I bought a Chimney [Weber] as everyone advised me to and I would like to
ask just how will I know "when" the coals are ready to be placed into the
grill please?

"mikehende" wrote in message
lkaboutcooking.com...
I bought a Chimney [Weber] as everyone advised me to and I would like to
ask just how will I know "when" the coals are ready to be placed into the
grill please?


It takes maybe 10 minutes to get the coals more gray than black, then dump
them in the grill.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"mikehende" wrote in message
lkaboutcooking.com...
I bought a Chimney [Weber] as everyone advised me to and I would like to
ask just how will I know "when" the coals are ready to be placed into
the
grill please?


It takes maybe 10 minutes to get the coals more gray than black, then dump
them in the grill.


What sort of coals? It makes a difference you know.

On 15-Jun-2005, "mikehende" wrote:

I bought a Chimney [Weber] as everyone advised me to and I would like to
ask just how will I know "when" the coals are ready to be placed into the
grill please?

I observe my chimney from the sliding doors leading to my lanai, (
about ten feet from the lit chimney). When I see no smoke from
the chimney I dump it into the firebox. It is plain upon close inspection
that the whole chimney is well lit. YMMV
--
The Brick® said that ( Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak,
throats become dry, and they think irrationally
when a woman wears leather clothing?

?? .....BECAUSE SHE SMELLS LIKE A NEW TRUCK )

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The coals I am using is "Kingsford" brand. To know when the coals are ready
to be put into the grill, do count "minutes", say 10, 15? Or, is there a
certain "color" for the coals, half "white" or totally white?

Grey is the color you are looking for. You want all of the coals to be well
lit, not just the bottom ones. When you dump the coals in the grill you
want them all to be burning evenly, not just the ones that were on the
bottom. If you dump before all of them are well lit then you get a slow
start because the smoker won't be up to temp until all of the coals ignite.
When just the lower ones are gray and you dump it takes a while for the
others to catch up. The purpose of the chimney is not only to get the coals
lit but get them lit evenly. I often cheat a little but I always wait until
at least the bottoms of the ones on top are gray.

"mikehende" wrote in message
lkaboutcooking.com...
The coals I am using is "Kingsford" brand. To know when the coals are
ready
to be put into the grill, do count "minutes", say 10, 15? Or, is there a
certain "color" for the coals, half "white" or totally white?

I was told that when all of the coals are "gray" [I call this "white"],
that they are 1/2 burnt out so they will not last long, what's your take
on this please?

"mikehende" wrote in message
I was told that when all of the coals are "gray" [I call this "white"],
that they are 1/2 burnt out so they will not last long, what's your take
on this please?

It's been a while since I've used Killford but used them long enough to
remember that they'd cover up with ash well before being half consumed. It
depends on your own tatsebuds, lighting up is when coals put out the most
smoke residue, this is a good thing with lump or wood, but pretty
problematic with Killford because they are putting out some nasty (to me
anyway) tasting smoke. By the time K'fords have some ash they have also
passed their peak outgassing. Since a cooker takes a few minutes to heat up
anyway dumping them out of the chimney when they still are 1/2 to 2/3 black
or so is probably about right.

D
--

Thanks all, I think I will start with "2/3" Grey and experiment from there.
Another question I hadn't considered, how does the "smoke" figure into all
of this now that you mention it? Are you saying that the coals will give
off smoke more at one time than another, then when should I actually put
the meat on? I had assumed that I would pour the coals from the Chimney
into the grill and put the meat on immediately?

mikehende wrote:
Thanks all, I think I will start with "2/3" Grey and experiment from there.
Another question I hadn't considered, how does the "smoke" figure into all
of this now that you mention it? Are you saying that the coals will give
off smoke more at one time than another, then when should I actually put
the meat on? I had assumed that I would pour the coals from the Chimney
into the grill and put the meat on immediately?


Well, I think that I saw that you're using Kingsford. First suggestion
that I'd make is switch to lump charcoal. Do a cook with that only and
see how you like it.

On subsequent burns you can add small, soaked in water pieces of your
favorite wood until you hit on a combo that you like. Note that IMO
anyhow you shouldn't really be able to see plumes of smoke. A bare
"wiff" at most works for us. Of course YMMV.

At a minimum I'd suggest that you switch to lump.

--
Steve
Ever notice that putting the and IRS together makes "theirs"?

ok but I already bought 2 big double bags of Kingsford from Costco so i
will have to use those out before switching to "lumps". If I understand
your answer to my question, you're saying that the coals are ready for the
meat when I DON'T see any or much smoke coming from the coals, is this
correct?

mikehende wrote:

ok but I already bought 2 big double bags of Kingsford from Costco so i
will have to use those out before switching to "lumps". If I understand
your answer to my question, you're saying that the coals are ready for the
meat when I DON'T see any or much smoke coming from the coals, is this
correct?


well, as I said it's been a loooooong time since I used it but I'd
probably dump 'em out of the chimney when they are around 75-80% "white"
ash on the outside. If I needed to add more during the cook, I'd start
'em separately until grey/white and then add them to the unit. I
wouldn't put them in "cold". Just my two cents (which may only be worth
..1 ;-) )

--
Steve
Ever notice that putting the and IRS together makes "theirs"?

ok, nice tip, another issue, I see guys spraying ordinary "water" on the
grill while cooking from time to time, what's the reason for this and when
should it be done?

On 16-Jun-2005, "mikehende" wrote:

ok, nice tip, another issue, I see guys spraying ordinary "water" on the
grill while cooking from time to time, what's the reason for this and when
should it be done?

That's a favorite trick used by grill cooks to keep flare-ups from ruining
their meat. It's done whenever flames threaten the meat. It is used only
to douse the flames, not to cool the fire.

--
The Brick® said that ( Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak,
throats become dry, and they think irrationally
when a woman wears leather clothing?

?? .....BECAUSE SHE SMELLS LIKE A NEW TRUCK )

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"mikehende" wrote in message
lkaboutcooking.com...
I bought a Chimney [Weber] as everyone advised me to and I would like to
ask just how will I know "when" the coals are ready to be placed into the
grill please?


As soon as you see flames coming up, out the top of the coals and you can
see the coals have started to turn grey arund the edges on the coals at the
top. Unless you use starter fluid you don't have to wait for all the coals
to ash over.

--
Mike Willsey (Piedmont)
The Practical Bar B Q'r at,
http://groups.msn.com/ThePracticalBarBQr/_whatsnew.msnw