Hi

[Reesyd]

Hi All from Westest Wales.

Thought Id been BBQing for years until recently. Realise now there's loads to learn after getting a Weber 57" kettle and searching around on youtube. Tried a Weber cooking course and then managed a turkey at Christmas on rottisserie, a beef rib and then a cardinal sin...food poisoning from grilling after tooooo much alcohol!

In the throws now of deciding whether to get a Smokey Mountain or Adrenaline BBQ Company Slow n Sear. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Cheers, Reesyd

[Wade]

Hi Reesyd and welcome to the forum

The Weber 57cm is a great all-rounder and I have been cooking on them for almost 20 years. Great for hot and low-and-slow roasting as well as grilling and also cold smoking. Cooking the Christmas turkey on the BBQ is a scary step to take the first time - but when you realise just how good it tastes you never want to go back to oven cooking it again 

The food poisoning was not such a good experience I bet ! What was it that you were grilling? The likelihood of getting food poisoning is as much about how well the meat was handled up to the point of cooking as it is with the cooking itself. Have you bought yourself an instant read food thermometer now so that you can check the internal temperatures of the meat as it is being grilled. It helps prevent both under cooking - and just as important prevents over cooking. Some have nice large displays that can be easily seen after consuming alcohol - LOL

The bullet smokers are the next progression from the Kettle I think and the WSM is certainly a good smoker. It does have one design drawback though and that is that the lower cooking grate is not easily accessible without first removing the upper grate. You may want to consider the ProQ bullet smokers instead as the main body of the smoker is in 2 rings which enables access to the bottom grate without having to disturb the top. At any of the BBQ competitions you will find both the WSM and the ProQ Frontiers in use by the teams. I have used both and they both work well but my preference is towards the ProQ

The Slow 'n Sear always seems to me to be a solution looking for a problem. It is so simple to get similar results from your kettle using "free" bits and pieces that you will have at home already. Some Weber kettles are supplied with a fire basket that looks very similar to the Slow 'n Sear, but if you don't have one then just use the charcoal snake method and some tinfoil to create the same environment inside your kettle.

Once you move to a bullet smoker you will realise just how much simpler they are to use and control than low-and-slow cooking in a kettle.. The additional cooking space they provide is also a great benefit.

[Reesyd]

Hi Wade

Thanks for the welcome and advice.

Agreed. Rottisserie Turkey is superb. Doesn't seem right to be putting it in the oven anymore.

I do have one of those instant read thermometers but, under the influence, was better equiped at the time to determine the sausages being grilled were cooked! I initially put them onto cook 2 zone but as the heat started to die of rapidly put them over the coals. Probably not long enough and no more 2 zone for sausages or at least a reverse of the method, cook first, keep warm.

Interesting comments on the Slow n Sear. Whilst my experience is limited I have been experiencing a significant drop off in temperature very rapidly using a 2 zone cooking approach with the Weber baskets that came with my one touch and Weber coals I've been using and was thinking if I couldn't get that right what could I reasonably expect from the SNS? As for the advertised "blistering hot sear zone" the fuel would provide this anyway I expect. Agree that the SNS could be a solution looking for a problem so far.

Cheers, Reesyd

[Wade]

The rapid drop in temperature suggests an issue with the coals that you are using. What do you burn - charcoal or briquettes? If briquettes - what type?  I am assuming that you did not use instant light charcoal! If you are burning supermarket charcoal then once it nears the end of the burn the heat will drop off quite quickly but restaurant quality lumpwood charcoal will burn for longer. Good quality briquettes will last the longest of all - something like Heat Beads or Coconut briquettes. They are a little more expensive than the general supermarket briquettes (which you should avoid) but they burn hotter and for longer so work out cheaper in the end.

When grilling using a 2 zone setup I would not bother using the Weber charcoal baskets - they come into their own for indirect roasting things like beef joints or chicken. For 2 zone (or graduated heat) cooking I have found it best to simply pour all of the lit coals to one side of the charcoal grate and then using tongs spread one edge out until they reach approximately the mid point. That way you actually get a graduated cooking zone which gives you greater cooking flexibility. The coals will also tend to last longer as they do dot burn with quite the same ferocity that they do when confined in the basket.

[Wade]

When cooking low-and-slow you are looking to avoid any kind of heat gradient - though that is difficult in smaller BBQ/Smokers. You are wanting a achieve a constant "low" and even temperature throughout the cooking chamber

In the Weber Kettle this can be achieved using the snake method to burn through the coals. (see photos above and below). The briquettes are placed 2 or 3 deep in an arc around about 1/4 of the cooking grate edge. 8 or 9 fully lit briquettes are then placed at one end to start the slow burn. It is important to use good quality briquettes as the cheaper ones can give off some unpleasant smells when they initially light. Using some aluminium tape block off all of the bottom air vents except for the one immediately under the coals. The diagram below shows an air blower in place of the open air vent but this is not necessary. Place some tinfoil over the top of the coals to act as a heat baffle and to force the hot air down and towards the meat - which is placed over a foil drip tray. Place the lid of the kettle so that the vent is on the opposite side to the coals and keep the vent 1/2 closed to slightly restrict the flow of air through the cooking chamber to give a more even overall heat.

Using this method, by only adjusting the bottom vent you should be able to maintain a constant temperature of about 110 C around the meat for about 6-8 hours on a single load of briquettes.

[Reesyd]

Hi Wade

I'm using Weber briquettes. White 5kg bag. Used the Webers when doing the Turkey which came in a black bag with a glowing briquette picture on the front in the baskets with no problem at all. Can't seem to find the type I am using elswhere except for a local garden centre to me.

We done some pork belly ribs this weekend and experienced a massive drop off again,180 down to 100 in no time at all. Good things electric ovens in the event of back up where only a short cook time was needed!

We thought that the coals were the issue so will be going back to Riverside in Hertfordshire, where we originally bought our kit from, to order some of the briquettes we initially had. I like them as they claim to have no harmful or chemical additives and we have had no bad tastes from them.

BTW you have thrown a spanner in the works ?. ProQ or WSM. In a bit of a conundrum now. Liked the idea of doing a suckling pig but not sure it would go in a WSM. ProQ use it as a selling point on some of the material I've been reading.

Cheers Reesyd

[Wade]

Yes the Weber briquettes are good. You should be able to buy them easily enough online - and you will also often get free next day delivery. I usually find BBQ World or WoW BBQ to be good value

https://www.bbqworld.co.uk/weber-barbecues/accessories/weber-briquettes-8kg.asp

https://www.wowbbq.co.uk/categories/fuel/briquettes-and-lumpwood/product/weber-briquette-8kg/17591~17591

LOL sorry about the spanner. I have used both and both will cook excellent BBQ, though I confess to having a preference for the ProQ - simply because it gives you much easier access to the bottom cooking grate. At the BBQ competitions you will usually find about an equal number of each brand spread amongst the various teams.
Before trying the ProQ I must admit to being a bit of a Weber evangelist but this brought me back to reality.