Kettle heat
Klotgrill
A kettle is a thin steel bowl with a damper underneath and a damper in the lid. It leaks more than a kamado and stores far less heat, so the fire itself (how much charcoal, and how it is arranged) does more of the work than the dampers do. Lay the fuel for the cook you want, then trim with the vents.
The bottom damper is the throttle. Wide to climb, a quarter to hold. Leave the top damper mostly open: it is the exhaust, and choking it traps smoke that has nowhere to go. That is the sooty, acrid taste people blame on the wood.
| Target | Bottom | Top | Fuel | Settles, min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 °C | ¼ open | ½ open | Snake, 2×2 | 20–30 |
| 135 °C | ⅓ open | ¾ open | Snake or basket | 15–25 |
| 160 °C | ½ open | Open | Half chimney | 10–20 |
| 200 °C | ¾ open | Open | Two-zone | 10–15 |
| 230 °C+ | Wide open | Open | Spread flat | 5–10 |
Two zones, always. Coals banked against one wall give you a hot side and a side with no fire under it at all. Anything thicker than a burger starts on the cool side and finishes on the hot one, which is the same idea as a reverse sear and needs no extra equipment.
The snake. Briquettes laid two wide and two high in a horseshoe round the edge, lit at one end, burn along the line for six or seven hours at 110 °C. It is the closest a kettle comes to being a smoker, and it is set once and then left alone.
The lid thermometer reads the dome. And it reads it at the very top, where the air is hottest. Expect the grate to be 10–15 °C cooler than the dial says, and more than that on a cold day.
Shutting down. Close both dampers. A kettle goes out in ten minutes, faster than a kamado, and what is left in the bowl is worth keeping for the next cook.