PREPARING TO USE YOUR GRILL
Before cooking with your grill, the following steps should
be closely followed to both cure the finish and season the
interior steel. Failure to properly follow these steps may
damage the finish and/or impart metallic flavors to your
first foods.
1. Brush all interior surfaces including grills and grates
with vegetable cooking oil.
2. Build a small fire in the pan, being sure not to lay
coals against the walls.
3. Place all accessories on the poles and set them in the
lowest position, over the fire.
4. This burn should be sustained for at least two hours,
the longer the better. Your grill is now ready for use.
Rust can appear on the inside of your grill. Maintaining
a light coat of vegetable oil on interior surfaces will aid
in the protection of your unit. Exterior surfaces of grill
may need occasional touch up. We recommend the use
of a commercially available black high temperature spray
paint. NEVER PAINT THE INTERIOR OF THE UNIT!
GRILLING
Successful charcoal grilling depends on a good fire. The
general rule for knowing when your coals are ready for
grilling is to make sure that 80 percent or more of the
coals are ashy gray. Using caution, arrange the hot coals
on your charcoal grate based on your desired method of
cooking. Here are a few steps you can take to adjust the
temperature of your fire:
• If it is too hot, spread the coals out a bit more, which
makes the fire less intense.
• Avoid laying the coals on the walls of the grill.
• In the event of a severe flare-up, spray the flames with
water from a squirt bottle. Be careful, spraying with
water tends to blow ashes around and make a mess.
• Add briquettes 2 or 3 at a time to increase the burn
time. Allow 10 minutes for coals to ash over before
adding more.
GRILLING WITH WOOD CHIPS /
WOOD CHUNKS
For a more robust smoke flavor while using charcoal bri-
quettes or lump charcoal, try adding wood chips or sev-
eral wood chunks to the fire. Wood chunks are available
in a variety of natural flavors, and can be used alone or
in addition to charcoal. As a general rule, any hardwood
that bears a fruit or nut is suitable for cooking. However,
different woods have very different tastes.
Experiment with different woods to determine your per-
sonal favorite, and always use well-seasoned wood.
Green or fresh-cut wood can turn food black, and tastes
bitter.
GRILLING WITH WOOD CHIPS /
WOOD CHUNKS
Our Recommendations:
Chicken - Alder, Apple, Hickory, Mesquite
Beef - Hickory, Mesquite, Oak
Pork - Fruitwoods, Hickory, Oak
Lamb - Fruitwoods, Mesquite
Veal - Fruitwoods, Grapevines
Seafood - Alder, Mesquite
Vegetables – Mesquite
COOKING TIPS
Building Your Fire
1. Stack charcoal briquettes or wood into a pyra mid-
shaped pile on top of the charcoal grate or ash pan.
We recommend using 3 pounds (approximately 45
briquettes) to start your fire, adding more as needed.
2. If using lighter fluid, saturate the charcoal briquettes
with lighter fluid and let it soak in for approximately
5 minutes. If using a chimney starter, electric starter,
or other type of fire starter, light your fire according
to the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Always light the fire with the cooking chamber and
firebox lids open. Leave lid open until briquettes are
fully lit. Failure to do this could trap fumes from char-
coal lighter fluid in grill and may result in a flash fire
when lid is opened.
4. Never add charcoal lighter fluid to hot or warm coals
as flashbacks may occur causing injury.
5. You are ready to begin cooking when the pile of bri-
quettes ashes over and produces a red glow (ap-
proximately 12 – 15 minutes).
6. Depending on your cooking method, either leave the
briquettes in a pile or spread evenly across the char-
coal grate using a long-handled poker.
7. Avoid laying coals on grill walls.
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