Ditching propane BBQ and looking at getting my first Kettle so any tips.

buy lump charcoal, not the nasty briquettes

Once you become a PUREST you will NEVER look back at propane again.

Spadgcock chicken or turkey. Smoked pork, chicken or beef, the difference in flavor is amazing.

Enjoy. I have the Weber 26 inch and love it.

I've never done the dry salt brining, but I hear thats the best way to get a tender aged steak bite quickly. Again, never want to wait that long to eat, but some day I'll have to give it a go!

I got one from amazon that was around 250, its still in the box, my father's going to buy an outdoor furniture set end of month, my ex gave us a half broken one, but dad said no point in gluing and clamping the chair legs, that old thing is going to the dump end of the month.

Outsunny 48" Freestanding Charcoal BBQ Grill Portable Backyard Cooking Smoker Outdoor Camp Picnic Barbecue Cooker w/Storage Shelves

If you can find a cheaper one even better.

I looked in Canadian Tire and Home Hardware, these things used to be 100 or so brand new and now they want nearly 1000 for coal barbecues.

Last Edited by Sungaze_At_Dawn on 06/17/2021 06:31 PM

Nope, I am totally new to it, mostly educating myself to find the best entry point. Came about by seeing all these really great looking BBQ recipes that just won't work on my gas grill but really wanted to try. I haven't even heard of Charwood yet so now looked that up and it makes sense.

That's the thing with this style of BBQ is you can have such a wide range of potential flavors from so many wood types and fuel sources, sounds like lots of experimentation lies ahead.

As long as you get the timing and heat pretty close, theres not too much guess work. And cooking indirect for half the cook offers some forgiveness. The only trouble I had nailing perfect med rare on occasion was simply having my grill too hot, and even then I got a good medium-medium well. You'll get it nailed in no time, I'm sure!

Will certainly look into several fuel sources as I want to experiment every weekend of the summer. Maybe I'll log what I do here where I fucked up or succeeded lol.

Yep, I think I've decided on the 22" Webber to start will check it out at Home Depot tonight as it's priced fairly there on their website.

Also I need a new cooking hobby because I really enjoy exploring different foods. This is a whole new adventure.

For a thicker steak, I recommend it. Easy to do, just let it sit over night in the fridge. On thinner steaks I just season and let set for ~30 minutes while I'm prepping everything so you get some absorption.

See you guys are getting me to do more research I love looking at experiment videos on youtube.



Watched the vid and the winner list goes as:

1st Place: B&B Lump Charcoal
2nd Place: Cowboy
3rd Place: Royal Oak
4th Place: Green Egg
5th Place: Black Diamond
6th Place: Rockwood

For longest cooking time and consistent temperature.

Last Edited by YouAreDreaming on 06/17/2021 07:02 PM

I can watch bbq videos all day long, thats how I learned a lot and found some really cool ideas and recipes. Check out BBQ Pittboys on youtube, really fun to watch with their unique delivery, and they cover a lot of BBQ territory.

I've watched several of their videos with my Mom last weekend when I was visiting her. I usually show her recipes I want to try and find ones she would love to have.

Youtube has been awesome for improving cooking skills in literally every department. I've learned a lot of things I used to do were totally wrong as a result, or find ways to do things even better. Now if I am researching any new recipe I check out a few different videos.

What's nice is you end up being rewarded with often a totally new food experience that was harder to mess up than from say a cook-book recipe.

Now I want to get cooking!

Have fun, and pray you don't have neighbors like this fellows!

"Grove" brand lump charcoal is one of the best. 99% as good as Big Green Egg lump and a step up from Royal Oak. Made in Cedar Grove Wisconsin.

I stopped using "Cowboy" brand 12yrs ago after finding hardwood flooring complete with tongue and groves. Other guys on BBQ forums were finding it too and Cowboy brand actually made a statement with a promise that they never use Chemical treated scraps. A few years they were busted for using chemical treated hardwood scraps. Know that.

Yes, you have to keep an eye on whats in your lump charcoal. I have found plastic, and nails in some generic brands. Not something you want in your cook.

I went to check out BBQs at Home Depot and all they had was Cowboy so that's good to know there is another BBQ place I'll check them out tomorrow at lunch and see if they carry different brands. It's great to have the internet because invaluable advice and experience is so better then making costly mistakes.

Here is a good forum for Weber grills with kettle specific info:
[link to tvwbb.com (secure)]

This is what I want to make for my birthday.

That Communist Jack-Boot needs to have a good ole southern ass whoppin.

Claims he fought for this country.. lying POS.

I am not sure if you are just interested in slow cooking/smoking. But for regular grilling nothing beats a Weber.

The best way to grill is using lump charcoal started using, as OP mentions, a chimney. Lump charcoal gets very hot and gives a nice taste. The chimney makes lighter fluid unnecessary. And a chimney will get your coals ready for cooking quicker than lighter fluid.

Cowboy is the WORST. I hate it. My wife, being sweet and wise, got a ridiculously large bag of lump charcoal from Costco at the start of the China virus. Unfortunately it was Cowboy. It was utter crap. Most of it was way too small pieces. Some of it was probably treated. Some was certainly milled lumber. And occasionally the smoke smell was not right.

If you live where there are Harris Teeter groceries, their brand of lump charcoal is good.

If you go with lump the fire can be hotter (for steaks I like it very hot). Your cook time may be less. Since you go by feel, you should be fine. Just be mindful. I’d guess cook times are for an inch to an inch and a half ribeye are 6 minutes to 8 minutes tops. A cheap think steak could be only four minutes and that is pushing it.

* By the way where I come from BBQ is slow cooked smoked pork. It’s funny how words can mean different things. When I see BBQ I’m thinking, whole or half hog and what kind of slaw?

I'm so glad I created this thread because I learned so much that was needed to be learned before committing to the purchase of the grill. Being a steak lover I too want high-heat for the sear, and will not hesitate to use lump charwood now that I know.

Where I'm from BBQ is anything cooked on a grill with fire. Sadly, I've been brainwashed into propane as that is all the BBQ everyone I knew ever cooked. My tastebuds are regretting those wasted years lol.

Thanks everyone for your tips and advice. I'm going to make my purchase today! I'm going to start with a 22" Webber Kettle Pro with lump charwood and pick up some different wood types for smoke. It's going to be a fun weekend of endless BBQ experimentation.

Here check out these guys. It's more about cooking technique than recipes when it comes to Grilling/BBQing

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

1. Use real lump charcoal. Kingsfird and others are more expensive, dont last as long and are mostly dirt/debris fillers binders. One 40 lb bag of Royal Oak lumps lasts as long as 10 bags if kingsfird AND if you close the lid on an egg type smoker grill, the coals will go iut AND YOU CAN RELIGHT THEM AGAIN THE NEXT TIME !!

2. Get a quality unit, buy once cry once. I bought the one that Costco sold, forget the brand name (not “the Egg” but looks just like it). It was 599. It has been serving me well for 10 years now! Only thing i’ve had to do is replace the bamboo wood shelves that fold out on the sides (very reasonable price from manufacturer). And it looks like i might need to replace the felt looking seal that seals the top of the egg shape lid to the bottom.

3. If the lid is down, it will never flare up and burn stuff. This thing has saved my ass many times, (i tend to daydream and wander off when bbqing and drinking bears and forget about my steaks or whatever)

4. If you ever intend to cook for more than 4 people, get the bigger unit, the cooking area is not very large on ceramic bowl type grills because the walls are so thick.

Atomic buffaloe turds

(Look it up, thank me later)

Have a fun weekend. Throw some fruits and veggies on the grill, peaches, pineapple, onions and peppers. Try a pizza on the grill sometime. It’s actually really good.

I should say the one challenge to lump charcoal is you can get it too hot for some things. But, you can always start with less coals and then add some later when you’re ready for the meat. You’ll figure it out once you cook a few times.

Oh yeah, make sure you have some tongs. When you dump the lump charcoal you are going to want to rearrange the coals. Tongs work great. I just use the same tongs I use for the meat.

Solid advice. I’ve reused big pieces of lump charcoal. Like you say, the key is to cut off the air to the grill (top and bottom).

I’m going to look for Royal Oak. I’ve never tried that brand.

Thanks again everyone. I got to work right away with the new Webber Kettle so took some pics. They are in gallery mode so you can just scroll through.

https://imgur.com/a/91nIQga

https://imgur.com/a/7Q7Fyzl

Friday I tried my first steak, so bought a cheap blade steak to learn on with some stuffed mushroom caps. Finally found a brand that wasn't Cowboy, it was Jealous Devil. The options were limited to Royal Oak, Cowboy and this brand.

The mushroom caps picked up the smoke nicely which added a whole new depth to an old classic. Everyone who had them raved over them. The steak turned out very delicious for a blade steak. Not the best sear but I think I know where I screwed up but no denying the flavors were so much better had I cooked it on propane.

Saturday I wanted to try Smoked hamburgers with Corn on the cob. I rolled out some thick burgers and smoked them for 2 hours, had the corn still in husk but trimmed and soaked in water. Added them in for the last hour. The burgers ended up being well done (I like medium) but for the price of flavor they were some of the best tasting burgers I've had. The corn also picked up the smoke, it was more subtle but also some of the best corn on the cob I've had.

Sunday for Fathers day I went for Ribs and wanted to try a bold smoke. Made my own rub, went with a mustard binder and the goal was a 4 hour smoke but by the 3rd hour the smoke signature was already at the intense level so I wrapped them in foil. I did butter-fly prawns with a lemon/garlic/dill with butter/cream cheese with a tablespoon of mayo spread. The smokiness with the cream cheese from the mushrooms told me this would also be next level.

The Ribs turned out amazing and the prawns were a hit. Everyone thinks I should open up a restaurant and raved all weekend about the food.

But for my first ribs, I noticed a few areas I'll need to improve on. I found the sodium content a bit too high (not bad but I like a little less salt). The smokiness got a bit overwhelming after a few so could be brought down little more. Other than that, they were everything I could have wanted for my first try.

And thus my BBQ journey has begun. Thanks again everyone. Seems really hard to mess up cooking this way because short of a few adjustments the food was undeniably superior to their propane counter parts.

The other thing I noticed is you could smell the BBQ from at least 3 blocks away. I've never noticed smells like that in my neighborhood before. My nephew who drives tow-truck was commenting laughing about how potent it was because he was noticing it everywhere too.

Last Edited by YouAreDreaming on 06/21/2021 11:22 AM

Great forum for fans of Weber grills/smokers. I was a member, stopped posting a decade ago. Learned a lot of great info there. I highly recommend checking it out.