Cooking with Charcoal on a Weber

[dosco]

Gents:
I need some help using my Weber grill + charcoal.

It gets too hot, even with what I think are small amounts of charcoal. The meats tend to blacken and char. I don't have this problem on my propane grill.

Is there a technique? Or simply use even less charcoal?

Regards-
Dave

[pausted]

Dave,
I would suggest placing your charcoal on one side of the Weber. If doing steaks, you can sear them over the hot side of the grill and then move them to the cooler side to finish the cooking. Works for me. I cook on a Weber (21") frequently. Its a great grill.

[brothers]

It sure wouldn't hurt to use less charcoal and see if that works. I've learned that I get the very best results when I stand nearby and keep my eye on the process from start to finish. If I leave the cooking area for some reason, I set a timer on my phone for maybe a maximum of 5 minutes and then I go check on the cooking. Keep the meat turning, every few minutes. Maybe 5 tops. I can't just toss it on and forget it for 10 or 15 minutes unattended. That's what I did before I learned how to stop ruining/burning an expensive chunk of meat. This is for grilling, not smoking. When smoking ribs or whatever, I've learned how much charcoal/smoke wood to use and how long to smoke before checking on it. Seems like it's a never ending learning curve. And that's part of the fun of it, and seeing how others enjoy eating it and eating it myself is the other part of the fun of it. Good luck with your Weber. Sorry about the long rambling response.

[ShadowsDad]

What kind of charcoal are you using? There is lump charcoal (the genuine charred wood type) which you shouldn't use in a Weber because it's burns at full heat. The limiting factor being the air available. Weber grills not being airtight, lump charcoal burns exceedingly hot in them. Then there are briquettes which for some reason that escapes me is also called charcoal. It contains no char wood at all, but is a mix of clay and anthracite coal. It's has limited heat output no matter how much air it has access to. It's what you want to use in your Weber.

So, unlimited air, use briquettes. An airtight cooker (Primo, BGE, etc) uses lump charcoal. Lump charcoal can burn so hot that it can actually melt the Weber if overdone. Use briquettes in an airtight and the food can taste like it was dipped in diesel fuel.

OK, having written all of that, I used lump charcoal for a few years in a MECO. I used it one layer thick, and stood by with a water spray bottle to put out fires. It works so much better in the Primo.

[dosco]

Thanks for the specific info, I was hoping you'd give your opinion.

I'm using briquettes ... interesting that you mention that lump gets hotter than the briquettes, because the briquettes get HOT!

[ShadowsDad]

Beyond what I wrote I can't help. When the Primo runs too hot I just close down the air intake and exhaust and that slows the fire. It takes quite some time for the heat in the cooker to lower. Because of the lump it must use it can easily reach blast furnace temps. No exaggeration.