Barbecuing Versus Grilling: Weber Performa, wood chips, Grill Grates & Hoboken Eddies

Mobiusman

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
704
560
1,655
Jersey Shore- waterside
I love to barbecue because it tastes different (hopefully better), is easy to clean up and I get to do it outdoors. Grilling (what most people do with gas barbecues) does little for me because it is just another way to transfer BTU's, although it is outside and has little clean-up. Most people who eat my barbecue (regardless of food source) ask me what is special about my approach and why it tastes better than what they do. Since this is the one area where I have spent more time tweaking than audio, I thought it only appropriate to share what I have learned and let whomever is reading this to judge for themselves.

First of all, why do people use gas grills (there's that world again) instead of true barbecues? I believe there are two reasons: first, and more important, is convenience and time to heat up; second is cleanliness of the chef, not the food. The problem is that unless you use wood chips, the only flavor that you impart to your food is from the residue in your barbecue, which many consider probably carcinogenic. This is because a grill is essentially an outdoor gas oven.

Granted many put some sauce on the food in a grill because it is outside and the smoke and mess are less of an issue than in the oven in the kitchen. But they are not getting the most from barbecuing.

I would like to offer four easy tips that can greatly help your grilling, even better, barbecuing efforts.

1) Weber makes an incredible, inexpensive ($300) and easy to use barbecue that is a modified version of their top of their line Weber Kettle. It is called the Performa and is little more than their best Kettle (closed natural induction barbecue) with a simple added feature, a propane ignitor to get the grill going fast and with a minimum of mess. In fact, it heats up faster than my Weber gas grill. Once the barbecue is going, just shut off the gas and you have a rip roaring charcoal, or preferably wood-fired barbecue. BTW, buy a conversion hose and use a 20# propane tank instead of the camp bottles. It is much cheaper and one fill lasts a season of 2-3 uses per week.

Weber Kettles have been around for years and were the pioneers in covered barbecuing for the masses. Covered barbecuing is important for several reasons, there is not enough oxygen to support a flame so flare-ups are essentially impossible, producing less trashed/over cooked food. The other key reason that covered barbecuing is important is that this turns the barbecue into a quasi smoker, which in the case of the Weber Kettle uses induction to move the smoke systematically around and over the food.

2) While smoking imparts a nice taste in general, it can become truly special if you get a bit creative and use some of the same God Given OCD traits that have served you so well in audio tweaking. The flavor from smoke is determined by what the smoke represents. In other words, burn charcoal and it will taste like charcoal. Burn hard wood charcoal, it will taste like the hardwood and burn much hotter changing the BTU deal with more external searing for juice retention, while preserving a moist and more flavorful interior. Supplement the hardwood charcoal with WET wood chips (mesquite, hickory, apple, chardonnay, cabernet, etc.) and you have that secret ingredient that makes guests ask about your secret.

Lowes of all places is where you can get what you need. Cowboy brand lump hardwood charcoal is sold throughout the chain. It is slightly more expensive, but much cheaper than if Transparent or Nordost made it. Right next to the Cowboy charcoal are packages of wood chips from hickory, mesquite and apple. Soak a couple of handfuls in hot water for about 15 minutes before use so that they will last longer and smoke more because they are wet. Adjust the quantity to the amount of flavor you want to impart. Bad case of OCD needing a new focus? Soak them in some left over table wine with strong flavor to add that flavor to the smoke. Want to be exotic, Williams Sonoma sells vine ships from various vineyards which makes a huge difference when barbecuing fish. BTW, beware of the blast of smoke when you first put the chips on and shut the cover fast and protect your eyes.

3) Grill Grates are a really cool gadget that relies solely on physics to do their magic. They are aircraft grade aluminum fins with holes in their channels to let smoke through, juices out, while blocking the flames from destroying the food because they never come in direct contact. They come with a spatula that fits into the groves and lifts the food off of the fins without destroying the food. They are great for vegetables, pizza's, fish and the standard stuff.

A word of warning, the cooking time with Grill Grates decreases by at least 30% so err on the conservative side. You can poor flammable sauces on the food without having to worry about flair-ups and trips to the ER. If I have your attention and you are willing to go for it, go to grillgrates.com even if you use a gas grill. If you have a kettle, go to google and enter "round grill grates" and it will offer you special ones made for Weber Kettles, which come in three parts so you can vary the smoke impact versus cooking surface. I bought the large Kettle rounded ones and a spatula for about $110 and love them.

4) Hoboken Eddie's is probably the finest line of barbecue sauces I have ever tasted, and I love to experiment. Their url is hobokeneddies.com and a must try. They are inexpensive $5-7 and probably better than what you or grandma can come up with.

If anyone tries any of these recommendations, I would love to hear how it works out for you.
 

kach22i

WBF Founding Member
Apr 21, 2010
1,591
210
1,635
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.kachadoorian.com
Some wood chips (mesquite) wrapped in aluminum foil (poke holes) and placed on top of the metal grill of a gas/propane grille will make you and your food very smokey smelling.

I coat most things to be grilled with olive oil.

I cook on the lowest heat possible so that I do not dry out the food.

I also cook outside year round, although I do have to turn the heat up a bit to do so.
 

Mobiusman

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
704
560
1,655
Jersey Shore- waterside
Smoke like most things is matter of taste and quantity. I think it is great to use chips in any type of barbecue. It just is more present it if it also on top of the smoke from the hardwood coals.

The Grill Grates seem to work very well with gas grills also.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Excellent post Russ! I am with 100%. Our excellent weber gas grill has gotten zero use in the last 5 years since we got a charcoal weber grill with gas lighter. As you say, the latter lights up very easily with zero mess. It creates infinitely variable range of temps by building a fire at one end and nothing at the other. For many things I cook the gas grill simply would not perform. The ultra high heat of natural lump charcoal is essential to many types of barbecuing.

That said, since getting our ceramic smoker, our weber charcoal is also getting a lot less use. Nothing matches what you can do with 14-16 hours of slow smoking that way! I plan to write a full post on that one of these days :).

BTW, one note regarding gas: the byproduct of its combustion is water (reason why you don't want propane heater that exhausts in your garage -- it will cause things to rust!). That can impact how food comes out even if the gasser was just as good as charcoal otherwise.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Same lump charcoal that Russ mentioned. There are many brands. A guy by the name of "Naked Whiz" (I kid you not!) reviews all of the charcoals here: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag10.htm

There are other types of smokers which use specialized pellets and such. But the ceramic units do not need that and run on ordinary, natural lump charcoal such as the Cowboy brand Russ mentions (I buy mine from Whole Foods). You put a bag of charcoal in there, light it, put your meat on the grill, close the unit and "forget it" for 12+ hours until the temp is right. No peaking. No messing. The thing cooks to perfection by itself! OK, not quite by itself. There are some cool gadgets you can add to it including something i have created :). That is the topic of my big post.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Amir

1. What is the advantage of lump charcoal over brick charcoal

2. How much charcoal do you use in the 12-14 hours

3. You said there are bigger units than yours. How much can you smoke in that time (ribs, chicken, etc, etc)

4. I really like Russ' comments on the grilling grate. Do you use them (I guess no need with a smoker)
 

Mobiusman

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
704
560
1,655
Jersey Shore- waterside
Grill Grates

Ah , the computer and internet are so literal. I made a minor mistake with the URL. grillgrate.com not grillgrates.com

do a search on amazon if you are interested.

Two things that they do very well are raw vegetables and making fresh pizza or for that matter, reheating store bought. Remember, they cook very fast and seem to cook at a higher temp than is measured in the bbq.

It does take a few uses to get them seasoned and to adjust to the differences in cooking. Also they make beautiful striations on the food.
 

Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
10,517
1,774
1,850
Metro DC
There is a primal male urge to burn meat over an open flame. It helps if the the meat actually resembles some kind of animal. When done properly it should be on a rotisserie. Some kind of smoky flavor should be added. The ultimate barbecue -roast pig rotating over an open pit. Then slowly pull the pork of the pig and serve.


In the words of Tim The Tool Man Allen. AHR!
 

Mobiusman

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
704
560
1,655
Jersey Shore- waterside
Steve,

Lump charcoal is typically charred pieces of wood, whereas brick charcoal is a compressed amalgum of various products including coal. Lump charcoal burns very hot and very clean, but does not last as long as a result. However, it imparts a lightness in flavor that is very difficult with brick charcoal, even hardwood bricks.

Try Chardonnay or pinot noir chips from Williiams Sonoma on very light foods especially fish to be blown away. Also, in my experience, lamb and pork are two of the meats that most benefit from smoking.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Steve,

Lump charcoal is typically charred pieces of wood, whereas brick charcoal is a compressed amalgum of various products including coal. Lump charcoal burns very hot and very clean, but does not last as long as a result. However, it imparts a lightness in flavor that is very difficult with brick charcoal, even hardwood bricks.

Try Chardonnay or pinot noir chips from Williiams Sonoma on very light foods especially fish to be blown away. Also, in my experience, lamb and pork are two of the meats that most benefit from smoking.

Thanks Russ

I must say however that the smoker Amir referenced also looks very appealing
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Amir

1. What is the advantage of lump charcoal over brick charcoal
Russ answered this :). Some other advantages are that lump lights easier, doesn't stink while doing it, you can cook on it while it is still lighting up (i.e. no waiting until it is white and has smoked out the harmful stuff with briquets).

2. How much charcoal do you use in the 12-14 hours
I use about 80% of the bag. I have gone as far as 16 hours and still not exhausted the lump! The 2-inches of ceramic acts as a great thermal barrier increasing efficiency sharply over metal grills. In addition, it holds in moisture so the food does not dry up (so no mopping is necessary).
3. You said there are bigger units than yours. How much can you smoke in that time (ribs, chicken, etc, etc)
Since the dome is tall, you get a special rack that lets you stack meet. Using that, I have put 4 pork butts in there, weighing at more roughly 20 pounds. We have also done a full turkey that weighed similarly. They now have a size larger than mine. To give you some context, when we do pulled pork, we get enough for 4 to 5 meals with a family of 5! The Turkey fed 12 people with tons left over, with a smoky flavor that was to die for (more even cooking to boot than the oven).

4. I really like Russ' comments on the grilling grate. Do you use them (I guess no need with a smoker)
You definitely don't need anything else the smoker. The cooking there is "indirect" meaning you put a barrier between the fire and the meat. I use a Pizza pan, wrapped in aluminum foil so clean up is a snap (just replace the foil). Since there is no direct fire, there is no danger of fire getting out of control. The cooking temps are usually in the 230 to 250 degrees which also helps keep things under control.

Again, I will write up more later. I have kept the best parts out of this discussions to keep the suspense level high! :D
 

Mobiusman

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
704
560
1,655
Jersey Shore- waterside
smoking and barbecuing are quite different

Steve,

I agree that Amir has gone Rolls Royce and has the best smoker out there, but I frequently want to cook something for a specific meal and want to get it done fairly fast so I use the Weber for that.

Things like roasts, ribs and turkeys must be great on Amir's device, which also has grill grates made for it.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Kamado is indeed the company that made ceramic cookers famous. Unfortunately they are also difficult to deal with. When I contacted them via email for example, they did not answer. Yet the sole owner of Grilldome called me in person. They also do bad things like ban people on their forum which talk about competitors products. Have had reliability issues with tiles falling off, etc. At the time I ordered mine, they also had very long backlog and you had to wait months to get yours.

Not sure if this is true or not but the guy making grilldome says that the ceramics Kamado uses may not be food safe. The main application for the material they use is for melting metals. Use of them on food is somewhat uncharted territory.

All of this said, they have a lot of customers many of whom are very satisfied.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
I also want to clarify that I still use my weber. It has much larger surface than my smoker and I can see the fire and can locate it away from food, etc. So for cooking hotdogs, hamburgers, stakes and such, I still use my weber charcoal. There are people who use the grilldome for all of these applications but since I have both units, I don't.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing