Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation New Webber Kettle user - tips appreciated

I have always loved the taste of food cooked over charcoal but mainly use propane due to convenience. Well, my Charbroil is on its last legs but with a daughter graduating and other life ‘stuff’ didn’t have the cash to get a Webber like I plan to in the near future.

I’m also intrigued by the BGE but that was out of the budget and so grabbed a Webber Kettle Premium. I gave it an initial burn to heat it up and get the paint fumes out of it but really don’t know the tricks to running it efficiently. I use natural lump not brickets. So….

How do you run the top and bottom vents to achieve a good temp for thicker cuts of meat or slower cooking like wings or ribs? Open it up full blast is a given for steaks. Also do you guys use these on top of wood decks? I placed some ceramic cheap tiles beneath it to protect the wood and have a water bucket standing by, but still don’t know if this is a bad practice. Finally, any good accessories that are worth picking up?

Thanks

djb, I think the consensus is to run the bottom vent wide open and adjust the top for heat.

A pizza stone might come in handy. Home Depot usually has them or you can order them online.

This is what I do and it works well.

Look up Owens BBQ; look up the Vortex they list. For a minimal investment you can slow smoke or scorch heat anything you want to grill. I'm a happy user, but just bought myself a BGE.

It's always been my understanding that the top vent should stay wide open anytime you are cooking and the bottom vent is for controlling the amount of heat. I always put the charcoal on one side so as to be able to have temperature choices for placing the meat.

I have never had any issues whatsoever cooking directly over a wood deck, the ash catcher works great at catching anything that drops down.

Did you get one of those chimney devices for lighting the charcoal? They work great along with a propane torch or one of those electric iron starters.

I close all vents when I'm done and then next time I cook the lump charcoal that is left over is gets used again.

I run mine bottom wide open and adjust top for heat. Some simple metal scraps suffice for 90+% of anything you'd ever want to do with charcoal. No need for expensive accoutrements if you're a bit handy.

It will for sure not get as hot, or burn low as long, as a BGE, but it has to be about the best damn charcoal burner going if you ain't into dropping $1k + on a giant clay flower pot!

Thanks folks. I've been having a lot of fun with the new grill and 4 out 5 meals have been great - I let the coals get a little to cold for some burgers then I 'Chernobyled' (my dad's term for burnt) them when I added some more coal. Timing is the toughest thing to get a handle on right now. Smoked chicken wings were so darned good I didn't even want to use any sauce, and I love sauces.



I had some old stainless steel mixing bowls that I fabricated into some charcoal holders for indirect cooking. They worked great. I need to find another and try to replicate the vortex concept.