Charcoal Grilling Tip

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

I am a purest.

I don't own a gas grill, I use charcoal only.  I have a little trick I use in case you want to say bye bye to lighter fluid and gas forever.  It smells bad, and tastes even worse.  I know it is fun to spray it on the fire, but it tastes like shiite.

Cut out the bottom of a coffee can or any other can with a can opener.  Remove the top, also.
Place newspaper on the bottom of your grill, underneath that first rack.  Place the rack on top of the newspaper.  Then take the can and place it on the first rack.  Fill the can full of charcoal.  If you have small cans, you can use 2.  Light the newspaper underneath.  You should do this 1 hour before you grill.  It is the first thing I do when I grill.  After that, I have plenty of time to do my food prep work.  After you see the line of heat/fire on the can almost reach the top, take some pliers and carefully remove the can and let the charcoal fall out.  Add more charcoal from your bag on top of that.  Then place the top rack over it, and you are good to go.  No gas, no lighter fluid.

After that, follow thog and MikeB's recipes WORD FOR WORD.

GO HOGS!
:razorback:

[Swino]

You can buy something like that now at walmart, it is called a quick start, I believe. 

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

You can buy something like that now at walmart, it is called a quick start, I believe. 

Yeah, they also have them at hardware stores.  I don't mess with them because I like being able to throw the cans away, especially if I am tailgaiting, and I always have plenty of coffee cans laying around.  Good point, though.

[razor22]

I ordered one of these a few months ago.  It holds enough charcoal to cook 2-4 steaks, and the whole canister lights in about 20 minutes.  And it's made by Weber, so you know you can't go wrong!

Weber 87886 Chimney Starter


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[Brett Hitman Hog]

I hate gas grills, too. I hate lighter fluid.  The charcoal chimney is the best way to go.

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

I ordered one of these a few months ago.  It holds enough charcoal to cook 2-4 steaks, and the whole canister lights in about 20 minutes.  And it's made by Weber, so you know you can't go wrong!

Weber 87886 Chimney Starter

excellent

[razor22]

Since we're talking charcoal, allow me to recommend Ozark Oak natural lump charcoal made in Yellville, AR.  You can find it in large brown bags at Harp's and Richard's in Fayetteville, at about $5 per bag.  It burns clean, lights faster than briquettes, and one bag generally lasts me a whole month.

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Since we're talking charcoal, allow me to recommend Ozark Oak natural lump charcoal made in Yellville, AR.  You can find it in large brown bags at Harp's and Richard's in Fayetteville, at about $5 per bag.  It burns clean, lights faster than briquettes, and one bag generally lasts me a whole month.

Wow, that is a great price for that Starter!  I live in Dallas, but thanks for the tip I go to Fayetteville for a lot of the games.

Btw, have you (or anyone on here, jump on) used wood chips to grill with?  Any of them that you like, pros cons?

[razor22]

Btw, have you (or anyone on here, jump on) used wood chips to grill with?  Any of them that you like, pros cons?

If I'm grilling steaks or hamburgers or sausage, I'll usually mix a couple hickory chunks (not chips, as they burn too fast to do anything significant) in with the above-mentioned Ozark Oak charcoal, right before the meat goes on.  Two golfball-sized chunks give you enough smoke for the entire grilling session.  I've also used apple wood the same way with pork, and it's great.  Cooking with wood is an art, though; too much wood and you'll mask the taste of the meat or, at worst, you'll make it unbearably smoky.  Some people grill with wood chunks only, but I can't handle that much smoke flavor.

Question for you, notshavin: which of the Johnsonville brats did you use?

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Btw, have you (or anyone on here, jump on) used wood chips to grill with?  Any of them that you like, pros cons?

If I'm grilling steaks or hamburgers or sausage, I'll usually mix a couple hickory chunks (not chips, as they burn too fast to do anything significant) in with the above-mentioned Ozark Oak charcoal, right before the meat goes on.  Two golfball-sized chunks give you enough smoke for the entire grilling session.  I've also used apple wood the same way with pork, and it's great.  Cooking with wood is an art, though; too much wood and you'll mask the taste of the meat or, at worst, you'll make it unbearably smoky.  Some people grill with wood chunks only, but I can't handle that much smoke flavor.

Question for you, notshavin: which of the Johnsonville brats did you use?

If you are talking about the Superbowl and the thread I started, I used the Italian Sweet.  On other occasions, there is a meat market in downtown Dallas I like to get sausage from.

Thanks for the info.  We need to go over this again before next football season!

[Hawgin84]

Since we're talking charcoal, allow me to recommend Ozark Oak natural lump charcoal made in Yellville, AR.  You can find it in large brown bags at Harp's and Richard's in Fayetteville, at about $5 per bag.  It burns clean, lights faster than briquettes, and one bag generally lasts me a whole month.

I like that stuff too! I've been using it for years.

[Hawgin84]

Btw, have you (or anyone on here, jump on) used wood chips to grill with?  Any of them that you like, pros cons?

If I'm grilling steaks or hamburgers or sausage, I'll usually mix a couple hickory chunks (not chips, as they burn too fast to do anything significant) in with the above-mentioned Ozark Oak charcoal, right before the meat goes on.  Two golfball-sized chunks give you enough smoke for the entire grilling session.  I've also used apple wood the same way with pork, and it's great.  Cooking with wood is an art, though; too much wood and you'll mask the taste of the meat or, at worst, you'll make it unbearably smoky.  Some people grill with wood chunks only, but I can't handle that much smoke flavor.

Question for you, notshavin: which of the Johnsonville brats did you use?

If you want to use hickory chips and don't want them to burn up too quick, you can soak them in water. Nobody usually has time for that, so, get some heavy duty foil and wrap a handful of chips in the foil. Poke a few holes in the foil, place it on your hot bed of charcoal, and it will burn the chips slowly to allow excellent smoking. Also, I like Pecan chips the best. If you have a Pecan tree, just use the sticks that fall, otherwise one can buy pecan chips.

[chillinhoggie]

Since we're talking charcoal, allow me to recommend Ozark Oak natural lump charcoal made in Yellville, AR.  You can find it in large brown bags at Harp's and Richard's in Fayetteville, at about $5 per bag.  It burns clean, lights faster than briquettes, and one bag generally lasts me a whole month.

I concur that stuff is great lights easy and burns clean plus as the added bonus it is a ARKANSAS product.... I always try to keep my money in state.

[Tomhog™]

My step-dad taught me the coffee can charcoal lighter.  I've used it for the past year since I learned it.  It does a great job of prepping coals.  Haven't tried the newspaper though...