i use charcoal grill for high searing steaks etc. but i want something for ribs and occasional pulled pork. will i really miss charcoal with this?
238685
Two different ways of cooking buddy. There is no way to sear your meat with a smoker but your meats will come out just out of this world
1528168
Although I haven't tried this, I suppose you can take out the middle section and place the grate on top of the charcoal ring. Weber offers a bbq grill that can also be used for smoking, I have a friend who has one and it smokes very well. If you are going to do more grilling than smoking that might be a better choice. Hope that helps.
704111
I've used it grilling with indirect heat on thick NY Strips on my Weber. Rub steaks down with Webers Chicago Style steak rub, then throw a small chunk of Oak on the coals and cover, turning occasionally. The smoke & rub bland well together. These chunks do burn well in a grill or smoker
2128636
To season it i just did acouple of cooks with some fatty foods. Bacon or meat that you do not wish to eat just to seal up all the holes. To start the charcoal I use a chimney starter with some newspaper under it which lights it up real quick!
1597008
I have never used this pot on a charcoal grill but have used it on the coals of a camp fire. If you do just be careful the coals are not too hot, and do not open lid. If you do you may get coals in your food.
1293049
It's good for pretty much any amount of food. I would just use less charcoal and it would still cook great.
1162730
Overall, I wouldn't recommend it. The pan is made of aluminum and can't take a lot of heat. I'm not sure what cut of meat you want to sear, but you'll find that stainless steel pans (All-Clad), or cast iron perform better for searing. Head on over to amazing ribs dot com for some great techniques for cooking meat.
67686
The ilFornino Basic is not intended for very high heat. Charcoal produces high heat. Check the next model which is the Professional Series, it holds up to more heat since the Stainless is thicker and is of higher grade. once the charcoal is lit you push it to the far back of oven and you start cooking. Again we do not the use of Charcoal with the Basic but you can use it with the Professional or Elite Series.
450142
Honestly I have never thought about it. In my kamado cooker I fill the fire box with charcoal and the draft door and daisy wheel are what gets the temperature set. Of course you can use too little charcoal depending on the time you need to cook. So if your question is specific to a kettle grill I can't help much hopefully that helps a little.
1677466
You can use any kind of charcoal you want. I use the cheapest stuff they sell with lighter fluid because the fumes never touch the meat.
1232680
Jason, I've had a hard time getting it up to the desired smoking temp when it's cool & windy or just cool. I think one of the problems is that they only recommending using 12 or so starter coals. Yesterday I increased this number to 20 or so and that seemed to work better. I'll keep fooling with it and could see using up to half the coals in the chimney starter. And I've found that I need to have the top holes open more than the 5/16 they recommend. I'd say open them all the way up and then throttle them down. I also think it makes a big difference and significantly slows down the process if the meat isn't close to room temp to start. But I'll tell you, the more I use the device the more comfortable I feel with it. I'm having a retirement get together this coming Sat so started preparing for that this weekend. Using a rib rack I smoked 6 full racks of ribs on Sat and 6 more on Sun. I'd never have dreamed that 6 racks of ribs would fit on the Weber but they did. I baby sat the Sat batch pretty closely but once the Sunday batch was up to speed I only looked at about once/hour to stir the coals, add water & wood. We ate one last evening and it was good but will put the rest in the oven for 2 or 3 hours to get them more tender before serving. I hope that this (long) answer is of some help and encouragement. Dave McCartney, Marion, OH dkmcpa@yahoo.com
1111404
The grill is perfect for 1,2 or more portions. I use mine for the 2 of us and the reason I went with the 1 touch is that this grill will save on your charcoal for the next time you use it. It seals up and extinguishes the coals pretty quick and they definitely are reusable with a few added for the next grilling. I bought a 1 touch for my son and he loves it. Good luck.
577339
Thanks for your input. maybe I was just being overly anxious. The reason I bought the grill was because I heard grilled meat, directly on the hot surface was bad so I wanted an alternative. I'll take it out of the box and try it. :o)
873344
I have had this grill for over a year and have done a few brisket and Boston butt roasts. I have never used any lump charcoal because I still had a load of briquette I bought on 50% off sale from Home Depot. I have never had to add charcoal for the brisket low and slow cook, 8 to 10 hours long. Set at 225 degrees it would easily go the entire cook without need to add coals. The thermal efficiency with this smoker is amazing.
2048364
You CAN buy the extra fire box for smoking, however, not only is the 5050 a mediocre griller, I've heard that as a smoker, it downright sucks. Apparently all of the seams leak terribly, and the grill is totally ineffective as a smoker. I'll never buy another Char Griller product, and their customer service is just awful. CharBroil is even worse. Sorry to say, if you really want a quality grill or smoker, you'll have to buy a Weber or one of the other quality brands. They cost more, but over the life of the grill/smoker, you'll really get your money's worth. Hope that helped.Alan
115019
The simple answer is yes. I often put a small amount of paste that really gives it a great sear but I someti throw a steak on it does get ribs. Hope this helps
2114429
not to easily. it will be to hard to keep low temps. the grill is really shallow so the charcoal is to close to cook slow the meat will cook to fast and the smoke will have no time to permiate the meat.