where are the briquette guru's?

[Kc_Kracker]

ok so i have not eaten food cooked on briquettes in 20 years. I did 3x this last 2 weeks, and I never want to mess with propane again, ever. uneven heating, cooking, grease flares ups, cost more, the whole works. coal was better taste, i can toss in some wood chips and get a wicked smoke flavor, etc  but, heres my concern, i have read alot that charcoal is severely cancer causing, as in very bad and rapid. also, i cant seem to get them going unless i buy the ones soaked in lighter fluid then the food tastes of it.

input?

[carlyoungs]

Buy a chimney stack. All it takes is one napkin and it will heat up the charcol in10 minutes . As for the cancer causing agents, I HAVE NO IDEA. Doesn't everything cause cancer these days? Charcoal is the best to BBQ with IMO.

[Rider]

Me personally I use a weed burner to get the charcoal going on my big pit and WSM.
You can also use a chimney. I stopped using them because I kept going through too many. It was just cheaper to get a weed burner.

[Blacklab]

I haven't used a propane grill in I don't know how long. I like them for conveinece but that's it. Kingsford all the time with a weber chiminney. I use grocery paper bags. Takes about 20 mins.

[washelkhunter]

I use my old propane grill to fire up the the briquetts in the chimney; Stubbs briqs only; and for grilling corn in the husk. I use several different smoking chips for flavor. I want to start using lump charcoal as well.

[Kc_Kracker]

i think i am going to ditch my propane and get a charbroil smoker/bbq . are they good?

[Rider]

Charbroils are decent starter units.

I prefer the Weber Smokey Mountain. Works great as a vertical smoker with or without the water pan. It can also be used as a grill. There are rotisserie unit available for it.

Pellet smokers are becoming increasingly popular. I use a Green Mountain Grill Jim Bowie. Mak is top of the line here and have a price tag to match.

[Kc_Kracker]

ive tried the egg shaped units, not enough room for me, i do like this style

[mtncook]

Use the original Kingsford briquettes in the blue and white bag.  The easy light ones contain starter fluid which you noticed in your food.  A couple sheets of newspaper or set the chimney on a propane burner will get them going fast.  I too use a weed burner if I'm lighting  more than 3 chimneys at a time.  You can have a 18lb bag gray in a short time.


mtncook

[sirmissalot]

The chimneys are the way to go for sure, and I much prefer the lump charcoal as well.

I think there is a place for a propane grill as well as a charcoal, I'd rather use charcoal most of the time for grilling but sometimes for quick meals propane sure comes in handy.

[h20hunter]

Kc...I agree with you on type of grill/smoker. I have the same thing. I use a combo of lump, natural, and good ol kingsford. I personlly make a small pile, apply fluid, light it up. Then I add the bulk of the coals and allow them to heat up. I like use direct and indirect head and various wood and what not for smoke. I sometimes will use both compartments. The main for cooking and the box for extra heat if needed or simply to add some smoke.

The only good thing I have to say about gas and bbq is it is quick if you just want to throw some dogs or patties on. However, everything else needs coals.

[deltaops]

I have a duel BBQ. I use the propane when I do not have time. Mainly I use charcoal. I do not like the taste of lighter fluid so I try to stay away from it as much as I can. When i use charcoal i also throw in some wood chips as well.

Friday sounds like a good day for me to light the coals.

[Kc_Kracker]

yesterday i picked up my moms brinkman gourmet smoker to try it and i am having a hard time keeping a steady temp around 225 it wants to shoot up to 300 very fast, and for smoke i got the big wood chunks but they just light on fire  i hate learning curves

[h20hunter]

I've found those big chuncks need a good 24 hour soak to get saturated. Also, and I may get flamed for not being a purist, but yes....maintaing specific temps are hard to do in these types of smoker grills. The best brisket to date was smoked and colored up in the grill, then.........put in the OVEN.........there I said it.....for a long even cook. It was chilled, sliced, and finished in the smoker the next day.

Keep at it....you will find your groove.

[Kc_Kracker]

the coal ids just being stubbord. definitely not used to it

[sirmissalot]

I can keep a pretty consistent temp in mine if I build a fire in the smoker side. Between the intake and damper on the chimney it's not too bad once you get a good base of coals going.

[carvermoe]

I have 4 webers, They can do alot of great BBQ.
One thing I almost always do,is  count my briquets.Thats the way to control temp.
Also it's easy to add more for longer cook times. They work great for direct or indirect.

[Kc_Kracker]

well i can say a brinkman gourmet is junk, wouldnt stay lit all damn day even once they were burning HOT and all ashed up grey after 30 minutes it would go out and drop temp like crazy with the vent open or closed.

[deerhunter_98520]

I wouldn't use propane    charcoal/wood is the only way to go .....and using lighter fluid is the first rule you learn...never use it....get a stack and put newspaper under it and light it...it will get the charcoal going and your food tastes soooo much better

[BackStrappin]

Get yourself an Akorn Grill ... Fred Myer and Lowes carries them.

You can high heat sear , cook pizza or go low and slow . They  Hold Temps pretty well and with a few mod's they are even better . I havent had to do any mods on mine it I can do a 14 hour cook for pork shoulders .  It's a very efficient cooker.

I either use the Webber Lighter CUbes or A propane torch to light the charcoal .

Good luck .

[762Armo]

I buy the 50lb bags of charcoal from Cash n' Carry. I use it to bbq 99.9% of everything that I do. I'll stack the charcoal on top of each other, to make a natural chimeney effect, through a starter of sorts in the middle of the pile, and use a tad of gasoline to start it. Gasoline burns fast and evaporates, no after taste, compared to some of the presoaked briquettes. As far as the grill itself, you can use pretty much anything. I use skewers for most of my bbqing needs, so any surface really can be used. I've done it on the ground, putting up bricks/rocks across from each other and laying the skewers on it.

[Kc_Kracker]

I wouldn't use propane    charcoal/wood is the only way to go .....and using lighter fluid is the first rule you learn...never use it....get a stack and put newspaper under it and light it...it will get the charcoal going and your food tastes soooo much better

i think it was the crappy smoker because i went thru 2 sunday papers and a few cardboard boxes and they wouldnt burn at all. even after putting a handfull of ligtherfluid coals in there it still wouldnt get going i think the unit is vented badly

[Tight Spin]

Sounds like maybe your briquette's had been damp at some time. I   leave the lid open when i start mine and never have had  a problem getting them lit.

[Kc_Kracker]

they were brand new. along with the next few bags we had the same issue with. i modified it and now its good.

[rasbo]

I will use briquettes at times,but hard wood and gas put out better BBQ to me,coal taste crappy to me,I light with paper and chimney when I do use them..

[Kc_Kracker]

everyone thats helped thanks a ton, i posted a thread on our new unit, we call it the beast we bought the largest one available locally 

[KFhunter]

I wad up a couple fist sized balls of newspaper and stuff the bottom of the chimney with that, then I stick a small propane torch in the lighter hole and just leave it run 4-5 minutes

never fails to light that way.


Once I've got the briquettes in the chimney lit off good I spread them out with long tongs then stack more unlit briquettes right on top of them,  as long as they touch a gray one they'll burn too.  Could use a whole sack this way.   Good way to light lump too,  use standard pressed briquettes and light them in a chimney then spread them out and put the lump right on top your bed of gray kingsford type pressed ones.

[Kc_Kracker]

i just followed the directions on a youtube video, it said roll up just 1 piece of paper in a long twisted tube, coil it, stuff it underneath then light. hasnt failed in about 10 trys now. i have also read the kind like i have with a coil in the bottom instead of tin with holes works way better.

[Mossy]

Never had a problem with a weber chimney. If all else fails, throw a weber starter cube under it. Or, make your own......