re: Weber 22” Master Touch grill - Temporary

I have thoroughly fricked up some meat today. This temperature thing takes some serious experimenting to figure the vents out. What to open/close, how much, where to place the charcoal.

I’ve made some serious rookie mistakes, thank God I’m home alone with the intention of messing up.

quote:

---

Weber 22” Master Touch grill

---

I'm far from an expert, but I've had 22inch Weber kettles for over 15 years. A must have is a $15 chimney starter. If I'm cooking slow for extended periods of time, I light about 15 briquets and place those atop my pile of unlit ones (minion method.) The "snake method" places the coals in a ring around the perimeter of the firebox and you put the lit coals on one end. Kingsford blue bag charcoal is VERY consistent with temperature and burn rate. That's what I recommend to learn with.

Airflow control is harder to master. You have two vents, a bottom damper and a top vent. For long slow cooks, I close my bottom vents halfway and close the top vents partially. Stick a pencil in the hole, close the vent, then remove the pencil. Control the air from there by adjusting either vent, but not both. For hot cooks such as chicken (375-400,) I have the bottom vents open completely and use the top vent to keep it from getting too hot. YMMV

It's a great grill. I have a 22" master touch still in the box as a spare.

eta: I only use a full chimney of lit coals for steaks, chops, and tuna. I use one of the little baskets full of lit coals all the way to one side for offset cooking of chicken

quote:

---

irflow control is harder to master. You have two vents, a bottom damper and a top vent. For long slow cooks, I close my bottom vents halfway and close the top vents partially. Stick a pencil in the hole, close the vent, then remove the pencil. Control the air from there by adjusting either vent, but not both. For hot cooks such as chicken (375-400,) I have the bottom vents open completely and use the top vent to keep it from getting too hot.

---

That sounds so basic but I never had a pit with a thermometer before and I’ve always just assumed that the closed vents at the top made for a more smokey taste as it trapped the smoke around the meat. Just figuring out that I could swing the temp by 100 degrees with the adjusting of the vents and damper was one load of coals. One rack of ribs was the victim but I ate them anyway.

Snake method is only way I can control temp on my kettles. I don’t even try nailing down a specific temp, I’m just happy to keep it within a 25 degree range.

quote:

---

supadave3

---

I'm sure you've seen some of my social media posts. You made a good choice. I love my Weber Kettle. Reach out to me if you need any suggestions!

Buy some disposable aluminum bread pans when trying to stay at a lower temperature. One filled with water sitting over the coals makes it damn near impossible to reach 300*.

As someone mentioned, a chimney starter is a must. I use Weber cubes to start my coals, but you can use newspaper, as well. It's the no hassle way to light your coals and get them hot. After they are hot, you pour them onto the grate.

You can get 30 aluminum pans for 7 bucks at Costco.

Some have mentioned the snake and the minion methods. Both have their fans. I have a Slow and Sear, which helps me do the same thing, and then some. The slow and sear creates two zones by keeping all of your coals on one side of the grill and you can move your meat into the hot/direct zone directly over the coals, or put it on the indirect/cool zone on the other side of the grill. I pretty much keep my SnS on the grill all the time.

Things like chicken, ribs, pork butt, etc, are cooked on the indirect side. Burgers and steaks are either cooked on the hot side, but often a combination of both direct and indirect heat. You may sear the steak on the hot side and then move it to the indirect side to let it come to temp (that's where a meat thermometer is handy).

Many SnS owners love them. Some people think they are overpriced or unnecessary. Probably depends on what and how often you cook. It cost about 60 bucks.



Again, I would recommend watching Youtube videos and loosely follow the recipe/technique of the video. The best videos will tell you how to set up the grill (charcoal, vents, etc), how long to cook, when to spritz, wrap, and so forth. It's good advice to be watch your temps and adjust. Temperature, humidity, and wind can affect temps. You'll get good at figuring that out.