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Smokers are smokers. grills are grills. If you want to slow cook a piece of meat and transform it into a smoky treat, you need a real bbq smoker. If you want to grill a great steak or hot dogs for the kids, you need a grill. bbq and grilling are different tasks and they require different tools. It's that simple.
Or is it?
You can actually do a very good job of smoking with a Weber kettle grill. While the spherical kettle model may not be a true Weber BBQ smoker, it can produce world-class BBQ when used in the right way. Here are a few Weber BBQ smoker secrets that will take you from being just another griller into the realm of world-class BBQing!
The Indirect Answer
The most important part of turning your kettle into a Weber BBQ smoker is understanding the importance of indirect heat. If you just toss your meat on the grate with the lid in place, you're not going to make a BBQ masterpiece. Instead, you'll end up with a diamond-hard chunk of overcooked carbon. The Weber kettle is made for grilling, after all.
The trick to using it for BBQ is to avoid subjecting the meat on the grate to high heat. Instead, you need to set things up so that the meat is subject to a consistent, lower temperature for a longer period of time. You can create that indirect heat arrangement in two ways.
First, you can simply place the coals on one side of the lower grate, placing the meat on the other. This will keep the meat from direct heat, but it will also expose one side of the meat to higher temperatures than the other. Thus, you can get the BBQ job done, but you'll need to rotate your meat frequently.
Second, you can create a slender ring of coals around the outside of the lower grate, placing the meat in the middle of the cooking grate. This strategy increases the risk of too-high temperatures, but will reduce the problem of uneven heat.
Keeping it Going
Real BBQ isn't fast. It takes a long time to smoke meat properly. As such, you'll need to maintain the temperature within your Weber BBQ smoker for a longer period than a standard supply of coals will allow.
The solution to this challenge is to regularly add new fuel to the smoky fire. You'll need to consistently add new coals to your heap (or heaps) throughout the smoking process.
Charcoal isn't Enough
Great BBQ comes, in large measure, from great smoke flavors. You may enjoy the smoky flavor of charcoal briquettes (some people do), but they're no substitute for real wood. You don't want to create a Weber BBQ smoker and to rely only on a bag of charcoals to create great, tender meat.
The fix is simple. Purchase and utilize wood chips in your favorite variety and make them a part of your cooking. You'll need to add them frequently, just as you will charcoal, to maintain both the ideal cooking temperature and to create the perfect flavor.
If at First You Don't Succeed
Your first efforts at BBQing on your kettle may not be perfect. That's okay. You'll learn from experience. Eventually, you'll discover your preferred method of indirect heat creation, what you need to do to provide a consistent temperature and the idea wood/charcoal mix to create perfect flavor. When you reach that point, you'll be happy with your "multi-function" unit. You'll still be able to grill like a champ and you'll have a top-notch Weber BBQ smoker at your disposal!
See Also : |Buy Barbecue Accessories| | Grill Basket Article | | BBQ Accessories | BBQ Tips for All Holiday
