The Texas BBQ Forum

Quick question for the charcoal veterans. The new Weber 22" kettle is turning out to be a nice addition to the yard & my cooking tools. HOWEVER, the vast majority of the time, I'm only cooking for the two of us here. Filling the chimney starter all the way up and using a 1/4 bag of charcoal seems like overkill. I hate wasting anything, even something as relatively affordable as charcoal.

What's the best way to get a smaller fire going in something like the 22" kettle? I tried building a smaller fire in the center the other night. Worked OK, but I wasn't getting great heat like a full load. Would off to the side work better, like trying to establish a direct and indirect zone for a cook?

If u want the ultimate Tipp, buy a Weber Go Anywhere.

I always tried not to use as much charcoal, but for a big sized bowl like the Kettle u need at least a small chimney. With that i get my 120 Degrees Celsius in the bowl. All different do make less.

For 2 Person a GA is the best u can use. U can do low&slow and u can do short grilling. It is the same than a Kettle but perfekt for 2. I use the GA the most time of my Grillings. And a half chimney is more than enough. I bought also a cast iron and i´m happy all the time when i use my GA.

Don't know if this will help or not but WoodenVisions turned me onto this electric starter and I find it works well starting a small pile. I have also used it inside the chimney to start a full load.

Get the charcoal baskets (2 of them). It centers the heat and you can use less in the chimney.

Another suggestion…use lump. Close down the vents when you are finished. When it cools off knock the ash off and the unused lump can be re-lit.


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You could try a smaller grill, I have two 22" kettles, but do most of my cooking on a Smokey Joe since it's just my wife and I. Or, like bsooner75 suggested, try using lump. It'll burn a little hotter, and you can get a couple cooks out of it if you close the vents when you're done.

I would use a fill chimney. When I'm done, I close the intake and vent. If it was a quick cook, ill have plenty of charcoal left in there for the next one. Usually just takes 8-10 lighted briquettes to get it going again.

I use foil pans with the bottom cut out in my Old Smokey to control the size of the coal bed

I really like those grill grates

suckaass wrote:You could try a smaller grill, I have two 22" kettles, but do most of my cooking on a Smokey Joe since it's just my wife and I. Or, like bsooner75 suggested, try using lump. It'll burn a little hotter, and you can get a couple cooks out of it if you close the vents when you're done.

This is why I got my 14. Uses so little charcoal.