Controlling time and temperature is key to grilling success. Ideally, you should have two zones. If you want to gently and evenly warm the interior of the food by convection airflow, this provides a direct heat zone when you need to brown the food’s surface. However, if you want to brown the food’s surface with direct heat, this gives you a cooler indirect heat zone.
Cooking environments benefit greatly from water pans. This reduces temperature fluctuations by absorbing heat and reflecting it back evenly, and adding humidity to the air reduces evaporation from the food. In addition to creating wonderful flavors from the smoke and combustion gases, the moisture also contributes to the bacon flavor.
Smoky flavors and complexity are added by hardwood or fruitwood. When there is too much wood in the kitchen, however, it can ruin the food. If you don’t own a Weber Kettle, your exact setup will be different, but if you follow the concepts, you will be able to prepare killer barbecue. More information about meat science can be found here. The thermodynamics of cooking can be found here.
Here’s something to keep in mind: Every grill design is different. Warp 10 (pedal to the metal) is the temperature you need to master, followed by 225°F and 325°F. Your grill needs to be tested and calibrated without food first to determine how it works. Learn more about calibrations and dry runs in this article. You won’t have to spend a lot of time setting up your grill next time once you’ve figured it out. Due to the poor quality of most bi-metal dial grill thermometers, using a good digital thermometer is essential, necessary, and essential. There can be a difference of 50°F between them! If you do not know what the temperature of your oven is, you cannot cook!
Charcoal fires can be started in a variety of ways, but I prefer using a chimney (click the link for more information). An upper and a lower compartment are present in a tube. You can get pretty consistent results if you use the same method every time, such as putting newspaper in one compartment, charcoal in another, lighting the paper, and you’ll have instant charcoal in about 15 minutes. The importance of consistency cannot be overstated!
The water pan shown at left is recommended by Weber and other grill manufacturers as a method for banking the coals (shown at left). Two-zone cooking refers to this concept, which is an essential component of good outdoor cooking. It is possible to cook the meat more indirectly and not overheat the edges if you use this method.
Make sure the coals are stacked only one way, not two. With this method, thick steaks can be started at a low temperature on one side, brought up to close to the desired finish temperature, and then crisped quickly on the exterior over high heat. Cooking thick steaks using reverse sear is one of the best ways to prepare them. You can also use the indirect side when cooking tough cuts such as beef brisket, pork butt, or ribs. I discuss saucing strategies in my article on ribs and adding the sauce at the end so it doesn’t burn. Make sure the pan is filled with hot water while heating it so the coals don’t burn out. Use flavored liquids instead of apple juice. You just waste money and it doesn’t make a difference in flavor.
Another pan with hot water can be placed directly above the coals if there is adequate space. Adding moisture increases the rate of evaporation. As shown in the photo at right, position the grate with a handle over the coals. By doing so, you can easily add more coal and wood chips. The addition of coal is made easier with the help of hinges on some grates. Such grates are available from Weber. On the grate, you can easily fit three to four slabs of baby backs with the help of rib racks. You should add 30 to 60 minutes to the cooking time of rib racks if the meat is too close to touching. If the gap is less than an inch, you should add 30 to 60 minutes to the cooking time.
In the spirit of debunking myths, let’s take a look at one. It is not more efficient to reflect heat from the Weber Kettle’s parabolic shape than from other shapes. Most of the heat is radiated by the glowing coals directly, with some being reflected from the sides. Curved bowl bottoms reflect very little heat. Despite the solid barrier, there is one obstacle left: The coal bed. A kettle’s bottom creates a good deal of heat, which bounces straight back into the coal pile when it hits the bottom. In this sense, the parabolic shape of the kettles has no greater efficiency than a square box.
This is an interesting trick: Set up the oven for two-zone cooking with the meat on the indirect side. Place a hamburger, some trimmings, or even fat trimmings on the top grate instead of the water pan. The incineration of meat drippings on hot coals creates flavor molecules that are then deposited on meat and can add a lot of flavors. There will be flareups and they will burn, but your meat won’t burn since it is off to the side. Adding dampers to the lower intake vent can also compensate for a burnt offering, which raises the temperature.
Temperature control
There are two fuels involved with charcoal cooking: charcoal and oxygen. In the same way that charcoal is important, oxygen is also important.Deficiency of it causes the fire to die. Vents control the supply of oxygen and dampers control the exhaust ventilation to control the heat.
Ensure that the bottom vents are open halfway. You should place the lid so the vent holes are over the meat, and you should leave them at least halfway open. This will allow the smoke to escape by traveling across the food. To read the temperature under the lid, attach a thermometer probe to a cable or insert it into a vent hole. It is better to place the probe next to the meat rather than inside the dome. There is a difference in temperature. Make sure the top vents are always open at least halfway to prevent soot from building up on the meat or the formation of bitter creosote. The bottom vents should be used to control the oxygen supplied to the charcoal, not the top vents to control the heat. Find out how to control the temperature with vents by clicking here.
The lid should not be lifted unless the temperature soars or dips. Add cold water to the top pan of the oven if the temperature rises. Don’t shut off the bottom vents, or you could end up with smoldering wood and bitter smoke. In case of a low temperature, widen the vents. It may be necessary to remove ash if it blocks airflow or knocks ash off the coals with a stick.
Adding more coals may be necessary after an hour or two. According to the ambient temperature and wind, you will probably need to add six coals every 30 to 60 minutes to a kettle. Adding hot coals will allow them to catch more quickly, but cold coals will also catch very quickly. To ensure your system is responsive, perform some dry runs.
The lid may need to be partially opened in order to hit your target, as shown below. On the left, the hot coals are pushed all the way back and on the right, the meat is pushed all the way back. As the lid is partially off, the coals are mixed with cooler air, so hot air flows over the meat. It is possible to open or close the top vents according to your needs.
It has even happened to me to remove the lid altogether and place an aluminum pan over the food as a makeshift lid on a hot day or with a burning fire. Mastering your instrument requires experimentation.
Cooks with a long cooking time
Cooking for a long time can be made easier with the fuse method. There should be a gap in the middle of the coals formed by the outer edge of the lower grate. Glue wood chunks to the beginning end of the fuse. Half a chimney of coals should be filled between the fuse and half a chimney of coals. You should place a grate on top of a large water pan. My favorite disposable pans are aluminum ones. Water pans protect the meat from direct heat as well as stabilize temperatures and add moisture to it. The number of coals and vent settings will need to be experimented with. Assume that the vents of the fuse are wide open and two briquets high when you begin building the fuse. In the event that the bottom vent is running hot, throttle it back.
