I took a giant leap backwards in life........

[waskawood]

After 35 years of cooking with nothing but charcoal I purchased a natural gas fired Weber. I am not sure I am going to like it. I want to cook baby backs for the 4th and was wondering what is the best way to get some smoke into them. Can I wrap my chips in foil and place the down on the flavorizer bars or use a pan? I would be interested in what you guys are doing. Thanks in advance for your ideas and enjoy your freedom this Independence Day.

[lhk53]

I have never done ribs on mine but the weber is the best grill i have ever owned. you can control the temp and cook real slow and the steaks are great.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=978801&page=6&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

[Muskycrazy]

I am sure you will love the gas grill . A few years I was asked to cook ribs for the Head of the Lakes Fair . I started off with a charcol Weber , that I liked , buy quickly realized that the Fair would be over before the 200 lbs. of ribs were cooked . We had gotten a gas grill but it was in the garage , unused , cause I liked the Charcol grill . I went and got a tank of gas and haven't used charcol since . I am not a huge fan of the smoke flavor so I lost nothing but gained a lot by switching . I am not sure how you would put smoke back in when you switch but I suppose you could toss chips in the bottom . Good luck .

[LABS4ME]

Weber sells a smoker box that sits off the side of the grates. I have one on my Weber. Still get a little smokey flavor when I need to get grilled food done 'quicker' after a day of work.

Good Luck!

Ken

[fishhook8]

fill a beer can with dry sawdust fill with water and lay it on the bottom

[waskawood]

Thanks guy. I appreciate the suggestions. I tried staeks today and it was very windy. The temp guage wouldn't even get up to 500 degrees with a 3 burners on high. Is this normal? I do like a nice sear but I was afraid that the steaks would get too well done before the outside got a nice char effect.

[Whoaru99]

Never had problem searing steaks on mine (also a three-burner Weber).

[BLACKJACK]

I have both a gas fired grill and a charcoal grill, the gas grill gets used during the week when time is tight and the charcoal grill gets used on the weekends when I have the 45-60 minutes to wait for the coals to fire up. I like them both, I wouldn't consider a gas grill a step backwards. I also pick my foods accordingly, during the week its burgers, chicken breasts, steaks, while on the weekend I'll do bigger items. This weekend was a turkey breast, or I'll do whole chickens or a roast.

[sweept]

Home depot sells a cast iron smoking box for less than 15 bucks that works good. I have been using a gas weber for 12 years and have found that they are very sensitive to the wind.

[CFRay]

Put your favorite smoker woodchips in an old metal pie pan, set it in the back corner of the grill and you will get some smoke out of that when cooking items that take an hour or so. I too am a convert from charcoal. My Weber is protected from the wind most of the time. I really like the temp. control w/ gas and the ability to cook low and slow.

[sweept]

Hey cf is that a springer in your pic?

[waskawood]

Thanks again for the help guys. Now that the wind is down it heats great.

[CFRay]

Yes it is. She's been my pal for 8 years. Field springer from a breeder near Mahnomen. Good hunter even though she was trained by me.

[zamboni]

I will tell you what- after years of checking on my steaks, chicken, etc.. and realizing the coals are out- I will never go back to charcoal. The little flavor you do lose is worth not having them coals go out on you. My tank lasts about 2 years as well- and my grill gets used ALOT

[sweept]

CF if you would email me I would appreciate it. [YouNeedAuthorization]@hcinet.net

[BLACKJACK]

If your fire is going out then you're not using enough briquets - six briquets just doesn't cut it... Its always better to have too much fire rather than not enough, you can always choke it down using the vents. And when you're done, close all the vents and some of those coals will be there for the next time. Skimping on briquets makes for a poor barbecue!!

[BobT]

Quote:

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45-60 minutes to wait for the coals to fire up.

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What kind of coal are you using? I have found nothing outperforms Kingsford briquets. Also, try getting an electric starter. I can pile the coals on the starter, plug it in, and be grilling in 20 minutes tops. Ten minutes with the starter and ten minutes for them to be fully ready.

Bob

[BLACKJACK]

I agree, Kingsford charcoal is the best. I should probably try an electric starter but at this point I use lighter fluid because its convenient and no hot starter to keep out of reach of puppies and kids, no extention cord needed. Stack the charcoal, douse it with fluid, wait 5 minutes for it to soak in, douse it some more and light it. I give it plenty of fluid, its cheap, I want all the coals to start right away. I probably exagerated on the 45-60 min, but I like to give it 30-35 minutes lit time at least. A lot depends on the wind too, a calm sultry day takes longer than a windy day. If I'm planning on throwing the food on at 3, then by 2 I'm getting the grill out, cleaning out the old ashes, stacking the charcoal.

People complain about 'lighter fluid taste' well that means they haven't waited long enough for all the fluid to burn off, they start cooking too soon. ALL the coals need to be grey covered.