Charcoal grilling advice?

My in-laws just gave me a B-E-A-UTIFUL Weber charcoal grill from my birthday last night. I've been talking to my wife about wanting to try grilling with charcoal for a while but all I've ever used to-date has been gas. Any thoughts/ideas/advice I should know for grilling with charcoal compared to gas?

I plan to get the more natural lump charcoal rather than processed briquettes, and my understanding is that primary temperature control should be done through the bottom vent, and top vent only closed when necessary for low-temp slow cooking...

 

Stack your coals well to begin with, wait until they are evenly white, knock them down into a level bed, slap your food on the grill and flip it like you would gas.

Height of your grate and brand of charcoal will add to the variability but you'll figure it out. I like most kinds of coals but they do work differently. Kingsford seems to be the most consistent but it is a little more expensive; Walmart brand worked pretty ok too. The natural lump coals is supposed to be better but I've never had a preference over normal.

 

Use a charcoal chimney to light the coals, NO LIGHTER FLUID. I always keep the top vent(s) wide open to allow for better circulation and less chance of soot settling on the food. Like battle.munky I like plain old Kingsford just fine, and I do a lot of smoking every year. You can always add a bit of wood for extra flavor. Here's a couple pictures of my setup cause I know everyone likes pictures, and I like showing off my smokeshed.

 

I always thought that you could get basically the same effect as the chimney starter but just piling the charcoal in a pyramid in the middle of the grill and lighting a couple pieces of newspaper under them. Is the chimney starter really that much better/easier that it is worth having if you're only grilling maybe once or twice per week?

 

I think it is, the draw through it really gets the coals going quickly.

 

I've been grilling with charcoal for 30 years. Gas is just cooking outside
To me charcoal just tastes better.
The biggest learning curve is knowing where your hot spots and cool spots are. It's different every time. Once you figure out how to read your coals, learning how to shift your food around so it all gets done at the same time will get easier.

I prefer Kingsford and I never grill without tossing in a few chunks of wood, usually hickory.

 

Sweet setup, Tom!!

 

Some sound advice right there.

The Chimney is the best. You don't get the petrol taste in your food. A $15 investment lasts a number of years until it rusts out or the handle falls off.

The Weber kettle grill is fantastic. Enjoy it.

Check out Amazingribs.com. There's some decent info on his site.

 

I've tried the fancy natural coals in the past, IMHO I don't think they justify the added costs. I use mainly the Walmart coals or Kingsford (if I can get it on sale) . Congrats on the Weber. It's a great Kettle grill.

 

I will have some questions for you soon sir, I just picked up an old charcoal grill/smoker at an estate sale. I haven't really investigated it yet, but I already have some questions about how to use it as a smoker.

 

Not especially primal, but an electric charcoal starter works well for me.

 

I'll be glad to help if I can. Smoking food is my passion.

 

Before I got so addicted to my 1961 Imperial Kamado, I used my Weber as a smoker all the time. I was given a smokenator for my birthday one year.

http://www.smokenator.com/

Now the only time it comes out is when I want to smoke my chili peppers before drying at harvest time.

 

+1s to chimney, no lighter fluid, Kingsford, and awesomeness

I've gotten some good advice and knowledge from Steve Reichlen's books and tv shows (bbq university and primal grill, PBS).

 

Ok, thanks for the heads-up. I hate the idea of using lighter fluid or some other kind of combustible fluid to get my grill going and then cooking over those fumes. At least for this week, before I have a chance to get out to pick a chimney starter up though, if I stack & arrange the charcoal carefully around a couple of pieces of newspaper, do you think I'll be able to get them going well enough without lighter fluid just by stacking them in a pyramid around the paper? I assume I'll need more paper than with a chimney starter since it won't work quite as efficiently. Or am I better off just waiting until I can get a chimney starter to use my grill for the first time?

 

Chimney starters work fine, but they do take a bit longer than using charcoal fluid.
I'll be honest and say that using Kingsford fluid I've never had any foul flavor imparted into my food. It burns off very clean.
Cheaper fluid, on the other hand, has ruined a good BBQ.

 

Yeah, I've heard this many times before. Yet something still just feels a bit off-putting about cooking over coals after having sprayed them with lighter fluid or some other combustible fluid... If possible I just like the idea of cooking without any added chemicals (i.e. nothing added to the briquettes during manufacturing process, no lighter fluid added, etc). That's part of the allure of charcoal grilling to me- it just seems more natural and less 'toxic' than propane grilling.

 

Well now this is really an interesting thread.

Here is South Africa we normally just go out into the bush, get some good wood, light up the stuff and pack the meat when the coals are ready, no chimney starters, no fancy fluids or anything.... then again, it might just be that I like to do it that way lol

 

I just got kinda serious into grilling a few months ago and a friend sent me this website ...

http://www.amazingribs.com/menumachine/sitemap/navigation.html

if I can ask a question in your thread, it's related (plus i was actually thinking about asking on here this morning lol) - my grill at home is nat. gas and i want to pick up a good portable charcoal grill (i have a cheapo one) that i can use for picnics and possibly at home as well. I was wondering if there are any distinct differences, performance wise, on kettle type grills or rectangular shaped ones? I'm looking at the Weber Smokey Joe or Charcoal Go-Anywhere .... any thoughts and advice from our resident grill-masters?

cheers! and hey, good luck with the charcoal .. I had a first run last night in a cheapo kettle type- i bought a chimney and it worked great!