Pit Grilling Thread

[leftcoastdeac]

I'm in the market for a new charcoal grill and I'm looking at the Weber Performer (I like having the work table next to the grill). Given the mechanics of grilling with charcoal (need for fuel, time to prepare fire, etc etc etc) is there any reason I would NOT want to get this grill?

I'm looking at the one that does NOT have the firestarter, fwiw.

 

[RacerDeac]

I'm in the market for a new charcoal grill and I'm looking at the Weber Performer (I like having the work table next to the grill). Given the mechanics of grilling with charcoal (need for fuel, time to prepare fire, etc etc etc) is there any reason I would NOT want to get this grill?

I'm looking at the one that DOES not have the firestarter, fwiw.

I love mine. I have the propane starter, which I pop on for 2-3 minutes to get the chimney started. Much easier than crumbling up paper or using other fire starters IMO.

 

[leftcoastdeac]

I love mine. I have the propane starter, which I pop on for 2-3 minutes to get the chimney started. Much easier than crumbling up paper or using other fire starters IMO.

Awesome. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't a case of the reviews being too good to be true; although I should know better after the last couple of times on the WSM.

By the way Racer; on my last smoke I chickened out and used water in the bowl, but I covered the top of the water dish completely and it made a world of difference in cleaning up. Just carefully ripped the foil off and tossed it. All I had to do was rinse the water bowl and dry it.

 

[bojanglefunk]

Smoking my first brisket ever tomorrow.

 

[JDawg]

By the way Racer; on my last smoke I chickened out and used water in the bowl, but I covered the top of the water dish completely and it made a world of difference in cleaning up. Just carefully ripped the foil off and tossed it. All I had to do was rinse the water bowl and dry it.

ooo that's smart. Been my least favorite part of cleaning up so far.

What are other alternatives?

 

[tsywake]

Fresh Jalapeno's are so much better!

Definitely love fresh peppers. I'm hoping to have some out of the garden to use in a few weeks. We can ours so we'll have some during the winter months.

By the way Racer; on my last smoke I chickened out and used water in the bowl, but I covered the top of the water dish completely and it made a world of difference in cleaning up. Just carefully ripped the foil off and tossed it. All I had to do was rinse the water bowl and dry it.

That's similar to how Myron uses his water smokers, just on a larger scale. He just puts everything he smokes (other than whole hogs) in a pan to collect all the drippings, then throws away the pan at the end of the smoke.

 

[leftcoastdeac]

ooo that's smart. Been my least favorite part of cleaning up so far.

What are other alternatives?

Racer's outlined some in the smoking thread; I didn't mean to derail from grilling here.

You can use nothing, sand, clay pots, etc. Check the smoking food thread.

 

[JDawg]

its long, I'm lazy, and don't recall seeing it anywhere before when I reread a couple weeks ago

 

[wfudkn]

Made some baby back ribs tonight. They were one of the best things I've ever made. Put a dry rub on for a few hours and finished with a hit pepper jelly glaze. Om fuckng nom.

 

[leftcoastdeac]

Ordered a Weber Performer this weekend; can't fucking wait to get my grilling season started.

 

[Deacon923]

Did some salmon steaks last night with a sweet-and-sour marinade that I whipped up out of Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce (great stuff), soy sauce, lemon juice, sea salt, and various spices. Warmed up my cast-iron pan in the grill, then threw the fish in there when it was up to about 300. Came out great.

 

[bmoneydeac]

I just bought one of those smoker boxes for my gas grill. Other than soak the wood chips for 30 minutes, any other tips I should be aware of?

 

[tsywake]

I always turn the flame going to the smoker box on low. Otherwise it'll get too hot and the chips will flame up. Be prepared to add additional chips every 45min or so. They dont last very long.

 

[RacerDeac]

I always turn the flame going to the smoker box on low. Otherwise it'll get too hot and the chips will flame up. Be prepared to add additional chips every 45min or so. They dont last very long.

How big are the boxes? I wonder if you could fit small chunks and/or split chunks with a hatchet in order to get less burning and more smoke?

 

[tsywake]

There's really not a lot of extra room. The bottom of the box is open, and there is a triangular piece that sits in the middle. I can usually split my slabs with a hatchet thin enough to fit, but since there's so little clearance they're still pretty small.

 

[tsywake]

I've got a piece of flat stainless steel at home, I've thought about drilling some holes in it and trying larger chunks. My biggest concern with that setup would be the ash filling up the holes. The triangular shape allows good heat and air flow through the chips and helps deflect some of the ash away from the burner.

 

[LadyDeac03]

I've had a recent obsession with grilling ribeyes and asparagus. Now I'm putting extra dizzy pig on the cap. So freaking good

What kind of marinade (or just EVOO, S&P) for the asparagus? How long do you normally have them on? We haven't grilled asparagus in a while, but I remember them coming out a little tough before. We have some good-sized ones from Trader Joes we want to throw on tonight with some TJ's carne asada.

 

[2&2 Slider To Leyritz]

So my mother-in-law got me a grill "basket" for my birthday last week. I haven't used it yet, and it looks like it could either be pretty good or a disaster. Does anyone use one of these things? Usually for vegetables I toss them in oil and spices and make aluminum foil packets to put them on the top shelf while grilling the meat. This basket goes on the main shelf and has holes in the bottom of it. The vegetables won't fall through, but I envision the oil dripping down and creating a fireball. Thoughts from anyone with experience on whether it is worth it to use it?

 

[Bears and Deacs]

So my mother-in-law got me a grill "basket" for my birthday last week. I haven't used it yet, and it looks like it could either be pretty good or a disaster. Does anyone use one of these things? Usually for vegetables I toss them in oil and spices and make aluminum foil packets to put them on the top shelf while grilling the meat. This basket goes on the main shelf and has holes in the bottom of it. The vegetables won't fall through, but I envision the oil dripping down and creating a fireball. Thoughts from anyone with experience on whether it is worth it to use it?

They have their uses. I think they are good for veggies or small shrimp or delicate fish like flounder. If you're worried about the oil just don't use quite so much (like using a brush to apply the oil/spice mixture vs. tossing them in oil). I don't use mine very often but haven't had any issues when I do use it.

 

[bmoneydeac]

So my mother-in-law got me a grill "basket" for my birthday last week. I haven't used it yet, and it looks like it could either be pretty good or a disaster. Does anyone use one of these things? Usually for vegetables I toss them in oil and spices and make aluminum foil packets to put them on the top shelf while grilling the meat. This basket goes on the main shelf and has holes in the bottom of it. The vegetables won't fall through, but I envision the oil dripping down and creating a fireball. Thoughts from anyone with experience on whether it is worth it to use it?

I do a mixture of zuch, summer squash, mushrooms, and onions and just lightly toss in EVOO, kosher salt, and pepper and put it in my basket. Grill it directly over heat, tossing every minute or two for about 7-8 minutes. Never had a fireball and love the way it turns out. They get much more of a grilled flavor and feel to them than doing them in foil packs.