Extinguishing charcoal I received a new Performer Grill for father's day, and really like it, but I do have a design question - the gas pipe extending into the kettle allows outside air in when the gas is turned off. I am unable to extinguish the coals after grilling with all the vent openings closed. Is this just the price one has to pay for the other features? Extinguishing charcoal I received a new Performer Grill for father's day, and really like it, but I do have a design question - the gas pipe extending into the kettle allows outside air in when... » Read More Extinguishing charcoal I received a new Performer Grill for father's day, and really like it, but I do have a design question - the gas pipe extending into the kettle allows outside air in when the gas is turned off. I am unable to extinguish the coals after grilling with all the vent openings closed. Is this just the price one has to pay for the other features? « Show Less
1128316
Are you closing the vent on the top cover and moving the lever on the bottom all the way to the left? I have not had any problems extinguishing the coals by following this procedure.
1128317
I just got mine yesterday and of course used it. I closed the vents and did not look at the grill till this morning, and there were still unburned coals there. I think the overall design is terrific.
1128318
Received this grill for Christmas. I like it a lot, but noticed a tremendous amount of smoke coming out at the rim of the grill during cooking, and once I closed the top and bottom vents too. Charcoal would not extinguish and turned into ash. Lid was "out of round" by 5/12 of an inch. Was not a huge issue in cooking, but reusing partially burnt charcoal is a cost saver. Weber is sending new lid, and hopefully equally rounded to make a tight seal between lid and kettle. Is it just me or is the metal thinner and lighter (cheaper feeling) than my 15 year old Weber?
489176
The flames on lighters will point vertically regardless of the exit hole (unless it's a torch-style lighter, of course) so I don't see the advantage of a side hole to be that much better than this one. I'll agree with you on the look - it does maintain the "stock" look of the Zippo. I've had no issues of lighting like the other people, fortunately. I've had the flame up for up to a minute with no loss in intensity while firing up my cigars or lighting 30+ birthday candles (like I did last weekend)... using the butane that was packed in it. I can't say what'll happen when I refill it with my own butane (I've had it for a couple of weeks now) but I hope the flame quality doesn't change. The flames on lighters will point vertically regardless of the exit hole (unless it's a torch-style lighter, of course) so I don't see the advantage of a side hole to be that much better than this one. I'll agree with you on the look - it does maintain the "stock" look of the Zippo. I've had no issues of lighting like the other people, fortunately. I've had the flame up for up to a minute with no loss in intensity while firing up my cigars or lighting 30+ birthday candles (like I did last weekend)... using the butane that was packed in it. I can't say what'll happen when I refill... » Read More The flames on lighters will point vertically regardless of the exit hole (unless it's a torch-style lighter, of course) so I don't see the advantage of a side hole to be that much better than this one. I'll agree with you on the look - it does maintain the "stock" look of the Zippo. I've had no issues of lighting like the other people, fortunately. I've had the flame up for up to a minute with no loss in intensity while firing up my cigars or lighting 30+ birthday candles (like I did last weekend)... using the butane that was packed in it. I can't say what'll happen when I refill it with my own butane (I've had it for a couple of weeks now) but I hope the flame quality doesn't change. « Show Less
500012
yes essentially you just want to pile your coals, however many you decide to use, in one spot on the grill and just cook over that. Because the grill is bigger using it as an oven (like indirect cooking) efficiently would require more coals to maintain the same results. But for direct cooking methods just use the amount of coals you need and cook directly over that. You do not need to fill the entire kettle.
1411474
No. The flame is below a heat shield that evenly distributes the heat. The grill is ready to go out of the box.
570246
I strongly invest in buying a Weber (or other) Chimney Starter for $15 to light your charcoal. Two sheets of crumbled newspaper in the bottom (I add a tablespoon of old frying oil to extend the burn time per Alton Brown as insurance), charcoal (lump preferably, the briquettes generate a lot more ash) goes on top, light the newspaper, and 15 minutes later you are ready to go; I've almost never had a failure. Versus paying an extra $50 for the Platinum with its propane starting system, plumbing, buying/replacing propane, ignighters, flashups, plumbing, etc.
1595403
Your best answer would come from the Char-Broil Company. They provide excellent customer service. In general, only the gas orifice at each burner needs to be changed to a larger size, which is very easy to do yourself. You would need to get those parts from Char-Broil. I continue to enjoy this grill - it sits out in the rain, I hose it off periodically. Great buy for the money.
11869
Yes the charcoal tray slides out. Unit is solid. The only thing I didn't realize when I bought it was that the charcoal side is not lit by the gas tank so it isn't a true hybrid like a Weber Performer, where coals are out by gas. You have to get a chimney with newspaper (or use lighter fluid, which I refuse to do) to light the coals. If the gas lit the coals I would use it way more than I have. For that I continue to use my old weber mostly
1958668
More details about the ring, it is a CHOKE. It prevents as much air from being mixed with the fuel as it flows out of the orifice. This is meant to prevent the fairly explosive puff that happens when you first light this heater. I still completely ignore it though. Just turn the fuel valve to max and repeatedly click the igniter (by turning it ALL the way against the spring at the end) until it lights. Keep your face away from the front of the heater when you do.
858025
Hi Peter, The Smokemeister works extremely well when mounted slightly below the cooking grate. There needs to be enough air flow through the grilling chamber along with a vent for it to effectively generate a significant amount of smoke. I have it mounted on a charcoal hot smoker and am impressed with its ability to truly cold smoke salmon etc. A gas grill as you describe might be more difficult to make an attachment. The smoke tends to rise depending on the ventilation so mounted above the grill rack would not produce a quantity of smoke compared to mounted below the rack. Ernest K
141588
No, this is the version without the starting "gadget" that tends to fail. In my opinion this is the better model as you save $50 for a gadget that tends to fail. There are plenty of other options on the market that assist in starting charcoal that you can get for far less than $50 to go along with this grill.
1944289
No they are two separate grills that you can buy individually if you would like. They simply combined them onto one frame. Get ready for a couple of days of work but the charcoal grill is really nice to cook on. I'd buy another if they improved the quality however at what you are paying?
628439
Nothing is necessary for this torch to work (other than fuel). It has NO safety (which is nice). You simply turn the knob to open/dispense fuel (you'll hear a little hiss) then press the ignition button (you'll hear a click) and boom... you have a constantly-on flame. To extinguish the flame simply turn the knob back in the "off" position to close/turn the fuel off. Hope that helps describe it's exact functionality! :-)
1209262
hi, karen. the minion method is a way of lighting your charcoal to extend the burn time. basically you leave a blank space in the middle of the grate and build a ring of charcoal around that blank space. then you would fill the open or blank space with lit coals. this will burn toward the outside and slowly ignite the other charcoal as the burn goes on. the basis of this is to control and to prolong the burn time.. its actullay very simple but highly effective .. give it a search on youtube and there will be dozens of videos showing the process...
2217811
I bought this for my husband and he said he has never had to add coals while grilling. Hope this answers your question.
437159
When I started up my new Performer Grill a couple of weeks ago, the charcoal would not self extinguish thanks to the dampers not fully closing off the air supply coming inthrough the vents on the bottom of the kettle. It was a case of poor fit up. I called Weber (number listed on warranty sheet). Weber's rep helped immensly. She understood the problem. She also has been trained hands-on with mechanical issues on this grill. Weber sent me a replacement damper assembly in two days. I installed the new dampers and the grill (took me about a half hour). The grill now seals off the air so that after I am done cooking, I close all the vents and, after a couple hours, the coals are out and some coals are useable for the next round of cooking. The gas pipe does not seem to be a problem so far as letting in enough air to keep coals burning. Check the damper blades in bottom of grill to see if they are sealing off the vents. Easy way to check? Move the dampers and look at the "scrape" pattern in the ash on grill interior. One of my blades was not touching the grill. Another barely touched. Problem solved. Grill works great. Weber was a big help. I give this product 5 stars.
1013007
I waited until it cooled and then emptied it. You can remove the grill and if you have a receptacle like a fire pit you can empty it while they are hot. The handles have rubberized grips that get pretty warm but I use grilling mittens and I can empty it when it is hot if I have a place to put the coals. You can close all the vents and the fire will go out. Once it cools you can then re-use the charcoal.
1752373
I cook for 2 most of the time.I use little charcoal . When you close all the vents, it goes out and I reuse the left over charcoal.