Im all about the charcoal now. I use a cheaper version of the Big Green Egg called the Akorn by Char Griller. Its an egg shaped "kamado" grill but its insulated steel rather than ceramic and I have smoked some rediculous ribs and chicken on it. If you want to get into using a kamado style charcoal grill/smoker and your budget is more $400 instead of $1200 you cant go wrong. I almost never go back to my gas unless its frozen burger patties or sausages when Im in a hurry.
Another Akorn user here. I worried originally it would be a novelty item, being too cumbersom for everyday meals. Lets just say as soon as I started using it, the only time I use my gas grill is for hot dogs. But otherwise, I can get my fire up and roaring for "quick" cooking (searing steaks, chicken, etc) in 2 minutes, which is no slower than gas really.
For "quick" cooking, I put my lump charcoal in a steel collander (which raises the coals up a bit and allows me to have a direct and indirect side), and then hit the tops with 30 seconds of my propane torch. Nice clean start, and within 5 minutes its up to 400+ degrees. Cook the food, close the air vents and you're donezo.
All this Akorn talk has me interested in ditching the idea of "hybrid" grill. If I get a BBQ guru and hook it up, I'm assuming it helps get the grill up to temp a lot quicker because of the added blowing air? Does anyone have some times on how long it takes for a grill to be ready with a BBQ Guru (not necessarily on an Akorn). I'm not sure I want to get a propane torch like Ducay though!
Also, anyone grill year round with charcoal? I always sort of avoided it, but maybe I'm missing out on something great?
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I use my WSM year round. I use a temp controller from Auber Instruments. Doesn't have the fancy wifi stuff of the BBQ Guru or the DigiQ, but it's also cheaper. Can also make your own quite easily with a PID controller if you have the skills. I have remote monitoring using another device, but specifically just for the meat temps.
It does get up to temp a lot quicker because of the fan blowing air. I actually might put a damper on mine or diverter to keep it from blowing directly at the coals. At one point, I took the lid off and forgot to turn off the fan, so it cranked it up and I had a blast furnace on my hands.
I wrap my WSM with an insulation blanket for cold temps, but leave the lid without insulation (will change that I'm sure when I build a permanent structure for it). It uses about 30% more charcoal to get the same cook time.
Really looking forward to a full size Turkey for Christmas.
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Last edited by BlackArcher101; 06-17-2015 at 04:17 PM.
The wife got me a WSM for my birthday and I was wondering how easy it would be to grill on it as well. Searching the net I see that if you take out the middle section out, the grill and lid fit on the bottom section. Just getting into the charcoal thing so I will probably stick to the natural gas for the time being, but seeing how the WSM easily transforms into a charcoal BBQ is a potential option to explore.
This thread hasn't been bumped yet this year, anyone shopping for BBQ's right now and find any deals? Costco seems to have some pretty legit units on the higher end.. can I wreck a BBQ? Should a noob start with a cheaper unit?
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
This thread hasn't been bumped yet this year, anyone shopping for BBQ's right now and find any deals? Costco seems to have some pretty legit units on the higher end.. can I wreck a BBQ? Should a noob start with a cheaper unit?
I wouldn't get a cheap unit. Having heat spots is a recipe for turning off BBQ. Honestly, I would look at charcoal over propane/NG, even if you are just starting out. You can get some el-cheapo charcoal BBQ's and the flavor of the food will be 100 times better, just make sure to use lump charcoal not briquettes!
You could look at a propane/NG BBQ with a smoker tray. I haven't seen them work anywhere as good as a charcoal BBQ, but it is an option. Then again a unit like that will cost a bit more money.
Overall if you want to be cheap and eat good food a charcoal BBQ would be best bet IMO.
EDIT: Here you go, a minimal investment into charcoal grilling
I have actually grilled with a charcoal unit before and I will agree the taste was awesome. We have one here at work we fire up a few times a year to cook some burgers. Seems to take forever though unless I am doing it wrong.
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Ahh there we go, weird that it didn't pop up when I searched BBQ. Thanks.
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Ahh there we go, weird that it didn't pop up when I searched BBQ. Thanks.
No worries - I saw your questions and knew there was a good thread on it. The thread title was "I need me a new BBQ" and the CP search filtered out all of those words to being too short or too common, so I had to find it manually based on memory. Funny how the entire thread title was filtered out of the search though.
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The Following User Says Thank You to mrkajz44 For This Useful Post:
I have actually grilled with a charcoal unit before and I will agree the taste was awesome. We have one here at work we fire up a few times a year to cook some burgers. Seems to take forever though unless I am doing it wrong.
I have had my charcoal bbq for 4 years now and I have tried a lot of things to get the heat up quickly. I just got a Weber chimney starter and I can get up to temp in about 10 minutes. It's also the cheapest starting option out there, about $23 on Amazon.
I have a Weber Genisis propane and haven't turned it on more than a few times since I went charcoal. Just personal preference, and I love the flavour especially when using wood chips. Wouldn't go back at this point.
The Following User Says Thank You to OldDutch For This Useful Post:
I have had my charcoal bbq for 4 years now and I have tried a lot of things to get the heat up quickly. I just got a Weber chimney starter and I can get up to temp in about 10 minutes. It's also the cheapest starting option out there, about $23 on Amazon.
I have a Weber Genisis propane and haven't turned it on more than a few times since I went charcoal. Just personal preference, and I love the flavour especially when using wood chips. Wouldn't go back at this point.
Invest in the BBQ Dragon. Basically I get the fire started with the Looftlighter, put the BBQ Dragon on it and go prepare whatever I plan to BBQ. I think that is way better than using a chimney, which was a prior method I used. You can get them for $50 at Canadian Tire. I only use this for cooking direct though, not for the longer smoking and indirect cooking.
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The BBQ directions state that the main burner has to be set to high before hitting the ignition switch. But the problem is, the ignition switch isn't doing anything until numerous tries, which then finally results in a giant flame which almost burns me. The BBQ will not start unless the main burner is set to high. I don't want to get blown up or burnt, the BBQ should start with one hit of the. Ignition switch and not s giant flame.
