The Kettle BBQ is the most sold in the world. Most people will grill food without too much difficulty. When it comes to smoking a large piece of meat, the situation often becomes complicated due to a lack of knowledge. Let's see right away some simple tips to make smoking with it easier.
The BBQ:
You need to make sure your BBQ is in good condition. The first thing I check is the propellers that control the air intake at the bottom of the BBQ. Most people who can't smoke below 300°F most likely have the propellers turned up, which lets in way too much air, even if we close the air intake completely. You know, charcoal is like a wood stove: the more air that passes through the fire, the more intense the heat will be. If they are turned up, then you have 2 options:
1- Change them
2- Remove them to fold them and then reinstall them
Additional tips:
1- Always leave the top hatch open at least halfway. Personally, I always keep it open 100%.
2- You will control the temperature with the air inlet at the bottom of the BBQ
3- Place the air outlet above your meat
4- Place a water pan above the fire for better temperature control (note that this is not mandatory)
5- Use an external style thermometer Igrill to get a reliable reading. The BBQ thermometer can read up to 50°F higher.
Fuels:
To achieve easy smoking, you can use real coal wood or briquettes. However, using briquettes will make it easier to keep your BBQ at a low temperature during long cooking times compared to charcoal, especially if you are a beginner. Here are my methods of use for each of these fuels:
Charcoal will give an incomparable taste to your slow cooking. To maintain a temperature of 275°F, the first thing you must do is NOT OVER-light your charcoal. Fill a BBQ charcoal chimney Quebec and light it. As soon as the ignition smoke disappears, your charcoal is already ready to be poured into the BBQ so that it occupies 1/3 of the tank. Do not wait until your charcoal is white or red: you will lose control and a lot of cooking time. Then close the lid of your BBQ without adding the grill or smoking wood and check the temperature.
You also have to understand that your thermometer will indicate a higher temperature than the temperature on the grill because heat rises. I therefore suggest an external probe such as the one on the Igrill. Once your temperature is checked, add pieces of wood and not chips (and above all do not wet them)!
For a pork shoulder, I put about 3 pieces and I place them so that they take turns and not burn at the same time. Add the grill and the meat and start smoking. Your first chimney will last between 1.5 and 2.5 hours. If you have not yet wrapped the meat and you need extra charcoal, light a half chimney and add it to your BBQ using the hinged grill . If your meat is well packed at this stage, you can directly add the charcoal. Continue in this way until the end of your cooking.
Briquettes :
First, choose a good briquette! Avoid blue bags or those that contain lighting additives. Personally, I like the WEBER brand. When I use briquettes, I arrange to not have to add any before wrapping my meat. To do this, I will empty unlit briquettes (about a chimney) into 1/3 of the BBQ. I will then light about half a chimney. This will be ready when there is no more smoke coming out of the top of the chimney (it is obviously longer than charcoal). I will then empty it on the unlit briquettes. Afterwards, just leave the lid open for a few minutes and close it to start checking the temperature. When you no longer have any ignition smoke coming out of the hatch of your BBQ, you can put the grill, meat and wood. You will have between 3 and 5 hours of heat. If you need to add more, light half a chimney and add it. If your meat is already packaged, add the briquettes directly.
If you need more smoking space on your Kettle, the All-in-1 accessory will be an addition to consider.
For any other questions, do not hesitate to follow our course "Introduction to charcoal" or even "Smoker pro". Finally, consult our Facebook discussion group: BBQ Québec recipes and techniques on the BBQ!