Seasoned & Christened the new Char-Griller

Got the Smokin' Pro all seasoned up today ( well yesterday, now).

Run a 20 lb. bag of Kingsford thru it and seasoned the grates on the gas grill.

Hey Z, I don't know what kind of factory gunk they put on the inside of your main cooking chamber, but whatever they put on mine wouldn't budge.

When I first fired it up w / 2 full chimney's of coal's the lowest temp I could maintain was 365 deg. after 1hr. & 20 min. she got down to 295deg. At the 2 hr. mark it was settled down at 225 deg. I tried wipping the gunk off then, wouldn't budge. Added another 1/2 chimney and kept her around 300 for another hr., still couldn't wipe it off.

Lit 2 more full chimney's and brought temp at grates to well over 550 deg. and just let her go for another hr. and still couldn't get any of that Nuclear Grade gunk off.

At that point I just decided It was going be there until IT wanted to come off. I took the charcoal tray out, oiled her up, threw a whole small bag of dry mesquite chunk's on and let her smoke. Re-applied oil a couple more times and it seasoned up well. Nice and dark (if I look hard I can see gunk spot's underneath, hopefully it won't poison me ).

After that fire died out, I did up a batch of lump and soaked hickory chunk's and cooked some chicken thigh's on it.... they came out great !!!

Aside from my Nuclear Gunk problem, your seasoning instruction's worked out perfectly. Thank's for sharing that with us.

I've got a 9.5 lb. Picnic shoulder boned, butterflied, and wallowing in Steven's Jamaican Jerk Pork recipie in the fridge for tomorrow (today's) dinner, looking forward to trying that. YB2

YB2,
You’re the second member that mentioned having trouble getting ride of the factory gunk. I don’t know if the environment where these grills were stored has anything to do with it. As you know, it’s pretty warm here in GA, and when I got my grill, the stuff was already melting. But there is no harm in leaving some of it on the metal. The stuff they use is not harmful. Once you use your grill few times, the inside will get very dark, and you won’t be able to see that layer. Make sure you brush the inside of the lid with oil after the next 2 grilling.
I’m glad it went well with the chicken yesterday. Good luck on the Jamaican Jerk Pork, I’ve been wanting to give it a try. Let us know how it turned out.

I don't know what the problem with that stuff was, Z !

I didn't really think it would hurt anything, as long as the smoke would adhere and cover it up. As I mentioned, the chicken was REALLY good so I think it'll be fine.

I'll let you know how the jerk pork turn's out, I'm going to soak a few Alspice Berries and toss them on the coal's when I grill it ! Thank's again for all the help. YB2

Bill, try putting the allspice berries in a foil pouch. They will last a lot longer.

That's a great tip, YB .. Thank's.

They are pretty small, they'd probably burn up rather quickly. I'm dying to try this dish, my mouth has been watering since I first read the ingredient's ( I did scale back on the Scotch Bonnet's though ).

Hope it taste's as good as it sound's. YB2

YB-Congratulations on firing up the new smokin' pro! I just bought one myself about a month ago and love it.

Sounds like you got yours at a store...had to mail order for mine. I felt sorry forthe UPS driver...that thing must weigh 200 lbs!

I just got my chargriller this weekend. Got it for 149.98 at Lowes. I was able to price match with Northerntool.com's price of the Super pro for 99.99.

Trying my first smoking trial run. I am doing the Beer Can Chicken. At what temperature should I be smoking using the Side Fire Box? And what temperature does the chicken have to be for it to be done cooking? 180 Degrees with a probe thermometer?

Possibly 225-250 will do it for smoking your Beer Can Chicken. In regards to the internal temp. as long as you get that chicken higher then 165 degrees (to kill bacteria) then you should be fine. 180 degrees sounds reasonable, in my opinion.

I had the same gunk problem, looks like zebra stripes. But I fugured after the heat I put it through it wouldn't hurt me anymore.
I fired mine up this weekend for a 12 pound turkey and two tri-tips.
All great, All gone.

Welcome to the discussion forum goldenbear! I smoke the chickens at 225* until they reach and internal temperature of 170*. I've smoked the to 180* and found that we like the texture of the meat better at 170*.

Welcome to the board goldenbear!

Bill, mine was pre-assembled (except for side firebox) at lowe's. It was fairly heavy, but my Gold D was more of a back breaker ... had that shipped unassembeled.

I knew a few of us had gotten Char-Griller's recently, but hadn't realized just how many. That's great !

Well, I did up the Jerk Pork yesterday and it came out great . I could have increased the portion's for the ingredient's in the marinade though ( the picnic I used was a couple of lbs. heavier than the one listed in Steven's recipe) . Guess those Scotch Bonnet's made me a bit gunshy. I only used 4 and there wasn't that much heat, which kind of surprised me.

Also need to get used to playing with Lump...Wow, that stuff burn's HOT & FAST !

Thank's again for all the help and tip's everyone. YB2

I've done BCC twice on my Char-Griller. Ran it at about 225-250. Took about 2 hours - took off @ 170. (FYI... small bird)

YB2, I hear ya. I was worried the first time I made the Jerk Pork and cut it back to six peppers. Found that 6 had about the amount of heat we were looking for. Twelve, as called for may have been a bit much. When your dealin' with the hottest peppers known to man, it doesn't hurt to play it "safe" until you know what you're playing with.

Yeah Bob,

I was going to start out with 6 also, but my mom was going to be here for dinner and she can't take much heat, that's mainly why I cut back to 4 pepper's. But with the size picnic I used I think 6 would have even been o.k. for her taste.

That's the fun with this stuff, if it don't turn out just right, you have a good " excuse " to tweak your recipe and try again . I love it ! YB2

Thanks for all your replies. I made the BCC and it came out great! I smoked it at around 225-250 degrees (from the external temp gauge). I had a polder thermometer placed in the chicken and it took me around 3 hours to get to a little less than 180 degrees. The chicken was SO juicy and tender. And boy did it taste great!

Anyone know how accurate the temp gauge is on the chargriller? I know I read a post where someone recommended putting the temp gauge closer to the level of the grill but with chargrillers, i don't think it's possible. What do you guys use to measure the temperature? But one thing I noticed was that I had to use quite a bit of charcoal. Maybe 2.5 to 3 weber charcoal chimney full of briquettes. I did add a drip pan with water. Could this have slowed down my cooking process and the need for so much charcoal?