How does the grill work in windy
conditions?
As far as we know, this is the only charcoal grill that
considered this common issue—both in lighting the charcoal and in grilling. It turned out to be
more complicated than you might think. We ended up adding a baffle inside the grill behind the
lower inlet vent.
The airflow is directed all the way to the rear of the firebox before it
flows up into the combustion area. This prevents the wind from blowing ashes up on to the food
and alse keeps the ashes from falling out onto the deck.
Is the grill air tight?
The grill is tight enough to control the
temperature so you can get a long slow burn. Check out the technique in these videos:
Smoking on the German Grill.
A smoke test using one of the
original test prototypes
You can also close all the vents and
extinguish the charcoals by closing off the oxygen to the fire (and save them for use later),
it depends on what type of charcoal you are using. You can also squirt the charcoal with a
water bottle to put out the fire. The charcoal will be dried out by the time you re-light
another fire and will fire up perfectly.
Can I grill over wood?
Yes, you can grill with real wood instead of, or in addition to, charcoal.
The trick is to light a small fire and use a technique sometimes referred to as the
"upside down" burn. I would recommend that you start with Red Oak if you want to try
this. It's easy to light, easy to find and gives that authentic Texas ribs, California
Tri-Tip taste that is legendary.
Essentially, you place a bed of flat logs on the bottom, building up
from there to dry kindling and paper on the top. The smaller stuff lights first and burns
down to form a bed of coals on top of the bottom layer.
If you try this, leave the front access door open. Have a spray bottle
handy—this can quickly get too hot and flare ups are inevitable (but also part of the
fun). DON'T LIGHT TOO MUCH WOOD. It will take forever to form coals and you will burn
your food. Raise the handle slightly to isolate the coal basket from contact with the
bottom of the grill.
It will take longer than charcoal because the coals are not as hot, but the
smoke will give everything a unique flavor that you can only get from
wood.
Once the fire burns down it makes a nice little campfire so you and your
friends can sit around and solve world problems. You can't do that with a gas
grill.