Reply With QuoteThis is my Dad's go to BBQ - like you I'm a Weber Q user.
I would say get one of those weber charcoal tubes to make it easier and faster to light and get heated up. Good charcoal stored in a dry place and you're good to good.
Just picked up a bargain Smokey Joe premium- £20 on gumtree- used once
So any tips and trick let me know not used a charcoal bbq since I bought my Q
Thanks
Smokey Joe by biglewie, on Flickr
This is my Dad's go to BBQ - like you I'm a Weber Q user.
I would say get one of those weber charcoal tubes to make it easier and faster to light and get heated up. Good charcoal stored in a dry place and you're good to good.
They’re very good! Had one years.
I'm a pretty keen BBQer and I'd say:
- Use a chimney starter (as mentioned above) make sure you wait until the top coals are starting to turn white before removing them
- Only use Weber Charcoal and Fire lighters, any of the cheaper stuff is pretty crap, it just won't last
- Remember heat is controlled by the amount of air getting to the coals
- Even though those are small, you can still do a fairly large cook on them, whenever aiming to cook something large thoroughly (like a chicken) you'll most likely need some sort of heat deflector, one of those foil trays will do. Stick it directly under the chicken and coals go either side.
Should be enough to get you started! Good find for £20!
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Make sure you get the smaller Weber chimney not the full sized one!
Did you still have the small plastic tub inside that suggests the optimum amount of charcoal, if not pm me and can measure mine as a guide.
I made the mistake once of using too much charcoal & the grill was touching the charcoal & no cooler spots about to place the food.
Good charcoal is a must. I prefer lumpwood restaurant grade from Big K off Amazon, but briquettes last longer from a heat perspective.
Weber’s own are great. If I’m a supermarket, be careful of Big K recycled briquettes, awful things, make sure you get the normal ones (annoyingly both have the same barcode lol)
They have a different colour at the top seal, brown vs black from memory but cannot remember which is which, sorry!
Oh and be careful with the air vents when cooking, unlike the other Weber’s, these ones a very hot when in use. You will only make that mistake once.
Whilst small, you can still do some offset cooking etc. I use mine to hot smoke a couple of salmon fillets when lighting the big green egg is overkill.
Good luck & enjoy!
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I'm going to watch this with interest as I've never had great success with my Smokey Joe.
Both my Master Touch and Q are things of wonder, but I've never managed to get a sustained burn with the Smokey Joe.
Possibly because I've used too much charcoal for the air to circulate.
Possibly because I've not used the kettle.
Possibly because I've not used the right charcoal.
Whatever, thread subscribed!
I agree, good charcoal is a must. But lumpwood and briquettes have different cooking applications.Originally Posted by Mj2k
Until I bought my Master Touch my go to BBQ was the Weber Go Anywhere. Similar in size to the Smokey Joe. Briquettes were perfect. It allowed me to easily achieve the same hearo each time for consistent cooking. To cook one burger, I knew I only needed 4 briquettes, 2 burgers 6 briquettes, and I carefully laid the briquettes when lit.
Lumpwood produces more smoke and more of an authentic BBQ smell/taste. But it doesn't burn as long or as consistent. It does burn hotter. I mainly use lumpwood for steaks or pizzas, where I need things as hot as possible and less control.
Completely agree. I use lumpwood in my BGE as all you can use. Tend to mix both when using the Joe / kettle.
Advantage of briquettes is you get uniform pieces. Some of my lumpwood would fill the Joe with one piece.
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This was the measuring pot I referred to as the guide to how full you can go whilst maintaining air flow & cooler spots.
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Just built my own version of this using an Arduino to help maintain the temperature in my BGE for an 18 hour smoke:
https://biggreenegg.com/product/egg-genius/
Just need to fabricate a case for it now, only cost £25 in parts, while its off topic I'm happy to share how I did it for anyone interested.
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Yes please, very interested as think my pitmaster IQ might be on its way out.
Pork coming off shortly, managed to leave the bottom vent fully open overnight, despite having the IQ plugged in. Still held a steady 225F, marvellous these BGEs
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They are excellent. I'll put together the details and send through when finished! I'm still beta testing but it feels close! :D
Yes please, very interested as think my pitmaster IQ might be on its way out.
Pork coming off shortly, managed to leave the bottom vent fully open overnight, despite having the IQ plugged in. Still held a steady 225F, marvellous these BGEs
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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