Question on charcoal

I just got a Webber Smokey Joe grill. Hopefully I can use it after I clean it up.
Question... How much charcoal do I use in this thing? I plan on grilling burgers and a couple of chuck roasts (2 inch thick steaks) I just got. My wife found a 5lb. bag of charcoal, but it looks like overkill.

Keep your vents wide open if grilling burgers or steaks. Probably only a single layer of coals too (or just slightly more)... I had a hard time getting a high temp using mine with coals stacked up to the grate (I'm a Smokey Joe newbie too...got one to use a few months back while my BGE was experiencing "technical difficulties"... ). But I've read that a single layer of coals is the appropriate setup for the Smokey Joe...I'm thinking that there wasn't enough air space for air flow with how I had mine set up. I would say that about 1/4 to 1/3 of a chimney of charcoal would suit you just fine.

Also, if you're grilling up chuck roasts as steaks, I would suggest slicing them thinly and against the grain. That cut can be tough if you're grilling it like a steak...They do pack a lot of flavor though. I'm actually putting a chuckie in the crock pot tomorrow for pot roast...it's a great cut for smoked pulled beef and pot roast!

although i now prefer the cga i did a lot of cooking on my sj's. still not an expert though.
if using regular briquettes then you need almost a double layer.
but i started using lump and found it much better in the sj's. but you first need to either get another coal grate or get some expanded metal to put on top of the coal grate to make the grate spacing smaller to better hold the lump.
i use about 2-3 inches of lump, heck, maybe more. this makes a nice hot bed to cook on. remember that lump works better packed together. if spread out it will die. you just need to try differant things like i did till you find what works for you.
for the ultimate grilling, try coshell coconut briq, they are great in the sj's.

I'm no expert, so I'll let those who are chime in.

Dyal_SC wrote:

They do pack a lot of flavor though. I'm actually putting a chuckie in the crock pot tomorrow for pot roast...it's a great cut for smoked pulled beef and pot roast!

Dyal....do a search for ClayQ's pulled beef (you'll get results on Google, I hear its good stuff) and do it on the egg, not the crockpot.

Duke, you really don't need all that many briquettes - maybe 12 to 16 in a single layer spread evenly over the coalgrate. They don't even need to be touching each other and you'll still get enough heat to cook the burgers or steaks. This is how I grill when I tailgate because the coals need to be dumped after use, and using too many is just wasteful.

Of course, if you want to put a high-heat char on whatever you're cooking you'll need to find a way to raise the heat. This can be done by starting with more briquettes but then you have a higher heat throughout the whole cook, or you can wait until the meat's cooked and then pile the coals together and sear the burgers or steaks individually.

Dyal_SC wrote:

I'm actually putting a chuckie in the crock pot tomorrow for pot roast...it's a great cut for smoked pulled beef and pot roast!

My local Giant Eagle had a BOGO on the chuck roasts. I put two in the crock pot with a can of Manwich overnight. Next morning my wife made mashed potatoes and we had it for Breakfast.