So I buy this Smokey Joe Silver several years ago thinking it would come in handy. It's a cool little grill, but so tiny I have to cook burgers for my family in shifts. I'm not a "tail-gater" and our camping days have grounded to a halt due to crazy family schedules. Consequently, the little Weber spent nearly all of it's time on the top shelf in the back yard shed.
In the mean time, I continued to hone my skills on the big kettle eventually graduating to Lump Charcoal and advanced cooking techniques such as - not scorching dinner. All the while lurking and occasionally contributing to the forums on The Virtual Weber Bullet (aka TVWB). At TVWB, I casually noted all the comments about Smokey Joe Silver temp problems. Contributors consistently complained about the temps dropping as soon as the lid was put on. I'm thinking, "Bummer, what am I going to do with the grill in my shed taking up valuable real estate on the shelf."
As spring recently approached, I took the little weber out to give it a dusting off. Nothing more, take a look at it and shelve it for another year or so.
Then.....
Leave it to a 4 year old to breathe new life into something........he laid his eyes on that little Smokey Joe Silver Weber and with sheer delight proclaimed...
"DADDY, IS THAT FOR ME?"......."IS THAT MY LITTLE GRILL?" ...."IT'S JUST LIKE YOURS BUT TINY!"...................As my wife later entered the garage, he showed off his little grill as if Santa Claus had just dropped it off.
So recently, we set up our grills. We lit some Wicked Good Lump charcoal in the chimney and loaded the little grill with some chicken drum sticks.
"Chicken is my favorite!", my little helper proclaims.
I placed an oven therm on the grate and WE gave the chicken a good sear over the lump and then went indirect & covered for about 35 - 40 minutes. This upcoming lull in the action, caused by the lid, motivated Junior Grill Master to score some cartoon time on channel 11483736 (or something). It's all good.
In no time though, we had some very good chicken. The whole event was an incredible Father/Son success.
I monitored the temps over the course of the next couple hours and they held steady well above 450 throughout.
I've done some additional cooking over the last couple weeks and have concluded that this grill does a great job of holding temps. However, it requires Lump Charcoal.
The high ash production and marginal heat of Kingsford as compared to quality lump charcoal are most likely the cause of problems reported by owners.
Get er' Done!
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