Set Up Your Weber For Indirect Grilling
When it comes to cooking with charcoal two-zone indirect Grilling is the way to go.
For as long as I remember there has always been a Weber Kettle Grill handy. The old trusty Weber Charcoal Grill is probably one of the oldest designed Grills. It’s versatile, can cook anything, you can smoke on it if you want, and with some indirect grilling practice easy to use.
WHAT IS INDIRECT GRILLING? Indirect grilling is setting up your charcoal grill to have one side hot and the other at a lower temperature. Often referred to as two-zone cooking, this method allows you to maximize the potential of your kettle grill.
WHY USE INDIRECT GRILLING? When you set your grill up in two-zones you can cook lower and slower than if the whole grill is at one temperature. This also helps with flare ups, which commonly occur when you are cooking over fire. When a flare up happens you can move your meat (or veggies) to the cooler side of the grate.
Indirect cooking gives you the most flavor and allows your cook to finish evenly vs. cooking over direct heat where the meat may burn on the outside, but internally be undercooked.
How to Set up Indirect Grilling on your weber grill
- Using a Chimney get your charcoal started as normal. Place them in the chimney, light and wait about 15 minutes for the charcoal to get hot. You will know they are ready when the top coals start to turn an ashy white.
- For this step you can use a Vortex (like we did above) a Weber Charcoal Basket or neither. On the bottom charcoal rack place the basket to the side or the vortex in the middle and fill with the hot coals. If you are not using either of the two, simply spread to you lighted charcoal to one side of the grill.
- Place the grilling grate on the grill, close and let the grill come up to a high cooking temp.
- Make sure the temp gauge is over the fire, and the cooking vent over where you place your food.
The two-zone cooking method will also help you control grill temps, which can be a little tricky when you are cooking over charcoal. The next time you decide to fire up the Weber and cook over charcoal — give this a shot. You will not regret it!
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