elevate charcoal on half of Primo XL

[hawkhandler]

i bought the primo xl over the BGE to be able to take advantage of the 2 sided feature. however, i have to pile the charcoal so high when i want to grill over direct heat on one side that it feels like a wasteful amount of charcoal. what is the trick to bringing the charcoal up closer to the grate without having to build a charcoal mountain?

 

[gmc2003]

Raise your charcoal grate with bricks?

Chris

 

[MBBG]

You probably already know this, but the grill grate can be flipped over which will lower the cooking surface a couple of inches closer to the fire. I’ve done this with steaks after a reverse sear.

Oddly enough one of the things I like about the Primo is the ability to keep some distance between the coals and the meat. Makes it very forgiving but still provides that great direct heat charcoal flavor.

And even without filling it all the way up with charcoal I can easily get it crazy hot enough to put a crust on pretty much anything even if the grate is in the normal position. It’s not like a Weber kettle with briquettes and the lid on that doesn’t really allow for a ripping hot fire. If you keep your dampers more open on the Primo with good lump you don’t need your grate 3-4” from the coal to get it cooked.

And you’re only using whatever amount of charcoal it takes to get the job done—close the dampers and use the rest next time. So it’s not wasteful.