oh.. i didnt realize you are using briquettes .. when i made the suggestion in your other post...

lets the grill cool overnight..and clean it tomorrow.. remove the ashes as they can be acidic if left for a long period... i mean weeks... i mean really.. this grill is built to withstand temps in excess of 600 degrees... RFH in celcius.. ... so dont treat it like its some dainty wallflower.. its a mans toy.. lol... treat it as such...

brush down the grates... while still warm... if you are not in too much of a food comma.. lol ...

place coals.. so you have a hot side.. and a cooler side... so you can move things over if there are flair ups.. or its too hot ...

in about 5 years.. you will be expert.. lol .. JUST DO IT.. and start learning... no matter what happens.. it will be edible...

and pull stuff off early... first.. it will continue cooking for a while ... and you can always throw it back on.. if you jumped the gun ... as it rests.. the meat actually relaxes.. and gets tender again.. but if you cut it immediately.. all the vital juices will flood out.. and it will be tough... let it stand 5 to 10 mins... trust me.. probably.. trust us ... is a good time to go refresh the adult beverages.. and get the side dishes ready ...

but you can never rescue a piece of meat seared to the temp of the sun .. err towards rare... your grill is going to be hot til tomorrow... so use the heat if need be...

lets see if i can find a video of the hand trick... i use between the thumb and forefinger.. but this is the same idea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PpDodggvT0&ab_channel=IcelandFoods

if his voice doesnt please you.. check out any of these:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=how+to+test+meat+doneness&t=ftsa&ia=videos&iax=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_PpDodggvT0

ken

I have always had gas grills. It is the one appliance that I can't manage to keep looking new! I will heat it up and clean the grates with the wire brushes as much as possible. My parents are really good about keeping their grill looking "clean", but their methods never work for me! Luckily in my area there is a company that will come out and really clean up a grill. My plan is to hire them once a year!

Enjoy your barbecue! Next time you grill, when it is hot, use the wire brush to clean the grate. Use tongs and a paper towel diffed in oil to oil it, and then grill away. Have fun!

Take food off grill. Close vents and put lid on. Eat food.

Next time I grill, I start charcoal, pour charcoal out of starter chimney, and put lid on. When it gets hot, open and scrape grill grates with wooden grill scraper. I never oil. The food oils the grill.

Beef needs nothing. I use olive oil on pork chops and chicken. A pork Boston butt is so full of fat it needs nothing.

Salmon is cooked on a cedar plank. Eggplant is oiled before cooking. Corn and potatoes are wrapped in foil and need no extra care.

Thanks everyone. Your suggestions really help and make barbequing sound so cool, and delicious!

Thanks Ken for your super ideas there. I really appreciate the detail you went into and the video suggestions. And the way you worded some of it made me chuckle. :D

Thanks Chispa, Callirhoe, and Sherry. Chispa, you're very lucky to have a company come and clean it. I hope that works for you. :)

Callirhoe, thanks for the idea and for the encouragement. :)

And thanks Sherrry for those mouthwatering ideas! Someday, I hope fairly soon, I hope to be so skillful as you. :)

Thanks Kerry, but I am not really that skilled, just 50 years of grilling. I have both a charcoal and gas grill and I use both. I used to have a smoker, but it died and there is only two of us most times now., we do not need that much food that a smoker cooks.

I will add a few more hints. First use good charcoal. I like lump and Kingsford Professional. You want charcoal that is only charcoal. Never use lighter fluid.

Check out the cooking outdoors thread on here. It is not very busy, but even the old posts have good recipes and hints. The cooking thread has some good hints also.

find a local butcher shop.. and next week get a bone in 2 chix breast.. and 2 bone in thigh.. and a couple wings.. the shop saves you from buying a pack with a dozen of each....someday you might need that much.. but not while practicing...

and try cooking chix.. takes around 45 mins.. indirect med heat...

and with chix.. keep in mind.. its great left over.. sandwiches... chicken salad.. etc.. so if you are going to burn the briquettes.. get your moneys worth...

deboned chix .. at around 450 .. can cook in about 10 to 12... i suggest you get to know chix with bones.. before you get all fancy with flash cooking boneless..

flat iron steak is a great cut.. tasty as the most expensive steak.. for much less.. cook it intensely hot.. for 2 to 3 mins per side... and thats it.. because its thin... and cut like corned beef.. across the grain...

timers about to go off.. have to go flip my meat...

dol gen has a great cheap chix seasoning...its also great on fries... its just called chicken

i cant do cracked pepper... so i am always looking for spices without cracked pepper chunks in it.. my go to is celery salt.. and garlic salt... and this dol gen stuff...

if your set up has 2 wheels.. the idea is you can move it ... spin it. so you can get the wind to waft away.. instead of giving you a smoke facial.. be very careful if not on flat surface..

will add pix of my chix soon

ken

Next post... delete kitchens and add perennials...so you find me....

Pix I promised....

In progress

Getting closer

Resting

Ken

Luckily in my area there is a company that will come out and really clean up a grill. My plan is to hire them once a year!

Chispa, can you send me their name?

A clean grill...is a barely used grill ...lol...

I use mine 4 times week...why run the a/c to use the stove and oven Indoors....

And 3 times a week during a ground freeze MI winter...

After use...I set my gas grill to high...and let it get over 600 degrees for 8 mins...

Nothing left to clean...it's all incinerated like a self cleaning oven.

ken

"lets the grill cool overnight..and clean it tomorrow.. remove the ashes as they can be acidic if left for a long period... "

Wood ash is very alkaline, not even remotely acidic. It's the traditional source of lye for soap making, etc,

As to cleaning, I burn off the remains of whatever was cooked last by firing the BBQ up pretty hot, hitting it with a brush, and I'm good to go. Any "seasoning" doesn't last but a minute if you fire it hot enough to really sear a steak, Apply oil to the things going onto the grill to help avoid sticking.

Wood ash is very alkaline, not even remotely acidic.

==>> ok.. you got me.. but i do recall.. you dump it asap after cooling.. as it can corrode the metal ...

the whole ash issue is why i eventually went to gas ...

ken

Now Sherry, how can you say you are not skilled with the grill. 50 years of grilling must mean you seriously know what you are doing. Thanks for the tip about the cooking outdoors thread and the other cooking thread you have mentioned.

I agree with you about the lighter fluid. I used a chimney and it worked great, with just a match, some normal paper and with a little sunflower oil. The weber briquettes were excellent. I don't know if Weber is good, but they are claimed to be natural and they seemed to work perfectly.

Thanks Ken for the pics. You must be a kind of barbeque king! And barbeque in a Michigan winter! Oh boy. At least next to that grill there is no risk of freezing. Thanks for all of those chicken ideas. The series of pics you sent looks delicious and are inspiring.

Yeah, my Activa is a two wheel set. And we have got winds here, so I am going to keep in mind what you are saying.

There are so many ideas here, I will probably have to print them all! So, is someone addressed this earlier, please forgive me. But let us say that I will use a wooden scraper on the grill grate while they are still hot (at the end of the cookout), will the grates be so clean that rust can attack the grate if I don't use it again for a week or two, or all winter? Or is there still so much oil on there from cooking that a good scrape still leaves plent of oil to preven rust?

If I am not going to barbeque for a while, is it a good idea to paint on some oil to the grates?

Thanks again!

Kerry