I had a first in grilling last week. I had to throw out everything I had cooked on the grill because everything was covered in charcoal dust (I don't use gas). Here's what I think happened:
I cleaned my grill of the old ash before cooking, like always. I used the same charcoal brand I've been using for two years, same lighter fluid, and same technique (covered cooking). The only thing I changed was that I opened up the bottom vents on my pit wider than normal.
I understand that the physics of what I did would create an updraft. I actually wanted that to happen. I was hoping my coals would burn hotter with the extra oxygen and that the updraft would create more of a convection thereby cooking the meat more evenly. However, I didnt' think it would create such a large updraft that it would aerosolize the ash.
Have you guys ever had anything like that happen to you? I'd never heard of that happening before.
JTWood wrote:I had a first in grilling last week. I had to throw out everything I had cooked on the grill because everything was covered in charcoal dust (I don't use gas). Here's what I think happened:
I cleaned my grill of the old ash before cooking, like always. I used the same charcoal brand I've been using for two years, same lighter fluid , and same technique (covered cooking). The only thing I changed was that I opened up the bottom vents on my pit wider than normal.
I understand that the physics of what I did would create an updraft. I actually wanted that to happen. I was hoping my coals would burn hotter with the extra oxygen and that the updraft would create more of a convection thereby cooking the meat more evenly. However, I didnt' think it would create such a large updraft that it would aerosolize the ash.
Have you guys ever had anything like that happen to you? I'd never heard of that happening before.
never had that happen, was it real windy or something?
anyway...as a fellow charcoal griller, toss the lighter fluid and invest in this
JTWood wrote:I had a first in grilling last week. I had to throw out everything I had cooked on the grill because everything was covered in charcoal dust (I don't use gas). Here's what I think happened:
I cleaned my grill of the old ash before cooking, like always. I used the same charcoal brand I've been using for two years, same lighter fluid , and same technique (covered cooking). The only thing I changed was that I opened up the bottom vents on my pit wider than normal.
I understand that the physics of what I did would create an updraft. I actually wanted that to happen. I was hoping my coals would burn hotter with the extra oxygen and that the updraft would create more of a convection thereby cooking the meat more evenly. However, I didnt' think it would create such a large updraft that it would aerosolize the ash.
Have you guys ever had anything like that happen to you? I'd never heard of that happening before.
never had that happen, was it real windy or something?
anyway...as a fellow charcoal griller, toss the lighter fluid and invest in this
JTWood wrote:I had a first in grilling last week. I had to throw out everything I had cooked on the grill because everything was covered in charcoal dust (I don't use gas). Here's what I think happened:
I cleaned my grill of the old ash before cooking, like always. I used the same charcoal brand I've been using for two years, same lighter fluid , and same technique (covered cooking). The only thing I changed was that I opened up the bottom vents on my pit wider than normal.
I understand that the physics of what I did would create an updraft. I actually wanted that to happen. I was hoping my coals would burn hotter with the extra oxygen and that the updraft would create more of a convection thereby cooking the meat more evenly. However, I didnt' think it would create such a large updraft that it would aerosolize the ash.
Have you guys ever had anything like that happen to you? I'd never heard of that happening before.
never had that happen, was it real windy or something?
anyway...as a fellow charcoal griller, toss the lighter fluid and invest in this
Dude, I heard about these things a few weeks ago, and I've been strongly considering grabbing one since then.
Once you use a chimney starter, you won't know how you lived without it. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but they're all but absolutely necessary for charcoal grilling.
If you're a battery, you're either working or you're dead....
I've never had ash come up and I cook with the bottom ventilation open pretty wide -about halfway.
Was it really windy? Did you let the coals burn for too long before putting the meat on there? Was the top ventilation open all the way?
That story's a major bummer. I hope you had enough beer on hand to wait out another round of grilling.
I had the bottom vents open at about 75% and the top at 100%, but the top is considerably smaller than the bottom as there are two vents underneath to the one on top. It was windy, but I can't imaging that a closed grill could be altered that much by a moderate wind (15-20 mph).
It was already late that night, so I had to settle for microwaved hot dogs to go with my four side dishes.
JTWood wrote:I had a first in grilling last week. I had to throw out everything I had cooked on the grill because everything was covered in charcoal dust (I don't use gas). Here's what I think happened:
I cleaned my grill of the old ash before cooking, like always. I used the same charcoal brand I've been using for two years, same lighter fluid , and same technique (covered cooking). The only thing I changed was that I opened up the bottom vents on my pit wider than normal.
I understand that the physics of what I did would create an updraft. I actually wanted that to happen. I was hoping my coals would burn hotter with the extra oxygen and that the updraft would create more of a convection thereby cooking the meat more evenly. However, I didnt' think it would create such a large updraft that it would aerosolize the ash.
Have you guys ever had anything like that happen to you? I'd never heard of that happening before.
never had that happen, was it real windy or something?
anyway...as a fellow charcoal griller, toss the lighter fluid and invest in this
JTWood wrote:I had a first in grilling last week. I had to throw out everything I had cooked on the grill because everything was covered in charcoal dust (I don't use gas). Here's what I think happened:
I cleaned my grill of the old ash before cooking, like always. I used the same charcoal brand I've been using for two years, same lighter fluid, and same technique (covered cooking). The only thing I changed was that I opened up the bottom vents on my pit wider than normal.
I understand that the physics of what I did would create an updraft. I actually wanted that to happen. I was hoping my coals would burn hotter with the extra oxygen and that the updraft would create more of a convection thereby cooking the meat more evenly. However, I didnt' think it would create such a large updraft that it would aerosolize the ash.
Have you guys ever had anything like that happen to you? I'd never heard of that happening before.
I cook on my grills about 5 times a week and I can't remember that ever happening to me. Had the charcoal possibly been wet?
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by JTWood » Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:18 pm 
I cook on my grills about 5 times a week and I can't remember that ever happening to me. Had the charcoal possibly been wet?
