charcoal strife

[Tiny]

well chaps a rather mixed weekend.......

started well yesterday with a couple of veal chops seared nicely, first use of b and q lumpwood, big lumps and burned nicely with little ash

Intended to grill again today but in a vigger way....steak sausages and a few lamb rinbs
filled a chimney with the same but was now teeny tiny bits , lit like a firework show but also burned hotter than the pits of hell, not helped by mrs tiny insisting i cooked the steaks last fires vurnage and ruinification

tips please chaps, less charcoal, spread it out more, buy better charcoal, stick to my original plan to let it burn down a bit before adding the snags? all of the above???

one weekend I will manage a bbq without the need to vvisit the online bbq doctors!!!

Beer now........
Cheers
tiny

[London Irish]

Good morning Tiny,

hope there're are no long lasting injuries!

Not a direct answer to your question but a possible alternative..

Do you have a Makro nearby? They're selling their blue bag restaurant grade lump on special at the mo. £8.99 per 12 kg sack instead of £11.99.

Cheers,

John

[KamadoSimon]

I used a lot of this stuff last year. If you get a good bag of B&Q stuff, it is ok - not in the same league as the Big K stuff I am using now - but not bad. Problem for me was size of pieces and consistency.

Charcoal does burn hot unless you have a way of restricting air to it. The fireworks will disappear after it's all lit - so personally wouldn't worry about that unless you are in the middle of a dry wheat field

Can you set your grill up so that you can cook directly and either indirectly or at least not-quite-so-directly? That would be the way to ensure you cook to your desired 'done-ness' and then sear directly to get the goodness on the outside.

[Verminskti]

Did it look thus?

I've had the issue at end of bags. Moved to Makro's 12kg blue bags. Especially as they're on offer at the moment.

[keith157]

It'll save of fireworks later in the year and help cook the food.........

[Steve]

The lump fairy came to visit you. I've not seen her for a while

[Tiny]

Cheers as always, cannot see the pic but the stuff was in flat shards around an inch square and a few mm thick. Sighted folk have examined the scene of crime and it appears shard fallage has scorched a tiger pattern on my little wooden front table and my bbq cover now has natural ventilation, I feared the chimney transfer had gone badly

Think offset is the answer if not in searing madness town.

I tried for a Makro card but they seemed to want me to be alan sugar or provide one of the limbs of my first born, you would think I was after membership of the MCC rather than trying to purchase goods and chattels from a vendor.....any tips on how to blag a card? the options I have at the mo are -
Present my enormous frame and do the "look how much I will need to purchase to maintain this physique!
or
Present myself with my faithful guide dog and play the "God bless you Guvenor, come closer you have a kind face........

Both seem reasonably high risk strategies, sensible suggestions welcomed.......

Cheers Tiny
PS Is the lump fairy related in any way to the beer gorrilla?

[keith157]

I think she is the Black Sheep of the family a fact that annoys the beer gorilla as Black Sheep should be one of his

[Clayfish]

You do not need a Makro card to shop online, sign up here:
https://store.makro.co.uk/signin.aspx?returnurl=accountMAKRO.aspx%3f

and they sell the charcoal online:
http://store.makro.co.uk/p-6101-bar-be-quick-restaurant-charcoal-12kg.aspx

but not fresh items such as meat.

[Braaivleis]

If theres a Bookers near you they sell restaurant grade charcoal also in a blue bag only costs £8.49 for 12kg - you do occasionally get fireworks but on the whole good stuff.