A Char Grillers Story

A True Chargriller Uses NO GAS

Grill Sargent — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:41:49 +0000

In the South where the weather keeps folks outdoors all year long, most grill masters consider cooking with gas to be for those with no taste buds. Are you one of these charcoal gurus that refuses to cook with gas? If so, this newly released t-shirt and apron design is for you. Now you can let everyone know you’re a true Chargriller.

Click here to view this item

View all of Dixie Grilling’s t-shirts and aprons.

Father’s Day Note From Char-Griller

Grill Sargent — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:30:26 +0000

Hello Char-Griller Customer!
We would like to let you know that as of today, June 12, 2009 through Friday, June 19, 2009 Chargriller.com is putting on a special sale for Father’s Day! Throughout our website you will see deals that include:
-Char-Griller’s Trailer Hitch
-Patio Pro Model #1515
-All Char-Griller’s Grilling Utensils!
-Cast Iron Griddles

Check out our website, www.chargriller.com, to view prices and make online purchases!

Don’t let Dad think you forgot about his special day! Take advantage of our sale before it ends!

Happy Grillin’!
Char-Griller Team

Smoke Stack Modification

Grill Sargent — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:09:31 +0000

Continuing with our series of modifications for the Char-Griller “Pro”, we decided to try out a mod that is meant to enhance the smoking capabilities or our grill by extending the smoke stack down to grate level for better heat distribution.

The original smoke stack comes straight off the main cooking chamber and extends upward 8 inches. The drawback to this is that the heat from the firebox enters the main cooking chamber and by the laws of thermodynamics immediately rises, moves across the top of the chamber and exits upward out the stack. This creates uneven heat across the item being cooked as shown in the diagram below.

The original Char-Griller smoke stack creates uneven heat distrbution

By extending the smoke stack down to grate level, we are able to change the distribution of heat as well as keeping it over the item we are cooking for a longer period of time. See the diagram below.

Results of extending the smoke stack down to grate level

The items needed for this mod can be found at your local home improvement store:

Hardware you will need

(1) 30″ length of 3″ dia. flexible aluminum gas vent pipe.
(1) 3″ stainless steel hose clamp.
(1) 5/16″x 1/2″ bolt with nut and flat washer.

The Tools you will need:

Drill with a 5/16″ bit.
Tin Snips.
Flat blade screwdriver.

STEP ONE: Start by slipping the hose clamp over one end of the flexible pipe. Then slide the pipe and clamp over the protruding collar of the existing smoke stack. Secure the hose clamp using a screw driver. Bend and form the pipe into a “S” shape so that that it exits in the corner of the main cooking chamber as shown.

Step One

STEP TWO: Mark the pipe where it meets the bottom of the main cooking chamber lid. Take your tin snips and trim the pipe at the mark you just made so that it is flush with the bottom of lid. This will put the entrance to the smoke stack right at grate level.

Step Two

STEP THREE: Drill a 5/16″ hole about 1-1/2″ inward and 3/4″ up from the corner of the main cooking chamber lid. This hole should fall in the center of the 3″ vent pipe. You will need to mark the pipe through the center of the hole you just drilled. Then drill a hole in the vent pipe at the marked location. You will then secure the pipe to the corner of the lid using the 5/16″ bolt, nut and washer.

Step Three

The total costs of the modification was less that 10 bucks and should make a considerable improvement on heat distribution. This mod will solve the problem of one side of your brisket being undercooked while the other side is just right. Check back as we plan on taking some grate level temperature readings with and without the stack extension to see the exact results of this mod.

Finished Installation

Beer Can Chicken Rack Review

Grill Sargent — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:10:53 +0000

Cooking chicken vertically on a beer can is a is great way to get a moist and flavorful bird. The steaming beer cooks from the inside out and helps keep moisture in, but one has to wonder how healthy it is to heat a ink coated aluminum can inside your chicken. A great alternative is Steven Raichlen’s Beer-Can Chicken Rack . It let’s you make great beer can chicken without introducing toxins into your food. This item comes with a wire rack, two piece canister and a drip pan, all of which are made of stainless steel. The canister allows you to use any liquid you want to cook your chicken. You could use beer, wine, orange juice, soda, lemon aid our any combination of spices you might want to add.

If you have ever tried to stand a chicken upright supported on just a can, you’ll love how well this rack supports the bird, no more wondering if the chicken has fallen over when you close the grill lid. It also has a pan to catch dripping fat which keeps your grill clean and prevents flare ups.

It works great, here's the proof

I give this product 4 of 5 stars. The only drawbacks I found were that the drip pan could be a little larger, I had to drain it once during cooking so it would not overflow and at $24.99, I felt the price was on the high side. Other than that, it’s a great product that I highly recommend.

Char-Griller Firebox Mods

Grill Sargent — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:45:39 +0000

Char-Griller Pro with Side Fire Box

When used for smoking the stock side fire box on the Char-Griller tends to block air flow as the ashes build up in the bottom of the fire box. The addition of a charcoal basket will increase your burn time without having to remove the ashes. I’ve read about others tackling this problem by bolting straps to the firebox to elevate a basket but I came up with an easy fix of my own that requires no modifications the the original fire box and still allows you to use the fire box grates to grill on with the basket installed.

I started with one of Char-Grillers vegetable grilling baskets that I found at my local Lowes home improvement store.

Original Char-Griller Basket

Modified Basket with SS Rods

Side View of Installed Basket

Basket Installed and Ready to Smoke

As you can see the stock basket has wire on the top perimeter of the basket and a handle attachment devise that is riveted on. By removing these we were able to reduce the width of the basket to 14″ allowing us to easily pass the basket through the fire box door.

The top wires can be cut using a hacksaw or heavy duty wire cutters. You will then need to drill out the two rivets holding the handle attachment to the basket. With the basket cut down to size, we then took 2 lengths of 5/16″ stainless steel all thread rod 14-3/4″ long and ran them through the far most left and right basket holes.

By using the second row of holes down, we elevated the basket to just above the original charcoal grate. This allows the side firebox door to slide in and out without hitting the basket ( see the side view).

With the rods centered on the basket, a 5/16″ stainless steel washer and nut was placed on all four corners of the basket where the rods pass through to secure the rods in place.

The rods of the basket then rest on the original grate rails and you are able to place the grates on top of the basket allowing you to use the side fire box as a grill without having to remove your charcoal basket.

The hardware we used was stainless steel and will last more than the life of your grill. Bruce Watkins Supply in Wilmington, N.C. had all the hardware I needed in stock. They carry a large supply of stainless steel all thread and fasteners and will be glad to cut rod to any length needed and will ship to you anywhere. Just give them a call at 910-762-3131 and ask for Shifty or email them at sales@boltswashersscrews.com

Adding Warming Plate to Char-Griller

Grill Sargent — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:53:53 +0000

Having added a side fire box to our Char-Griller Pro, when we saw that there was a warming plate accessory available, we couldn’t resist. Ordering directly from the factory was very easy and they send you e-mails advising you on the progress of your order. This item is fairly easy to install but you will need to drill three holes to install. The hole locations are already marked on your exiting fire box door. You will need a drill with a 1/4″ bit to create the mounting holes. Once installed and bolted down, the plate makes a great place for a cast iron dutch oven to use for keeping dishes warm as they come off the grill or as an additional work surface.

Seasoning Cast Iron Grates

Grill Sargent — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:40:02 +0000

My Grill Buddy trying out the Freshly Seasoned CI Grates

Beginning the moment we got the new grill, the weather has been terrible. We even had a snow event which we hardly ever see here in coastal North Carolina. Today was dry and the temperature made it to the fifties. Wanting to start grilling on the new Char-Griller badly, we took the opportunity to fire her up for the first time. For starters we coated the entire inside of the master cooking chamber, charcoal grate and firebox with Crisco and used a spray vegetable oil to get at the hard to reach places. We then lined the bottom of the master chamber with heavy duty aluminum foil to make ash clean up easier. Using a new Weber Rapidfire Charcoal Chimney Starter, we fired up and loaded the charcoal grate with coals. We ran the grill for an hour at about 200 degrees to burn off the wax on the cast iron grates. Then a good wire brush cleaning left the grates looking like they just left the foundry. We coated them real good with vegetable oil, loaded another chimney of coals and keep cooking the grates for another two hours adding charcoal as needed to keep the temperature up around 300 to 350 degrees F. After two hours, we pulled the grates and gave them and the master cooking chamber another coating of vegetable oil and continued to cook them at 200 degrees for another hour or so.

The grates now have the black color and surface texture you see on cast iron frying pan and the cooking chamber has acquired a brownish mahogany color. Once the seasoning was complete, my grill buddy insisted that we not waste the remaining coals, so we threw on a few burgers and dogs. This baby is now ready for a serious Summer season of outdoor cooking.

A Char-Grillers Story

Grill Sargent — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:06:14 +0000

We have recently purchased a Char-Griller “Super Pro” to use in testing new recipes this summer. The choice of the Char-Griller was largely in part to the fact it is a heavy duty grill with cast iron grates, smoking capabilities and falls within the price range of the average Joe. It’s a great grill for a beginner as well as a seasoned grill chef wanting more cooking options than those of a simple pan grill. The Char-Griller also lends itself to some easy mechanical modifications that will improve it’s performance. We are going to chronicle our day to day use as well as document and test our modifications so that other users can determine if these mods are within their mechanical capabilities and if the expenses are justified.

Adding a Side Fire Box to the Char-Griller

Grill Sargent — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:32:39 +0000

Char-Griller Pro with New Side Fire Box

We started with a Char-griller Pro that was delivered assembled from Lowes. We then decided to add the side fire box so we would have smoking capabilities. The firebox is sold separetely and is fairly easy to assemble and install. The most difficult part of the process is knocking out the existing damper. You well need to drill out the locations of the mounting bolts with a drill and 5/16″ bit. You can then take a hammer and remove the damper. You might be able to pound the damper out without drilling the holes, but drilling made the process much easier with little distortion to the surrounding metal.

Holes Drilled and Damper Removed

Before I installed the side fire box I discovered I would have to unbolt the main fire chamber from it’s stand, (4 bolts) and rotate base stand 180 degrees so that the wheels will now be on the left side as you face the grill. Originally the wheels are on the right and you use the left hand side wooden shelf as the handle when you are rolling the grill. When you add the firebox, which has a handle on it, the wheels will be on the wrong side making the new handle useless until you rotate the main chamber.

Notice that we laid the grill on it’s left side to accomplish our work. Once the damper plate was removed we took the new SFB and placed it on top of the right side main chamber. Unlike as suggested in the instructions, I was able to do this by myself. I the placed the bolts and installed the nuts to secure the SFB to the master chamber. Using a nut driver, it was a simple process to tighten these 6 bolts. There are then a couple of longer bolts and sleeves that you install to support the bottom of the SFB to the grill stand. You then attach the handles and you are done. The whole process took less that 45 minutes.

SFB Setting on top of the Master Chamber

[caption id="attachment_49" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="View inside SFB Before bolts installed"][/caption]

Parts Supplied With SFB