Hi all,
I just got a 22.5' Weber Kettle and have trouble keeping it hot (350 F
and higher).

I use two chimney starters to start the coal. When its white hot, i
place two piles of coal along opposite sides of the grill for indirect
heating.

I use an oven thermometer for monitoring the heat.

Keeping the bottom and top vents all the way open, the grill heated up
to about 375 F. 15 min. later it went down to about 330 F. I added
more coals in the hope to get the heat back up. However, another 15
min. later the temperature was down to 200F!

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Christoph

On 2007-03-19, > wrote:
> Hi all,
> I just got a 22.5' Weber Kettle and have trouble keeping it hot (350 F
> and higher).
>
> I use two chimney starters to start the coal. When its white hot, i
> place two piles of coal along opposite sides of the grill for indirect
> heating.
>
> I use an oven thermometer for monitoring the heat.
>
> Keeping the bottom and top vents all the way open, the grill heated up
> to about 375 F. 15 min. later it went down to about 330 F. I added
> more coals in the hope to get the heat back up. However, another 15
> min. later the temperature was down to 200F!

Well -- it all comes down to airflow really.. Not enough air = dead fire.
You might try leaving the lid slightly ajar to see if the additional air
keeps the temps up or not..

On Mar 19, 2:50 pm, "Rick F." > wrote:
>
> Well -- it all comes down to airflow really.. Not enough air = dead fire.
> You might try leaving the lid slightly ajar to see if the additional air
> keeps the temps up or not..

Thanks for the suggestion, Rick, I'll give that a try. Do you think
that the 22.5' grill actually needs two chimney starters worth of
coal, or should one be sufficient. Can the quality of the coal matter?

On 2007-03-19, Christoph > wrote:
> On Mar 19, 2:50 pm, "Rick F." > wrote:
>>
>> Well -- it all comes down to airflow really.. Not enough air = dead fire.
>> You might try leaving the lid slightly ajar to see if the additional air
>> keeps the temps up or not..
>
> Thanks for the suggestion, Rick, I'll give that a try. Do you think
> that the 22.5' grill actually needs two chimney starters worth of
> coal, or should one be sufficient. Can the quality of the coal matter?

I've had one like that in the past (and it's presently about 1500 miles
from me -- now in Estes Park, CO) and found that you should be able to
run it just fine with a single chimney's worth -- at least for a while
(perhaps an hour?).. It's been a long time since I used one and don't
recall how long the fire's ran since I always used one chimney's worth
(for hot-n-fast)..

On 19 Mar 2007 08:59:54 -0700, wrote:

> Hi all,
> I just got a 22.5' Weber Kettle and have trouble keeping it hot (350 F
> and higher).
>
> I use two chimney starters to start the coal. When its white hot, i
> place two piles of coal along opposite sides of the grill for indirect
> heating.
>
> I use an oven thermometer for monitoring the heat.
>
> Keeping the bottom and top vents all the way open, the grill heated up
> to about 375 F. 15 min. later it went down to about 330 F. I added
> more coals in the hope to get the heat back up. However, another 15
> min. later the temperature was down to 200F!
>
> What am I doing wrong?
>
> Thanks,
> Christoph

Might help to know where in the world your using it, also...I'm in New
England USA, and when I'm cookin in 20 degree F. weather, I do good keeping
my WSM at 275-300. More coals will help some....a wind break will help too
--
DavidG-

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>
> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hi all,
> I just got a 22.5' Weber Kettle and have trouble keeping it hot (350 F
> and higher).
>
> I use two chimney starters to start the coal. When its white hot, i
> place two piles of coal along opposite sides of the grill for indirect
> heating.
>
> I use an oven thermometer for monitoring the heat.
>
> Keeping the bottom and top vents all the way open, the grill heated up
> to about 375 F. 15 min. later it went down to about 330 F. I added
> more coals in the hope to get the heat back up. However, another 15
> min. later the temperature was down to 200F!
>
> What am I doing wrong?
>
> Thanks,
> Christoph
>
>
Are you trying to grill a steak or roast a turkey?
If you are grilling a steak forget the temperature gauge that is in the
hood, or, for that matter, any other thermometer. Use basket[s] to bring
the coals 3/4" below the grilling grates and you will have the hottest grill
around, and the most efficient, because of the amount of charcoal it doesn't
use.
If you're roasting a turkey, use the baskets far apart, and measure temp.
with a $5 oven thermometer from Safeway or wherever; put it on the grate
between the charcoal baskets, and measure heat to find your roasting temp.
For roasting use a drip pan underneath between the two baskets.
You probably could get the temp. to 500F when the baskets are indirect. I
wonder when you would ever want to do that. Almost everything I roast on the
weber, including turkey, standing rib, etc. you roast at a relatively low
temp. after you brown the surface.
For the type of cooking above, I find the 22" Weber kettle to be the best by
far of all outdoor cookers. The only exception is for extremely low temp.
"smoke-cooking", and for cooking flaky fish on porcelein grates on a gas
grill. I have all three ready to go and 85% of the time I use the Weber
kettle.

Good Luck and Cheers,

Kent

grilling in N.Cal. the year around, and in the rain

"Rick F." > wrote in message
...
> On 2007-03-19, > wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> I just got a 22.5' Weber Kettle and have trouble keeping it hot (350 F
>> and higher).
>>
>> I use two chimney starters to start the coal. When its white hot, i
>> place two piles of coal along opposite sides of the grill for indirect
>> heating.
>>
>> I use an oven thermometer for monitoring the heat.
>>
>> Keeping the bottom and top vents all the way open, the grill heated up
>> to about 375 F. 15 min. later it went down to about 330 F. I added
>> more coals in the hope to get the heat back up. However, another 15
>> min. later the temperature was down to 200F!
>
> Well -- it all comes down to airflow really.. Not enough air = dead fire.
> You might try leaving the lid slightly ajar to see if the additional air
> keeps the temps up or not..

I also have a 22.5" Weber Kettle and I have no problem at all keeping it
hot. However - I don't use two piles of coals, just one big one on one side.
I found that with two smaller fires, they would burn out quicker, but one
has enough critical mass to keep going for several hours.

For roasting, I regularly use this approach with beef, pork and lamb and can
easily maintain dome temps of 350-425 if required. As Rick says, it's down
to airflow - I am surprised that you can't keep the temp up with all the
vents open though. Are you using briquettes or lumpwood charcoal ? In my
experience, lump burns hotter - so you might want to try that if you aren't
already.

You should only really need one full chimney of lump to give you a great
fire that stays hot for at least one hour. I just dump a chimney full of lit
lump onto whatever coals are left from my last cook, and that pretty much
does me for anything I want to cook up to 2 hours. (If I need to go longer,
I use my WSM)

"adm" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Rick F." > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 2007-03-19, > wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> I just got a 22.5' Weber Kettle and have trouble keeping it hot (350 F
>>> and higher).
>>>
>>> I use two chimney starters to start the coal. When its white hot, i
>>> place two piles of coal along opposite sides of the grill for indirect
>>> heating.
>>>
>>> I use an oven thermometer for monitoring the heat.
>>>
>>> Keeping the bottom and top vents all the way open, the grill heated up
>>> to about 375 F. 15 min. later it went down to about 330 F. I added
>>> more coals in the hope to get the heat back up. However, another 15
>>> min. later the temperature was down to 200F!
>>
>> Well -- it all comes down to airflow really.. Not enough air = dead fire.
>> You might try leaving the lid slightly ajar to see if the additional air
>> keeps the temps up or not..
>
> I also have a 22.5" Weber Kettle and I have no problem at all keeping it
> hot. However - I don't use two piles of coals, just one big one on one
> side. I found that with two smaller fires, they would burn out quicker,
> but one has enough critical mass to keep going for several hours.
>
> For roasting, I regularly use this approach with beef, pork and lamb and
> can easily maintain dome temps of 350-425 if required. As Rick says, it's
> down to airflow - I am surprised that you can't keep the temp up with all
> the vents open though. Are you using briquettes or lumpwood charcoal ? In
> my experience, lump burns hotter - so you might want to try that if you
> aren't already.
>
> You should only really need one full chimney of lump to give you a great
> fire that stays hot for at least one hour. I just dump a chimney full of
> lit lump onto whatever coals are left from my last cook, and that pretty
> much does me for anything I want to cook up to 2 hours. (If I need to go
> longer, I use my WSM)
>
When you're doing ribs indirectly with coals on one side of the grill how
often do you
feel you have to turn the ribs 180 degrees to maintain constant heating on
both sides?

Kent

Can the quality of the coal matter?

Yes. Royal Oak makes good briquettes, and there are several fine lumps
including a Royal Oak, too. Kingsford used to be my fave, but lately
I've seen widely varying quality. Some brands are loaded with stone
and fillers, your ash should be nothing but powder.

-John O

On 2007-03-22, JohnO > wrote:
> Can the quality of the coal matter?
>
> Yes. Royal Oak makes good briquettes, and there are several fine lumps
> including a Royal Oak, too. Kingsford used to be my fave, but lately
> I've seen widely varying quality. Some brands are loaded with stone
> and fillers, your ash should be nothing but powder.

Funny you mention stone.. I occasionally find small cement-like rocks
in my left-over (burned out) coals -- usually after using my Royal Oak
lump --is this normal?

On Mar 22, 3:04 pm, "JohnO" > wrote:
> Can the quality of the coal matter?
>
> Yes. Royal Oak makes good briquettes, and there are several fine lumps
> including a Royal Oak, too. Kingsford used to be my fave, but lately
> I've seen widely varying quality. Some brands are loaded with stone
> and fillers, your ash should be nothing but powder.
>
> -John O

I think this may have something to do with it. I used a batch of Wal-
Mart brand coal. After it burned out, some of the left over pieces had
retained their shape. I thought that i may be able to re-use them. But
when I squeezed them to see how hard they were, they fell apart. I'll
try some Kingsford brand coals tonight and see if the temperature
stays higher.

"Kent" > wrote in message
...
>
> "adm" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Rick F." > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On 2007-03-19, > wrote:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> I just got a 22.5' Weber Kettle and have trouble keeping it hot (350 F
>>>> and higher).
>>>>
>>>> I use two chimney starters to start the coal. When its white hot, i
>>>> place two piles of coal along opposite sides of the grill for indirect
>>>> heating.
>>>>
>>>> I use an oven thermometer for monitoring the heat.
>>>>
>>>> Keeping the bottom and top vents all the way open, the grill heated up
>>>> to about 375 F. 15 min. later it went down to about 330 F. I added
>>>> more coals in the hope to get the heat back up. However, another 15
>>>> min. later the temperature was down to 200F!
>>>
>>> Well -- it all comes down to airflow really.. Not enough air = dead
>>> fire.
>>> You might try leaving the lid slightly ajar to see if the additional air
>>> keeps the temps up or not..
>>
>> I also have a 22.5" Weber Kettle and I have no problem at all keeping it
>> hot. However - I don't use two piles of coals, just one big one on one
>> side. I found that with two smaller fires, they would burn out quicker,
>> but one has enough critical mass to keep going for several hours.
>>
>> For roasting, I regularly use this approach with beef, pork and lamb and
>> can easily maintain dome temps of 350-425 if required. As Rick says, it's
>> down to airflow - I am surprised that you can't keep the temp up with all
>> the vents open though. Are you using briquettes or lumpwood charcoal ? In
>> my experience, lump burns hotter - so you might want to try that if you
>> aren't already.
>>
>> You should only really need one full chimney of lump to give you a great
>> fire that stays hot for at least one hour. I just dump a chimney full of
>> lit lump onto whatever coals are left from my last cook, and that pretty
>> much does me for anything I want to cook up to 2 hours. (If I need to go
>> longer, I use my WSM)
>>
> When you're doing ribs indirectly with coals on one side of the grill how
> often do you
> feel you have to turn the ribs 180 degrees to maintain constant heating on
> both sides?
>
> Kent

I only ever do ribs on my WSM - not my grill.......

On Mar 22, 4:30 pm, "Rick F." > wrote:
> On 2007-03-22, JohnO > wrote:
>
> > Can the quality of the coal matter?
>
> > Yes. Royal Oak makes good briquettes, and there are several fine lumps
> > including a Royal Oak, too. Kingsford used to be my fave, but lately
> > I've seen widely varying quality. Some brands are loaded with stone
> > and fillers, your ash should be nothing but powder.
>
> Funny you mention stone.. I occasionally find small cement-like rocks
> in my left-over (burned out) coals -- usually after using my Royal Oak
> lump --is this normal?


I've read about that here, but I've never seen it personally.

-John O

"JohnO" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Mar 22, 4:30 pm, "Rick F." > wrote:
>> On 2007-03-22, JohnO > wrote:
>>
>> > Can the quality of the coal matter?
>>
>> > Yes. Royal Oak makes good briquettes, and there are several fine lumps
>> > including a Royal Oak, too. Kingsford used to be my fave, but lately
>> > I've seen widely varying quality. Some brands are loaded with stone
>> > and fillers, your ash should be nothing but powder.
>>
>> Funny you mention stone.. I occasionally find small cement-like rocks
>> in my left-over (burned out) coals -- usually after using my Royal Oak
>> lump --is this normal?
>
>
> I've read about that here, but I've never seen it personally.

Briquettes - all the time. Lump - never.

Unless there's some rocks got into the bag by mistake - I can't see how
impregnating lumpwood charcoal with rock would make any kind of sense.

JohnO wrote:
> Can the quality of the coal matter?
>
> Yes. Royal Oak makes good briquettes, and there are several fine lumps
> including a Royal Oak, too. Kingsford used to be my fave, but lately
> I've seen widely varying quality. Some brands are loaded with stone
> and fillers, your ash should be nothing but powder.
>
> -John O
>
>

Look he

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

Great lump reviews with details on any foreign objects found in the bag.

Find a good one and you won't use Kingsford again even if they give it away.

Dan

On 2007-03-23, adm > wrote:
>
> "JohnO" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> On Mar 22, 4:30 pm, "Rick F." > wrote:
>>> On 2007-03-22, JohnO > wrote:
>>>
>>> > Can the quality of the coal matter?
>>>
>>> > Yes. Royal Oak makes good briquettes, and there are several fine lumps
>>> > including a Royal Oak, too. Kingsford used to be my fave, but lately
>>> > I've seen widely varying quality. Some brands are loaded with stone
>>> > and fillers, your ash should be nothing but powder.
>>>
>>> Funny you mention stone.. I occasionally find small cement-like rocks
>>> in my left-over (burned out) coals -- usually after using my Royal Oak
>>> lump --is this normal?
>>
>>
>> I've read about that here, but I've never seen it personally.
>
> Briquettes - all the time. Lump - never.
>
> Unless there's some rocks got into the bag by mistake - I can't see how
> impregnating lumpwood charcoal with rock would make any kind of sense.

That's why I was stumped.. At first I wondered if my neighbor was coming
over and plopping these concrete like rocks in my BBQ when I wasn't looking
but I've seen too many of them to suspect my neighbor.. They're always
about the size of (or slightly smaller) than a golf ball and are easily
crushed into pieces.. I always look in my bags of Royal Oak but never see
anything odd in there -- of course I don't do what TNW does and dump the
entire bag and analyze everything found in it.. However, I might have to
do that if I keep finding "goodies".. I only get my Royal Oak at Walmart
and usually buy 4-5 bags at a time since they're the only place in my
area that seems to carry them anymore..

On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:40:02 -0800, Kent wrote:

> matter, any other thermometer. Use basket[s] to bring the coals 3/4"
> below the grilling grates and you will have the hottest grill around, and
> the most efficient, because of the amount of charcoal it doesn't use.

Sorry if this is a dumb question. What is a basket?

Steve