Charcoal set up question

[Pappymn]

Cooking burgers this weekend for 25 people. Wanna use my Weber Performer.  I've never used charcoal to heat the whole surface. I do not think one chimney Is going to cut it, and I only own one chimney. Don't want to use lighter fluid and don't own a big torch.

Can I light several of those starter cubes, pile some charcoal on.....and wish upon a star?

Other suggestion?

[sparky]

spread out a good layer in the grill and dump I full chimney on top of it.  waa laa.  your good to go buddy.   

[pz]

Sorry Pappy, I'm not experienced enough with charcoal, but I don't envy you grillin' for 25!

[veryolddog]

Sparky is correct. However, if you do get a package of the gel cubes to start the fire, take a half a box and spread them out all over the surface. Then use your torch to light them all. And then get away.

30 minutes later, you will ready to go.

Ed

[Old Dave]

Pappy,

I would think that there are several ways to doing your cook on the Weber kettle but unless you have done this kind of cook before, I would suggest setting the cooker up with 1/2 of it direct and the other half indirect. Assuming that you will be grilling about 40 burgers and probably needing them all done at a certain time, I doubt if a fellow could pull it off with a cooker setup for all direct cooking. Something to consider is that it will take about 3-4 minutes to give the burger some grilling marks on the direct side and then you will need to move them to the indirect side for a few minutes to finish cooking. Starting with just 10 burgers, by the time you can load them, the first ones will be needed to be turned over. By the time you get them turned, it will be time to start pulling them off the cooker or trying to find out where to put them. Even with just these 10 burgers, you will be busier that a one armed paper hanger! You will also need googles as the smoke will be everywhere with the drippings going down into the coals.

If it was me, I would load a Weber charcoal chimney full with lump charcoal and after it was ashed over, pour it into the kettle just using 1/2 of the grill for my direct cooking. Leave the other 1/2 open for indirect cooking.

With 40 burgers, I would plan to sear about 8 at one time as this is about all a fellow can take care of and still get a good product off of the grill. After searing, place them on the indirect side and start 8 more burgers. Keep at this but do watch the burgers on the indirect side and pull them off at an internal of 165 degrees. And I do think the one Weber charcoal chimney of lump will be enough for your 40 burgers.

I think that when I got them all done, I would just flat guzzle that first beer.

[sliding_billy]

Pappy,

I would think that there are several ways to doing your cook on the Weber kettle but unless you have done this kind of cook before, I would suggest setting the cooker up with 1/2 of it direct and the other half indirect. Assuming that you will be grilling about 40 burgers and probably needing them all done at a certain time, I doubt if a fellow could pull it off with a cooker setup for all direct cooking. Something to consider is that it will take about 3-4 minutes to give the burger some grilling marks on the direct side and then you will need to move them to the indirect side for a few minutes to finish cooking. Starting with just 10 burgers, by the time you can load them, the first ones will be needed to be turned over. By the time you get them turned, it will be time to start pulling them off the cooker or trying to find out where to put them. Even with just these 10 burgers, you will be busier that a one armed paper hanger! You will also need googles as the smoke will be everywhere with the drippings going down into the coals.

If it was me, I would load a Weber charcoal chimney full with lump charcoal and after it was ashed over, pour it into the kettle just using 1/2 of the grill for my direct cooking. Leave the other 1/2 open for indirect cooking.

With 40 burgers, I would plan to sear about 8 at one time as this is about all a fellow can take care of and still get a good product off of the grill. After searing, place them on the indirect side and start 8 more burgers. Keep at this but do watch the burgers on the indirect side and pull them off at an internal of 165 degrees. And I do think the one Weber charcoal chimney of lump will be enough for your 40 burgers.

I think that when I got them all done, I would just flat guzzle that first beer.

Old Dave speaks the truth!

[Wing Commander]

What Old Dave said.

An alternative would be one chimney of charcoal spread on the whole surface of the bottom and the use of GrillGrates, to avoid flare ups and too much smoke by the drippings.

Like Old Dave I wouldn't cook more than 8-10 burgers at once.

[RAD]

Great advice OD

[smokeasaurus]

The Weber chimney starter was created with the classic 22.5 kettle in mind. One starter full will be enough......but........by the time the coals on the top of the chimney are lit the bottom half of the coals in the chimney are past the heat curve. Go with the suggestion of a layer of unlit coals with a full or 3/4 lit chimney dumped on em. Just don't start grilling until the unlit coals are fully lit. You can get away with adding lit coals to unlit when cooking indirect but you get a off flavor if you try to grill over partially ignited coals (briquettes).

You can also bank the coals higher to lower so you can sear the patties and then have a cooler spot where they can finish up out of harms (flames) way......

[hikerman]

Pappy,

I would think that there are several ways to doing your cook on the Weber kettle but unless you have done this kind of cook before, I would suggest setting the cooker up with 1/2 of it direct and the other half indirect. Assuming that you will be grilling about 40 burgers and probably needing them all done at a certain time, I doubt if a fellow could pull it off with a cooker setup for all direct cooking. Something to consider is that it will take about 3-4 minutes to give the burger some grilling marks on the direct side and then you will need to move them to the indirect side for a few minutes to finish cooking. Starting with just 10 burgers, by the time you can load them, the first ones will be needed to be turned over. By the time you get them turned, it will be time to start pulling them off the cooker or trying to find out where to put them. Even with just these 10 burgers, you will be busier that a one armed paper hanger! You will also need googles as the smoke will be everywhere with the drippings going down into the coals.

If it was me, I would load a Weber charcoal chimney full with lump charcoal and after it was ashed over, pour it into the kettle just using 1/2 of the grill for my direct cooking. Leave the other 1/2 open for indirect cooking.

With 40 burgers, I would plan to sear about 8 at one time as this is about all a fellow can take care of and still get a good product off of the grill. After searing, place them on the indirect side and start 8 more burgers. Keep at this but do watch the burgers on the indirect side and pull them off at an internal of 165 degrees. And I do think the one Weber charcoal chimney of lump will be enough for your 40 burgers.

I think that when I got them all done, I would just flat guzzle that first beer.

Great advice from OD, but I'm not sure ONE cold brew would do it!  Good Luck Pappy 

[Pappymn]

Thank you all very much for helping a charcoal newbie. Great advise and ideas.  Gonna have an indirect section on the kettle. I think I may have avoided a real problem. 

[sparky]

Pappy,

I would think that there are several ways to doing your cook on the Weber kettle but unless you have done this kind of cook before, I would suggest setting the cooker up with 1/2 of it direct and the other half indirect. Assuming that you will be grilling about 40 burgers and probably needing them all done at a certain time, I doubt if a fellow could pull it off with a cooker setup for all direct cooking. Something to consider is that it will take about 3-4 minutes to give the burger some grilling marks on the direct side and then you will need to move them to the indirect side for a few minutes to finish cooking. Starting with just 10 burgers, by the time you can load them, the first ones will be needed to be turned over. By the time you get them turned, it will be time to start pulling them off the cooker or trying to find out where to put them. Even with just these 10 burgers, you will be busier that a one armed paper hanger! You will also need googles as the smoke will be everywhere with the drippings going down into the coals.

If it was me, I would load a Weber charcoal chimney full with lump charcoal and after it was ashed over, pour it into the kettle just using 1/2 of the grill for my direct cooking. Leave the other 1/2 open for indirect cooking.

With 40 burgers, I would plan to sear about 8 at one time as this is about all a fellow can take care of and still get a good product off of the grill. After searing, place them on the indirect side and start 8 more burgers. Keep at this but do watch the burgers on the indirect side and pull them off at an internal of 165 degrees. And I do think the one Weber charcoal chimney of lump will be enough for your 40 burgers.

I think that when I got them all done, I would just flat guzzle that first beer.

I like his advise better.