Pretty good; pretty smokey

Unknown

Hello all. I am a new egg owner (nice birthday present, huh?) and I hope you can offer some wisdom and advice.[p]I grill a lot. Don't like gas; charcoal is fine, but now I'm an egg convert. First two meals were New York strips and asparagus then whole, cut up chicken--you know...pieces parts, bone-in.[p]I am using the BGE brand lump charcoal and have not even begun to experiment with wood flavors yet.[p]With wood not being part of the equation, I am wondering if there is a way to produce a less-smokey flavor than I am getting. With burgers or steaks, I may occasionally want just the beef flavor, not smokey. What's the best way to minimize the egg's wonderful tendency to lend that smokey flavor? My equipment is basic, so I'm grilling right on the grill surface. Chicken at 350 for about 35 minutes. Steaks were seared at about 600 or 650, then rested while the egg cooled down, aluminum-wrapped asparagus thrown on, then steaks on for about another 7 minutes at 350.[p]thanks! It's great to part of this well-informed group![p]Joyce

TRex

JT,[p]The best way to ensure you're not getting smoke off your lump is to look at its color. If it's glowing yellow, you're probably not getting much smoke. But also, if you have let all of the lump get hot enough to glow, chances are you have pyrolized most of the chemicals that give you the smoke. [p]To summarize, if I'm cooking at temps below those which keep my lump glowing ( <450 or so), I'll first get my lump burning good (glowing) with the dome open, then shut the dome and shut the vents off a good bit to bring the temp down. Once you get back down to your cooking temp you should have less smoke. This can be tricky, though, if you burn at hotter temps too long the ceramics in your Egg will hold that heat in and it will be more difficult to bring your temp back down.[p]Also, smoke can be avoided if you modulate your temp by controlling to top vent and leaving the bottom open, thus giving the coals enough oxygen to keep from smoking.[p]These are just some general tidbits - may not work every time, but has been successful for me most of the time when I'm trying to avoid any smoke at all (which isn't that often, actually - maybe mostly when just doing dessert type foods).[p]Lastly, some lumps smoke more than others. Go to the Naked Whiz's website for reviews of several brands of lump and their burning characteristics.[p]TRex
[ul][li]The Naked Whiz's Gallery of Lump et al. [/ul]

Unknown

TRex,[p]That is fantastic information! I have to go look up "pyrolized." [p]So, if you want to grill steaks in the TRex way, you would do this (if you wanted minimal smoke)?
1. Bring grill up to your searing temp with the dome up and bottom vent wide open. I was doing that with the dome down.
2. Sear steaks dome up or down; there seems to be discussion on this. I did it dome down.
3. Let steaks rest off heat and bring temp down by mostly closing off the top and bottom.
4. At desired temp, use top vent for control, but open bottom vent pretty wide.[p]Thanks for the review. I know I'm getting a bit too smokey after your description above. Last night when I put the chicken on, I couldn't see the surface of the grill to place the last few pieces. I really couldn't see it at all--too much smoke.[p]Thanks again, TRex.[p]JT

BlueSmoke

JT,
The other trick is to pre-burn your lump. After production (i.e. right out of the bag) there are substantial amounts of volatile oils left in the wood/lump. These are vaporized when you burn the lump, and add to the smokiness of the food.[p]If you're serious about smokiness, I suggest you load lump to the top of the fire ring and light it. Let it burn till all the edges are gray. Shut down and when it's cool enough remove the lump for later use.[p]Ken[p]Me??? I like smoke.

Unknown

TRex,[p]I just re-read the recipe for your New York Strips. Nevermind my previous post...all the details are in your recipe.[p]Thanks for such a detailed recipe and sorry for the redundancy here. For folks who haven't checked that recipe out yet, there is a bunch of BGE behavioral information that is not really recipe-specific. A good resource for beginners and anybody who wants to check out other peoples' techniques.

TRex

JT,[p]I sear with the dome open, and during the 400 degree cook I have top and bottom vents open enough to maintain the 400 degrees (some people "dwell" during this phase of the cook with all vents and dome closed).[p]Searing with the dome open instead of closed will probably solve most of your smoke issue.[p]TRex

Marty

JT,
When doing chicken or turkey, I rub olive oil on it so the smoke doesn't penetrate so much. I also use a drip pan with a little water to catch the grease and keep it from burning a causing an acrid smoke. The water or beer keeps the grease from burning in the pan. No pan for steaks, but I leave the top open a lot. Good luck.

Linda

Marty,
What do you set the drip pan on? I too just have the basics, no placesetter or pizza stone, just the stuff that came with the BGE. Is there anything I can use to cook indirect?