That was the lowest-key rant I’ve seen in a long time, and sticking in apparent factual assertions didn’t help.
But I agree that the self-starting stuff is bad for the same reason that squirting half a can of naptha on your fuel is bad. Which is why I never even considered it. I doubt anyone with a meaningful opinion on charcoal cooking ever would. It’s that far outside the pale.
Interesting. I get 25-35% more burn time from briquettes. I’m judging by volume, not weight, though. The important thing for me is how much can fit into my smoker.
I am the opposite, I use Kingsford, lump charcoal is too unpredictable and often burns way hotter and faster, especially for long smokes.
I do add cherry hardwood chunks to my smoker for added flavour as well.
When reverse searing my steaks, during the low and slow, the lump charcoals will burn so hot that they have deformed my grate. Kingsford is not what the cool kids use, but I like the consistency.
That said, I have a future project in mind to make a charcoal barrel to make better use of all the maple limbs and trees on my property.
Sorry. It was a little early for me and not all of the voices in my head were awake yet.
Commercial gas grills uses heavy steel parts like that to distribute heat and protect the burners from dripping. I once saw a custom built grill that had a heavy cast iron grate like you might see for drainage on the street for that purpose. Once heated up it the gas could be shut off and it stayed very hot for a long time. When it began to cool the top grill could also be removed and food could be cooked directly on the grate for a while after.
I had gas grills in the past that came with ‘lava rocks’ to diffuse the heat and those sucked. I replaced them with ceramic pieces that worked out better. I wouldn’t mind having a gas grill if I had a gas line to connect to. Plenty good enough to make burgers or a steak on quickly. Thinking about, at people’s home parties it’s frequently no so much the grill as the cook and quality of the food anyway.
So has a decision been made?
Well, I think so. I decided that I had enough good suggestions, and I’d let me Sweetie make the final choice. He fussed about my spending $500 on a gift for him, and even though I’m still tempted on getting him the super-deluxe Weber, I’m going to go with the Weber original kettle grill. So, he still gets a nice grill, but he won’t feel like I overdid it on the spending.
His birthday is still a few weeks away, so I still have time to change his mind, though!
An excellent choice. Should serve him well for many years.
If you’re going with the more basic model, you could always spring for some relatively inexpensive extras like a waterproof cover, a chimney starter, and a bag of lump charcoal so he can put it together and fire it up right away.
Or good briquette.
Honor his preferences, if he expresses them.
Would it work for you to go with him to pick out the grill (and the charcoal)? Doesn’t sound like it’s a surprise. I’d suggest that for anyone giving the kind of gift someone would be particular about.
This is a great idea. Maybe a grill utensils kit too, or at least a good pair of grill tongs for flipping cuts of meat and a heavy-duty spatula for flipping burgers. Those two items are pretty much all the grilling utensils I ever need-- I don’t like the big forks, because it’s not a good idea to pierce the food while it’s cooking.
For cleaning the grill, I don’t like wire brushes because they have been known to shed wires that can stick to the grill and get transferred to the meat. My preferred grill scrubbing method is a crumpled ball of foil held with tongs, or I’ve found that the broken-off end of a stick works pretty well, too- kind of acts like a natural wire brush.
Oh, and a good pair of leather work gloves for lifting out the hot grill or dumping out the chimney of hot coals and protecting hands when sparks fly. I buy this type of glove in multi-packs as a general go-to work glove:
This!
I have a pair of welding gloves. They work like a charm.
It’s not a surprise, because I want to make sure I get one he likes. But he did tell me that he suspected that’s why I started asking about grills a while back. So, I may end up just taking him shopping for the grill, and get him a couple of smaller gifts so he has something to unwrap and be surprised about.
As a nice bonus, a pair of silicone mitts or gloves will allow the barbecuer to directly handle large hot food (like whole pork butts or poultry) without awkward and less reliable fiddling with tools. But only if you’re doing food too big to reliably handle with tongs and grill spatulas.
Oh yeah - I also have a pair of insulated food service gloves. They’re useful for beer can chicken.
I love mine. We had friends over for dinner last summer. I made turkey shish kabobs on the grill, using my gloves to easily turn the skewers.
I heard later from my friend’s wife that he tried using gloves for grilling, destroying a pair of nice leather gloves.
I use welding gloves too. First use is on the grill so I can pick up food with them before they get covered with spatter and other stuff from welding.
Which is why I, at least, was quite specific: silicone gloves, which are tremendously heat-resistant, to the point of not needing to be insulated.
Only to be used when handling hot food. Any other heat protection gloves are conventional insulated leather gloves for handling anything else besides food. No cross-contamination.
My own grilling journey: had a Weber kettle for years and years and was generally pleased. Then we moved to an apartment that didn’t allow charcoal burning, so I bought a gas grill. Moved again and kept the gas grill and added a Weber Smokey Mountain. And I’m dissatisfied and thinking about what’s next.
The gas grill (Weber Spirit 3-burner) is a pain to clean – the burners get in the way (plus all the other annoyances that come with propane tanks) And the WSM is a pain in general because, on a long low-and-slow cook, it yo-yos constantly between too hot and too cold.
It’s my understanding that kamado grills (eg, Big Green Egg) do everything perfectly (sear, roast, smoke…) but cost an arm and a leg. Now I’m pondering that perhaps going back to the OG Weber kettle may actually be what I need.
This has been my experience. They are expensive and there is a serious learning curve, but I think they’re worth it.
My father’s lasted about twenty-five years.