Weber Smokey Joe Questions

anncj8y · Smokey Joe

I have cooked steaks on the Weber, but it doesn't char the meat - no charcoaled strips from the bars on the steak. This is what I love about barbecuing meat. How can I get them?

Hooper 8y

The charring or searing comes from a very hot metal surface touching the relatively cold meat. With the stainless steel grate I have found the most success with leaving a portion of the grate free of food so that it can really heat up before applying the steak. When flipping, flip to another free portion that has heated up. To get really good searing, get a cast iron grate or a sear plate. One typically wants to sear both sides and then remove from direct heat to cook to the desired internal temperature.

Weber DM 8y

Hi Anncj, that's not good to hear about your steaks. I have a couple of questions that will help me identify the issue: - What fuel were you using? If briquettes, did you wait until it they were ashed over?

- Can I ask how long you pre-heated your barbecue before you placed the steaks in?

- How thick were the steaks you were cooking?

- Did you clean the grills before you placed the steaks in? i.e. did you use a wire brush to brush the grills?

anncj 8y

We're using charcoal, preheating the barbecue for as long as it took to burn the charcoal until it was ready to use and we used a wire brush to clean the grill. The steaks were 1/2 an inch thick.

john13y · Smokey Joe

hi , can u do small roasts like chickens small legs of lamb ?

Weber DM 13y

G'day John - not really - the Smokey Joe is a very small little charcoal bbq perfect for cooking directly over the coals - like grilling chicken, steaks, or fish. The charcoal grill which the fuel sits on top of is not large enough to put the fuel on one side and provide enough room on the other to effectively roast.

Check out the Go Anywhere as this has more room so you could do a very small roast in it, but I must stress, you wouldn't get a chicken in there, probably just small rolled roasts like a boned lamb roast etc.

Cheers, Dave@WeberAustralia

Bones 7y

I've done half legs of lamb bone in quite easily on the Smokey Joe. If you can get the lid to shut you only need one load of bricketts. If not top up half way into a 3 hour cook. Always have the top vent over the meat and add wood chips every 45 mins or so. Coals to one side then a small water barrier , I use 3 cut down beer cans which helps keep the meat moist and the coals in place. Bottom vents 1/3 open with the top ones about 1/4

See all Weber Portable Charcoal Series questions