Safeway
Sam's Club
Target
Vons
Wal-Mart
Winn-Dixie

I especially like the higher shelf which can be used for keeping things warm![/QUOTE]

My last chuckle of the night .
Do me a favor . Get a small hand mirror . Go stand in front of the bathroom mirror and hold the small mirror to the back of your neck so that it is reflected in the larger mirror .
Could you please tell me just how red your neck is ? L:O:L

 

[Shann]

Thanks for the input. I put together the Weber and fired it up last night. The chimney was the best idea. No fuss, no muss, just crumple a couple of sheets of newspaper put in the bottom of chimney, fill with charcoal and away you go. It was almost as easy as a gas grill (just as easy if the gas grills electric starter is shot). The only difference was the warm up time. I usually let my gas grill warm up for 10-15 minutes.

I let the charcoal go for about a half hour and then cooked. I think I should wait a little longer, maybe 5-10 minutes, because the charcoal was still red, not a uniform grey ash, but we had a flash thunderstorm last night and I wanted to get supper done before the rain started.

I cooked a NY Strip and a couple of boneless pork spare ribs and they were both awesome. Nothing fancy, since I didn't have any time. Just rubbed them with olive oil and dusted with garlic salt and black pepper. Tonight I'm going to try to cook some chicken!

 

[Kismet]

Shann?

You have now become a novice addict! As you progress, you will develop a greater addiction, twitching at bags of flavored wood chips, turning your head sharply as you walk past picnic sites and smell a new scent of barbequeing.

You may come to the point of snow-storm grilling, laughing at the gods of weather as you shake your flipping fork in their faces, your arm movement hampered by the layers of clothes you have to have on just to survive; a small, maniacal rant mumbling from your lips.

Welcome to cult of weber. Remember to start making notations of how many shakes of water you use to subdue the coals and get the "just perfect" radiant heat.

 

[Bri in Chi]

Let us keep the two subjects - grilling and barbecuing - separate. They both share certain equipment and materials in common, but the philosophy and technique are totally different. The youthful among us might prefer the hot and quick satisfaction of grilling, but those of us who have achieved some wisdom with the mellowness of age realize that low and slow barbecue provides a deeper and more spiritual satisfaction.

 

[Kismet]

Shann? Keep away from Brian. He marinates!!!

(A long, slow, inevitable descent into the cult of the coals. Sad, really.)

 

[ShadowchaserUFP]

There's a place on the net called Barbecue'n On The Internet that is a great resource for beginners and aficionados alike. I would post the url but not certain if that is allowed here. Just do a Google search for it. Lot's of great information there. Personally, I used to use charcoal chimneys all of the time, now I use an electric element starter instead. No need for open flame at all and it is economical as well. Never liked fluids as no matter what, if you smoke meat you will get residue (don't mean to offend David, but it is true). One item of note though, if you do smoke meats, you have just got to try smoked eggs. They are absolutely GREAT!! Just take a hard boiled egg after you have finished your meats, shell it and place it on the grill with some fresh smoking wood. Leave it on there with the lid closed for 15 minutes and then place them in an air-tight container. CAUTION: When eating these, do so with moderation or you will drive everyone out of the house after eggs follow their natural progression LOL.

Enjoy!!!

Meats, vegetables, fruit, even eggs, nothing is safe from MY grill

Jack

 

[Shann]

Let us keep the two subjects - grilling and barbecuing - separate. They both share certain equipment and materials in common, but the philosophy and technique are totally different. The youthful among us might prefer the hot and quick satisfaction of grilling, but those of us who have achieved some wisdom with the mellowness of age realize that low and slow barbecue provides a deeper and more spiritual satisfaction.

I'm in the grilling stage right now. I want to get "comfortable" with the grill so I know how to adjust the temperature and get a feel for using charcoal. Don't know if I'll ever get to the all day long long and slow barbecue but I would like to learn how to do whole chickens, roasts and ribs.

 

[Kevin the grey]

There is a recipe for a whole chicken that requires you stand the chicken up and insert a full beer into the neck opening . Obviously the bird has to be made to stay up and you have to open the beer first .

If you don,t open the beer first it saves on the time necessary to cut up the chicken . L:O:L

 

[Shann]

There is a recipe for a whole chicken that requires you stand the chicken up and insert a full beer into the neck opening . Obviously the bird has to be made to stay up and you have to open the beer first .

If you don,t open the beer first it saves on the time necessary to cut up the chicken . L:O:L

Are you sure its the neck opening

 

[johngalt]

Get a Weber flying saucer grill, use real wood charcoal, big & little lumps, Chimney lighter and a couple of pieces of newspaper. Light it, wait 15 minutes, dump the hot coals out on one side of the grill. Put a drip pan on the side with no coals and a put the grill on. Put the meat on the no coals side over the drip pan, cook until how you like it, a minute or two over the hot coals with some sauce...Go to go!

 

[Yvsa]

Let us keep the two subjects - grilling and barbecuing - separate. ---- but those of us who have achieved some wisdom with the mellowness of age realize that low and slow barbecue provides a deeper and more spiritual satisfaction.

A few days ago Barbie and I was out back and when we walked by the grill/BBQ'er I told Barbie, "Look at the temp gauge. It's just right for slow cooking and it doesn't have a fire in it!!!!" The damned temp gauge was registering 175 degrees and it was just in the high 90's that day!!!!
Early spring, fall and winter are the best times of the year for BBQing here in Oklahoma. It's impossible to cook with a long slow fire in the summer time.

If you want to try something that sounds really awful but tastes just downright wonderful BBQ a nice sized catfish, five to ten pounds.
Make an aluminum pan just a little larger than the fish and punch several holes in the bottom to let the juices run out. Build your fire on one side of the grill and put the fish on the other, you can use a drip pan if you want.
Cook the fish until it just starts getting flaky around the outside and then start brushing on the BBQ Sauce of your choice and cook until the meat flakes off the bone.
The sauce will slowly penetrate the fish until the outer layer is red when you flake it off, maybe a 1/4" deep. One of the guys I worked with ages ago was always talking about BBQed catfish and I would damned near gag every time he mentioned it as all I could imagine was a wet sloppy mess.
Then one day he brought one in and it didn't appear at all like I had imagined so I tried a piece and found it to be every bit as good as he said it was. I could've probably eaten half the fish by myself!!!!

 

[Andrew Taylor]

Are you sure its the neck opening

No, you are right, it is the other end I would like to know how many drinks were consumed before someone said, "hey, I have got a great idea, let's shove a can of budweiser up a chickens bum and BBQ it".

Here is one for you.

Here is a great way to cook chicken wings and roasted sweetcorn which I knocked up on Wednesday night. I did the wings two ways, one with BBQ sauce and one with a spicy hot dry rub.

First you need to prepare the Sweetcorn. It was my good friend Mamta,
http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/ who gave me the tip of roasting sweetcorn from raw and this a mix of Mamta's idea, some input from my old mate and BBQ king Bobby Flay and my own ideas. Carefully pull back the leaves that cover the cob and remove the silks, Soak the cob in cold water for 30 minutes of so. Remove and drain. Brush with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Pull the leaves carefully back over the corn cob as a protective coating. You can smother them with butter just before you devour them.

Next, you need to prepare the wings. The supermarket of butcher will
probably sell them to you are a 'three joint wing'. You get the wing tip,
the middle part that has two bone and the winglet, which is like a
mini-drumstick with a single bone. Cut of the tip with a sharp, heavy knife
and discard them. Cut through the middle joint between the two-bone part and the winglet. Put them in a pan of cold water and add some salt. Put on
medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes. While that is cooking, make some BBQ sauce.

'Always-a-Winner' BBQ Sauce


- 1/4 cup Finely Chopped Onion
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar,
- 1 tablespoon Worcester Sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
- 1 Clove Garlic, Finely Chopped
- 1 cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup
- 2 Lemons (Juiced)
- 1 teaspoon Prepared Mustard

Cook onion and garlic in butter until tender. Add remaining ingredients and
bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered 15 to 20 minutes. Will keep in the
refrigerator for a week or so.

Now make a dry rub of the following

2 tspoons Cajun Seasoning
1 tspoon Paprika
1 tspoon Garlic Salt
1 tspoon Ground Black Pepper

Your wings should be cooked now, so tip them into a colander and drain well
giving them a toss to dry them out a bit. Leave to sit for 5 minutes. Split
them into two bowls. Put BBQ sauce into one bowl and the dry spice rub into
the other. Toss them well so they are coated. Because the wings have been
boiled, the skin will become sticky and the sauce and the rub will coat
nicely.

Preheat your BBQ and put the corn on, as is with the leaves. Don't worry if
the leaves start to char, they are protecting the cob, but giving them a
smoky flavour. After 10 minutes toss both lots of wings onto the grill and
arrange into a single layer. After 10 minutes, turn the corn and then the
wings. Brush the remains of the BBQ sauce onto the top of the BBQ wings. The spicy wings just need turning and remain dry. After another 10 minutes, your wings and the corn should be cooked, and it should look like this.

Corn on the left, BBQ Wings in the middle and the Dry Spicy wings on the right. Look, we also have a new fence. I realise the BBQ is gas, but we do cook on it every night.

Hope you enjoy that. I am off on holiday on Sunday and will be back the
following Saturday. We are just heading up to Cottage Country in Ontario,
the land of a thousand lakes. We are borrowing a cottage on the shore of
Lake Simcoe, named after Robert Graves Simcoe who was governor general of
Ontario. He was born, brought up and buried in Somerset UK. His professional
life was spent in Canada. I am going to visit the Ossawippi Express
http://www.ossawippi.com/ which was featured on the programme Restaurant Makeover, so you might get some food input reporting on my return which will be posted on a forum somewhere. We are taking the two pussy cats, Sir Ollie T Puss and Ceefur-Cat as well, so I will probably have some pictures of them lazing by the lake too, ;>)

 

[Kevin the grey]

You naughty boy . I haven,t even had breakfast yet and you put roast corn in front of my nose . L:O:L
Son thats some cooking there . Roast corn and wings . Maybe a cold frosty stein on the side .

 

[SkunkWerX]

Nice topic! I am certainly a novice in the knife arena, but will claim some level of expertise in the grillin, smokin dept.

I used a Weber Kettle for many a year, great solid cooker and simplistic.

Try this site, great forum, very nice and knowledgeable people ('cept me).
http://www.barbecuebible.com/board/

The charcoal chimneys are the way to go, hands down. The "Weber' style chimney is larger and more expensive, but is stainless steel lasts longer, with some fancy pouring handles. I use 2 of the model: "El cheapomente" , but also keep my welding gloves close by.

The chimneys alleviate the need for jet fuel and also will get coals burning faster. Now for the secret weapon: ditch the newspaper, use a piece of Firestarter Log at the bottom of the chimney. About a 2 inch piece, or so. They burn hotter and longer than newspaper and do a great job getting the coals Up and Running.

You can now do Grillin, Indirect and even a moderate level of Smoking in the Weber.
They make semi-circular charcoal "baskets" that sit on either side of the Weber, and you indirect cook something like a whole chicken in the middle, not directly over the flame. This "IS" the way to cook birds in a Weber.

They make a "Smoker" insert, also, pretty inexpensive, as well.

I suggest to everyone here, you need to know your grate temperature. the supplied thermometers not only are usually questionable quailty, they are also placed well above the grate, we want to know the temperature where the food is, not up in the grills stratosphere. Go to Lowe's, spend $9 USD, and grab a higher quality round grill thermometer. Drill a hole down near grate level, maybe 2 inches above the grate, and attach the thermometer.
You will be amazed.
An instant read hand held for the meat is also a great thing to have, especially for slow cooking.

Regulating heat in the Weber: Use the bottom damper, in combo with the top damper. Like a woodstove. Less incoming air, less fire. More Air, more fire.
If you don't want to drill a hole in your new baby, stick a magnetic woodstove gauge on it, and use it as a reference.

Lump coal is much better, but more expensive. For a large fire, use Kingsford or Royal Oak briquettes in your chimney, to get a nice hot fire, then add the Lump Coal on top of it, to cook over. Saves a few $$$.

I'll stop the lecture here, sorry for the diatribe. Grillin and Smokin is my "hobby" , well the doctors call it OCD, but they haven't tasted the food.

Good Luck with that Weber, it will serve you well!!

Here is my current machine (when it was new) :

But I plan to upgrade to one of them thar silver "push type carts" real soon!

 

[jmings]

It might be a good time to repeat the warning about making yourself a BBQ out of a used 55 gallon drum.