Grilling set up for 32

[tomahawk66]

Hi all,<br />

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I'm new to Kamado cooking and have had a lot of fun with low and slow Pork shoulders and the like. However, I'd like to know how best to set up for grilling burgers, veggies, sausages etc...<br />

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What would you all recommend? Basket splitter? Temperature? Grill height? What about waiting for the charcoal to burn down, or get cooking now straight away?<br />

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Looking for your tips and advice please help!<br />

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Oliver, In Singapore. Cobalt Blue 32<br />

[5698k]

Grilling also depends on how much you're grilling. If your cook is relatively small, the the splitter is appropriate, if not, use the full basket. Temperatures also depend on what you're grilling, but for the most part, around 400° is about right. For 90% of grilling, I use the main grate, but if I'm looking for a sear, I use the lower, or even the reversible grate. Steaks for instance, I prefer the hot and fast method, which requires a hot fire, 600°-700°, close to the fire.

Heat soaking isn't necessary, but I do like to let the grill stablize for a few minutes before cooking, this allows the grates to heat up, and let's any volitiles burn off the coal. If you're in a hurry though, you can grill as soon as you get to cook temp.

[MacKenzie]

For burgers I like to do them using a split basket, using a relatively small fire, the temp is probably 275F-300F. Use the reversible grate, when they are nearly done move them over to the fire side. I do let the volitiles burn off. If you were doing a lot of burgers you may not have room to do them this way.

 

I would suggest making notes as you try different things.

[tomahawk66]

Think I'll try the main grate, direct with a 400 degree fire. This should give enough heat and be similar to a standard grill while not being so hot as to burn chicken etc before it cooks... I won't use it for steaks, but sausages, burgers etc should work...<br />

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<br />

Oliver, In Singapore. Cobalt Blue 32<br />

[kjs]

I agree with above advice.

[bosco]

I always grill at the main grate level.  One the 23" I usually only have my main grill in by itself

 

For the 32" This will be what I do most of the time as well

 

I always grill around 375.  

 

The nice thing about a KK is that the fire to main grate level is greater than a standard Kamado.  That means less flare ups.

 

Now an interesting set up for me with the 32 will be to have the lower grate in and the half main grate.  That could be a pretty cool set up with the splitter basket in to create two zone cooking 

 

Also, a trick I am learning is to light the left side of the basket on the 32" by itself.  It seems to ignite quicker, slowly bringing the flame to the right side.  Creating a hot and cold side.

[wilburpan]

Here’s my tips for direct grilling.
 
1. You usually are looking to get your grill up as hot as possible as fast as possible. I’ve often said that having a kamado grill is like having a charcoal grill that’s as efficient as a gas grill. This is why. I start with a full basket of charcoal, lit it over a fairly wide area, and had the lid open with the bottom vents fully open, with the grate off. After five minutes, I flipped over the chunks in the top layer of the charcoal a bit in order to get the top surface to give off heat, put the grate in, closed the lid and opened the top vent as high as it would go. I'll hit 500-600ºF after a total time of 15 minutes, sometimes less.
  
I think that the moving the charcoal around after five minutes helps a lot, because it gets lit coals right at the top of the basket and distributes the fire more quickly than letting it burn on its own. (That’s also why I leave the grate off at first so I don’t have to maneuver a hot grate later to stir up the charcoal.) I’ve noticed in the past that if I’m going for a high temperature, and there’s large pieces of charcoal on the top that are burning only on the bottom side, the unlit portion of the charcoal is preventing heat from coming through. Flipping over those pieces did a lot to speed up the process.
 
I’ve noticed that when my thermometer hits 500ºF, the top surface of the charcoal will mainly be on fire, but the larger chunks will have a dark spot in the middle that isn’t actually burning. Here’s a picture from the Serious Eats website that shows what I mean.
 

 
This looks like a good charcoal fire, but it’s really not at full blast yet. You see those large pieces of charcoal in the middle that still look black? That’s charcoal that’s not burning. I think this acts as an insulator, blocking the fire underneath it, and preventing the temperature from rising higher. Turning those pieces over helps the temperature come up faster. 
 
2. The vast majority of my direct grilling has been on the main grate. Things I’ve cooked on the lower grate include steak and scallops, although I’ll often cook steak on the main grate as well.

 

3. I haven’t used the basket splitter too much for direct grilling. You could use the basket splitter to set up two zone cooking, but I tend to go with the “super hot and go†school of direct grilling, if that makes sense. When doing a reverse sear, I’ll set Smaug at 250ºF or so with the deflector plate, and when I’m ready to do the sear, I’ll take the deflector plate out and let Smaug come up to searing temps.