Precision engineered charcoal grills


 

 

 

  


 

 

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.

Early prototype being tested as a smoker
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.

Setup for cooking over wood

Light the fire on the top of the stack

Arrange the food ove flame or coals.

A nice little fire is so much nicer than TV.

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.