# I'm a Lucky Guy



## Andy M.

My sweetheart just presented me with an early Father's Day gift!

I am now the proud owner of a 22.5" Weber charcoal grill, a charcoal chimney and a bag of Cowboy lump charcoal.  

She caught me completely off guard since we have a gas grill that's less than two years old.

She thought I'd have fun playing around with it and maybe smoking more things.  As she says, gifts aren't supposed to be practical.  They're things you wouldn't get for yourself. 

I haven't used a charcoal grill since gas grills were introduced.  Any tips or techniques would be appreciated.


----------



## Uncle Bob

I have a 22.5 Gold on the patio...An 18.5 Silver in my "Park"....and three Smokey Joe's ~~~ For most of my grilling I use the 22.5...I've never tried long slow cooks with it, but it can be done! Fire on one side...meat on the other in simplest terms....Rib racks, and charcoal baskets (2) one on either side...meat down the middle..may be  worth looking into...I don't have to sell you on the Quality of Weber Charcoal Grills...They (IMO) are the standard by which every other charcoal grill is judged.....You are gonna love it!!!

Eat Well and Enjoy!


----------



## kadesma

I don't have any tips for you Andy, but I'm happy that you got such a great Father's day gift.
Happy Dad's day to you, enjoy that grill.
cj


----------



## Chef Munky

Now THAT'S true luv . Congratulations!!. It's great having the best of both worlds.
You got one awesome grill. Mines a 22. Might I suggest you take a look in the BBQ section here..LOL!!! 

Did your grill come with a drip pan? If not an aluminum pan will work just as well.
It will do pretty much the same job as a Brinkman Smoker.  A few spray bottles for apple juice , water ( for flareups ) and such come in handy. 

Happy for ya! 

Munky.


----------



## Constance

Andy M. said:


> My sweetheart just presented me with an early Father's Day gift!
> 
> I am now the proud owner of a 22.5" Weber charcoal grill, a charcoal chimney and a bag of Cowboy lump charcoal.
> 
> She caught me completely off guard since we have a gas grill that's less than two years old.
> 
> She thought I'd have fun playing around with it and maybe smoking more things.  As she says, gifts aren't supposed to be practical.  They're things you wouldn't get for yourself.
> 
> I haven't used a charcoal grill since gas grills were introduced.  Any tips or techniques would be appreciated.



Smart Lady!


----------



## mollyanne

She's a keeper...the wife, not the grill

.


----------



## Andy M.

Thanks folks.  I'm already getting requests (orders) for what to cook.


----------



## LT72884

ah yes, the 22.5 is a great model. i use it all the time with my rotisserie mod that cost me like 35$ to make. 







When you run out of cowboy, buy some Royal Oak lump charcoal. Its been rated one of the best charcoals from the naked whiz.  
The Lump Charcoal Database -- Naked Whiz Charcoal Ceramic Cooking

I hope you enjoy the new score.


----------



## Andy M.

Thanks for the link, LT.  I'll keep my eyes peeled for the Royal Oak.


----------



## LT72884

Andy M. said:


> Thanks for the link, LT.  I'll keep my eyes peeled for the Royal Oak.



no prob, i buy it for 6.37$ per 10 pounds of it. I get it at my superwalmart.


----------



## LT72884

Always use the bottom vents to control your heat. Leave the top vents wide open. this allows the smoke to exit and not become stale. ALWAYS use 100% all natural charcoal for slow cooks. For hot and fast, kingsford works just fine, but so does RO(Royal Oak) lump. 

Use indirect cooking for fatty pieces of meat. or the fat will vaporize in the hot coals causing fatty flavored smoke to make weird flavors on the meats. 

Use papper towels sprayed with pam to ignite the coals in the chimney. Clean and works everytime.  

If you are using the weber to smoke foods, then make sure you have a thermometer near cooking grate level. Temps from cooking grate to top of the lid vary by about 40-50*F. make sure you have Thin Blue Smoke comming out of the smoker rather than white. 




notice the right hand smoker has blue smoke. 

If using the minion method at any time, please use 100% all natural charcoal, be it briquittes or lump. KF blue will make your food have an off taste due to so many chemical binders.

For roasting chickens via beer can method, use in-direct with foil mod. Foil mod is where you wrap half of the charcoal grate in a piece of foil. acts as a shroud for the air. helps make the fuel last longer. 

Oh and dont forget to enjoy using it. haha


----------



## Andy M.

LT72884 said:


> ...make sure you have Thin Blue Smoke comming out of the smoker rather than white...



WOW lots of good info, LT.  Thanks.  

Please explain the difference in smoke color.


----------



## LT72884

Andy M. said:


> WOW lots of good info, LT.  Thanks.
> 
> Please explain the difference in smoke color.



Blue smoke means it has less solids floating around. Wood has a substance called lingen(i think thats the correct spelling) which makes up the cell structure of the wood. When wood is burning and combusting at a comfortable heat or temp, the lingen will burn clean and produces a blueish smoke. White smoke means either the wood and or coal have little to no air, causing it to suffocate which in turn adds more solids to the smoke. These solids are what gives food a very bitter stale smoke taste. Also white smoke can mean way to much wood chunks or chips. i personally always use wood chunks because they burn slower with out any need of being soaked in water.

in other words, blue means you have a clean burning fire that has good airflow. haha. Long story to answer a short question. haha.

Oh, one more thing. Just because you see no smoke from the vents doesnt mean its a bad thing. TBS(thin blue smoke) or no smoke at all is very very good. 

Matt


----------



## LPBeier

Congratulations, Andy!


----------



## Robo410

Andy, bank coals on both sides of grill with a drip pan in the middle.  soak some wood chips of choice (I like mesquite, some prefer other flavors)  Get yourself a whole chicken, dry it, a little rub of olive oil, season it liberally with either s & p or a fave seasoning salt.  Put it on the grill in the middle, and add your wood chip and cover the grill with the dome.

In 1 to 1 1/2 hrs you will have a great smoke roasted chicken.  Crispy skin, very juicy, nicely flavored.  (even the carcass makes great stock with a subtle smoke flavor.) 

There are much fancier things you can do with your grill, and many will equal this but few will surpass it for good eats!


----------



## LT72884

Robo410 said:


> Andy, bank coals on both sides of grill with a drip pan in the middle.  soak some wood chips of choice (I like mesquite, some prefer other flavors)  Get yourself a whole chicken, dry it, a little rub of olive oil, season it liberally with either s & p or a fave seasoning salt.  Put it on the grill in the middle, and add your wood chip and cover the grill with the dome.
> 
> In 1 to 1 1/2 hrs you will have a great smoke roasted chicken.  Crispy skin, very juicy, nicely flavored.  (even the carcass makes great stock with a subtle smoke flavor.)
> 
> There are much fancier things you can do with your grill, and many will equal this but few will surpass it for good eats!



Amen. Roasted chicken is awesome in the kettle. Buy yourself a 3$ beer can chick holder for a nice roasted chik. You can even butterfly the chicken and use a heavy cast iron pan to place on top.


----------



## buckytom

good luck with your new rig, andy.

maybe it's just me, but do all people into smoking use abbreviations (that need to be defined in parenthesis, lol) far too often. i mean, if smoking is about low and slow, why rush what you type? 

ijdgi. (i just don't get it)


----------



## LT72884

buckytom said:


> good luck with your new rig, andy.
> 
> maybe it's just me, but do all people into smoking use abbreviations (that need to be defined in parenthesis, lol) far too often. i mean, if smoking is about low and slow, why rush what you type?
> 
> ijdgi. (i just don't get it)



Ya we use a ton of AFH's (acronyms from hell)when smokin food. We even name our spices after celebrities. Like brown sugar is Mick Jager. Cayene is Hendrix and so forth. OHHH my new pizza stone from redskygrilling.com just should up.. BRB


----------



## Andy M.

LT72884 said:


> Ya we use a ton of AFH's (acronyms from hell)when smokin food. We even name our spices after celebrities. Like brown sugar is Mick Jager. Cayene is Hendrix and so forth. OHHH my new pizza stone from redskygrilling.com just should up.. BRB



Don't know if I'm prepared to learn a new language.  Is there a Berlitz course for this?


----------



## roadfix

Congratulations!  I love my 22.5" Weber too.  You can do just about anything with that grill and it is very efficient with its use of coals.


----------



## BigAL

Congrats, Andy! Sell the LP grill, you won't go back. Wife got me the 22.5 silver for X-mas, it is fun as he..ck! Check out bbq forums, I suggest the q joint. I'm still new to charcoal and I double suggest royal oak lump.

Check these guys out YouTube - BarbecueWeb's Channel

Next step is a pellet smoker/grill! 

q joint link >  http://www.theqjoint.com/forum/


----------



## Andy M.

Thanks, Al.


----------



## LT72884

Andy M. said:


> Don't know if I'm prepared to learn a new language.  Is there a Berlitz course for this?



LOL, ya i stopped with learning the names of celebs to spices. Confused me. 

Here is some ones that we use alot.

EVOO = extra virgin olive oil
TBS = thins blue smoke
UDS = Ugly drum smoker( i built one)
BB = baby backs
BGE = big green egg
HDAF = heavy duty aluminum foil

Thats bout what i use. Other than that, it becomes to complicated


----------



## roadfix

.....most importantly, what pertains to your grill:

OTS...  one touch silver
OTG... one touch gold


----------



## LT72884

roadfix said:


> .....most importantly, what pertains to your grill:
> 
> OTS...  one touch silver
> OTG... one touch gold



Exactly..

Im a OTG but got it for the price of the 18.5 silver model. Homedepot had it marked wrong. I scored big time.


----------



## Andy M.

LT72884 said:


> Exactly..
> 
> Im a OTG but got it for the price of the 18.5 silver model. Homedepot had it marked wrong. I scored big time.



WOW that's like half price!


----------



## LT72884

Andy M. said:


> WOW that's like half price!



sure was. total price with a bag of KF blue was less 100$. I didnt know till i got home and opened the box. The box was labled 18.5 OTS but when i opened it, it had the 22.5 OTG with the nifty ash catcher. 

Now that you have it, go cook up some huli huli chicken and dont forget to post pics.


----------



## roadfix

I found my 22.5" OTG on Craigslist for $30 and built a table around it.


----------



## LT72884

roadfix said:


> I found my 22.5" OTG on Craigslist for $30 and built a table around it.



DANG, i want that table. My only downfall, i have a rotisserie kit on mine so i would have to build around that somehow!


----------



## Wyogal

and if it's white smoke, they've elected a new pope... wait, wrong chimney.


----------



## frozenstar

Oh yeah. You are such a lucky guy!  That was one really good Father's day gift.  Give back in return by cooking a perfect grilled recipe that you know.


----------



## missM

I am thinking seriously of divorcing my spouse because he wouldn't let me buy a Webber!!  "We have a perfectly good gas barbie that grills, roasts etc., and cost an arm and a leg"  SO!!? I want a Webber to do smokie stuff and the best roast port you will ever have....Men...  They just don't understand!!


----------



## missM

**pork


----------



## Andy M.

missM said:


> I am thinking seriously of divorcing my spouse because he wouldn't let me buy a Webber!!  "We have a perfectly good gas barbie that grills, roasts etc., and cost an arm and a leg"  SO!!? I want a Webber to do smokie stuff and the best roast port you will ever have....Men...  They just don't understand!!




I use my gas grill to smoke.  It's certainly possible once you figure it all out for your grill.


----------



## Selkie

She's a keeper... I mean the grill... Oh, OK, and the wife! 

Congratulations!


----------



## Paymaster

Congrats Andy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------

