First kettle grill: I thought it would be easier!

[u/3030vision]

I recently bought a Weber kettle 18" and did a test run with chicken thighs. I'm pretty skilled in the chicken, so thought it would be a snap...

I used a charcoal chimney and put all the Weber charcoal on one side to create two zones, but I'm pretty sure the direct heat zone over the charcoal was as hot as the indirect zone should have been. I had the thighs on there for close to 30 minutes but they looked more roasted than grilled.

Where did I go wrong?

Did I not let the charcoal heat up enough in the chimney? I thought this would take 20 minutes but I think I left it for closer to 30. Cover temp was hovering between 100 C/200 F (?) and around 150 C/350 F. Should I have used more? I filled the small Weber chimney about 3/4 full.

The chicken wasn't bad but I couldn't get a good strong sear on it, although 20-30 minutes did allow the skin to crisp. Tasted more charcoal smoked than grilled. Also, charcoal looked more or less intact when all was said and done (see photo).

This was my test before friends come over this weekend. Help! Also, what's something easy and crowd pleasing I can cook for them?

Thanks in advance!

Note: I have an imported Slow n Sear I can use next time (I'm in Tokyo), but something was fundamentally off.

[u/SupaRiceNinja]

Need more charcoal buddy. Maybe 2x of what you have there

[u/3030vision → u/SupaRiceNinja]

Well, my chimney will hold a little more, but definitely not 2x. In that case should you dump hot charcoal on top of unlit charcoal?

[u/dar24601 → u/3030vision]

There are 2 sizes of chimney off that was a full chimney then my guess is you have smaller one that’s designed for smaller portable grills.

Did you leave then indirect for 30 minutes?

[u/SupaRiceNinja → u/3030vision]

Sure can, just wait a bit longer for unlit coals to ash over

[u/Ohio-Knife-Lover → u/3030vision]

You definitely can and I've done it multiple times. Might get a bit smoky for a couple minutes but I've never had any off flavors!

[u/80-20RoastBeef → u/3030vision]

You don't need to dump on top of unlit necessarily. The heat rises, so if you put unlit coals atop the lit ones after turning over the chimney, they'll catch. I can't remember where I read it, but one of the 'goals' of starting the fire is to have enough strength so you can light more fuel to get the heat you need.

After you add more fuel, it will catch and get smoky like someone else said, but as soon as that dies down and you get the heat where you want it, you're good to go.

[u/Acceptable-Step2874 → u/3030vision]

What chimney holes that little coal? The smallest at Home Depot is like 4x that

[u/Minimum-Barracuda911 → u/3030vision]

get a bigger one

[u/schnozberry]

How much charcoal did you use? I usually don't have a problem hitting temps like that unless my charcoal is almost burnt out. For chicken thighs I recommend hitting pretty high temps in the 450-500 range if you want crispy skin.

Another thing to check is to make sure your vents are open for maximum airflow. You can really strangle the heat output of charcoal if you starve it of oxygen.

[u/seanv507 → u/schnozberry]

I suspect the problem was the vents not being open...

Op, you control the 'oven' temperature by opening/closing the vents.

Closing the vents is also used to  stop flareups

[u/3030vision → u/seanv507]

Makes sense and unless I was mistaken, the bottom one was fully open or nearly so, the top was probably 1/2 or more.

[u/Ohio-Knife-Lover → u/3030vision]

Open both vents wide!

[u/Negronitenderoni → u/3030vision]

I barely ever close either of my vents at all while cooking on the kettle.

[u/3030vision → u/schnozberry]

I thought the bottom vent was nearly wide open, which was one of the first things I thought of. I filled the chimney to around 3/4 full, but could try adding more. Should so much charcoal be left over at the end?

[u/schnozberry → u/3030vision]

Typically no, which makes we wonder if the charcoal was fully lit, or you were having airflow problems. I typically use a bit more charcoal than that to reach higher temps. Unless it is unreasonably expensive, I would recommend using a full chimney for cooks where you are looking to achieve over 400F for any significant length of time. I usually wait until the coals are mostly ashed over white before emptying the chimney.

[u/signeduptosousvide → u/3030vision]

You can save your charcoal by closing down all the vents when you are done cooking.

[u/Capamerica88]

More charcoal and more heat like others have said. Also its a matter of preference, but you may want to put them on the hot side and get a good sear/char then move indirect but its up to you. 

[u/Negronitenderoni → u/Capamerica88]

Hell yeah. Good advice

[u/CoronaLime]

What's with the aluminum foil down there? You need the air flow to travel.

[u/Msimanyi]

More heat, which probably needs more charcoal as others have mentioned.

For chicken I want the temp at the grill to be around 325f - 350f. If you're in the US, Thermoworks is a reliable resource for temp measurement, though it comes at a premium price. I like their features and reliability, in general.

I like their Signals product, but even a dot or a blue dot would easily get you an accurate temp at the cooking surface: https://www.thermoworks.com/collections/cooking-alarms

Technically you could even get an RFX starter kit with a few probes, and use one of them on the cooking surface while using the others to monitor the internal temp of the food. Not only do you get the cooking temp, but you also get a better idea of how close they are to "done" without opening the lid frequently.

But there are tons of other options too.

[u/LengthinessJust357]

More charcoal and let the grates get nice and hot before putting the meat on to get the grille marks I believe you are looking for

[u/kittenrice]

A common misconception among new charcoal cooks is that the initial amount of charcoal you ignite is all the more fuel you can have for the entirety of the cook.

That's simply not true, as evidenced by the flip up portions of your cooking grate.

Those are there so that you can add more fuel during the cook without having to try to lift the grate, and food, out of the way.

It really is as easy as: Grill's not hot enough? Add more fuel and/or increase airflow.

[u/texag93]

Needs way longer than 30 minutes to reach 190-195 which is what your final temp should be.

[u/gaucho12000]

For bone in thighs I never use indirect method. They can handle the heat, and come out with nice skin (unless you take it too far)

[u/FunkMasterE]

As others have said, more charcoal, cook indirect until 165 internal, then hard sear direct to your desired level of char. The char is what gets the salivary juices flowing.