So, today went better despite the rain immediately after the grill got heated up

[conuly]

but it turns out I have the compact charcoal chimney. This explains a lot. I'll be fixing that, getting some starters as well.

And this bag is almost empty. What sort of charcoal should I replace it with? (You know, I just bet there is somebody out there insisting that no brand comes close to making your own charcoal at home. You can just feel when there's somebody like that in the fandom, in this case the grilling fandom into which I've only barely dipped a toe. I, however, will silence that part of my brain and be satisfied with brand recommendations or type recommendations.)

Edit: I've googled it! We've got artists talking about the superiority of your own charcoal pencils, smiths talking about making your own charcoal for smithing, survivalists doing their thing, and a whole bunch of BBQers and grillers swearing that it's actually super easy, guys! I just knew it.

Comments

[tielan]

...I just buy a bag of charcoal from Hammerbarn myself...

[hafnia]

we've just always used whatever is on sale, usually Royal Oak or Kingsford. If you're not smoking meat, it doesn't make that much of a difference. the only thing I would recommend is getting decent starters — we like the solid ones made by Weber. they're inexpensive, they work well, and (imo) they don't smell as horrible when you're getting them started.

[adafrog]

I initially read that as smiting instead of smithing, and it still made sense to me. lolol

[melannen]

I have (helped!) make charcoal, and I have got the distinct impression that it's worth doing in large quantity (running a smithy every weekend) and it's worth doing in small quantity (charcoal pencils, gonzo science experiments) but it's really not worth doing in a-few-bags-a-year quantity. Like at that point, you might as well just grill over the fire instead of using it to make charcoal.

(but I also just buy whatever's there. Actually I send someone from the party out to buy whatever is at the corner store when we realize the nearly-full bag I was told we have is actually a nearly-empty bag.)

[shadowkat]

There was rain where you were? No rain in Brooklyn that I noticed. Or there was, and I missed it.

[gingicat]

Of course there are people who want to do the equivalent of carding your own wool. *sigh*

[conuly]

There's always somebody.

[conuly]

Not much, though it's coming down now, off and on.

[fred_mouse]

To be fair to fibre crafters though, the knitter --> spinner --> card your own wool pipeline is a known slippery slope. I don't get the appeal myself, but eh, I half-arse 90% of my hobbies.

[conuly]

A slippery slope that leads to a sheep farm, where all the sheep go around in little jackets. I say no!

[conuly]

That description definitely matches my impression from the quick google search I made.

But hey, some people like to brag, and grilling definitely sits on that neat intersection between macho manly man stuff + artisanal cooking stuff + super nerdy geekery stuff.

[fred_mouse]

I swear we had that kids book.

[conuly]

If you give a mouse a sheep, he's going to ask for a glass of knitting needles.

[fred_mouse]

Aaaaaah.

At least one of those mouse books was given to one of the kids at a susceptible age. I could damn near quote it at one point. Not as bad as Each Peach Pear Plum, which was read so often the then 18mo used to sit and 'read' it to themself, pointing at the words and turning the pages at the right time.

[conuly]

Oh, I love Each Peach.

And I do think the mouse books are cute, provided you have the sense to put them away after storytime.

[conuly]

Yeah, I can see it.

[conuly]

Clearly my friends are not in the correct fandom here.

[conuly]

If you're not smoking meat, it doesn't make that much of a difference.

That's not really the point when it comes to this sort of thing, is it?

[tielan]

LOL. The charcoal fandom? Or the Hammerbarn one? :D

[kengr]

For starting charcoal without weird smells/tastes, you might want to look for an electric starter. It's basically an unwound electric stove burner with a power cord.

You put it in the barbecue, pile the charcoal on top, and plug it in. half an hour (?) later you have well lit charcoal.

You unplug it, grab the handle and give it a shake as you lift it out of the now lit charcoal. Set it on something non-flammable to cool. and spread out the lit charcoal.

then just grill as usual.

[conuly]

Yes?

[movingfinger]

Asking my friend who's really good at grilling. I know there are some brands that aren't the briquets.

[rebeccmeister]

This entire post is just making me laugh.

We aren't allowed to have any kind of grill at our rental house, but I'll probably go back to gas as soon as I can.

[kareina]

Making charcoal may be "easy", but one must first have the wood to spare from which to make it. If you don't have a property big enough to have trees that need thinning, and room for a charcoal oven, I would think that it is much better to just buy it...