British BBQ Society Forums

Hi guys

I recently got an excel and had my first cook of jerk chicken thighs on the weekend.

What I would be keen to know is the best way to get the temperature up to correct level 250 etc

I used briquettes that were put next to unlit coals for the minion set up. Put the first stacker on with water pan filled with about a third of boiling water and then the rack with my food.

All bottom vents and top one in lid were open but the temp hovered at about 180. After a while I topped up the coal and it brought it up a bit more but In the end I took water pan out and temp was fine.

Sorry for the noob questions etc do you think I put the water bowl in too early? Am I using the vents correctly?

Any recommendations on set up etc greatly appreciated

Thanks for your help!


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Try lumpwood, it'll burn hotter (sainsburys basics lumpwood is great) Also ditch the water and put a clay saucer or baking stone in your water pan then foil it over. I find water keeps temps down and turns the cooker into a fuel hog

Also how much lit fuel are you adding and how are you arranging your fire basket?

Have you checked to see if your thermometer is correct, they are often out and in some cases by quite a lot. You could try more lit coal next time, the Excel is quite a beast so will need more to get going, also as suggested the clay saucer or sand in the water pan will help achieve a higher temperature, you should have no issue with getting 225 with water though.

Regarding the vents people normally get the charcoal on with them all fully open and only start to close them once you get towards your target temp, ie not close them down until at least 200.

Thanks for both of your replys.

I will certainly try the clay saucer method. Do you use any water at all this way? or just foil the saucer and place within the empty water pan?

I placed a chimneys worth of hot coals into the centre of basket with unlit coals around the sides. Perhaps i should of put unlit coals underneat too.

Thanks again

I used to put about 1-2" of sandpit sand in the water bowl (no water) with foil over to keep clean. As suggested fill the basket AS MUCH AS YOU CAN (what you don't use you'll have left), take a chimneys worth out of the middle, light, allow to get properly lit, replace in middle, put in sand bowl and leave top off to heat sand for about 20-30 mins, lid on and allow to stabilise at target temp. I used to find it took about an hour before ready to put wood chunks in and start cooking.

You don't use water with the clay saucer and honestly, despite the hot debate surrounding the topic, I strongly doubt you'll notice an ounce of difference in the moisture of the product. As an aside, if I were you I'd aim to cook chicken hotter than 250. Around the 300 mark you'll get a vast improvement in the end result of the skin

Just a sense check here, but you did put hot water in the bowl right? If you put cold in then it'll take an age to get up to temp.

Thanks for your replies guys. I am definitely going to try the clay saucer method on my next attempt. If the weather is good this weekend I want to try a beer can chicken.


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It's got a lid, even if the weather's bad there's no excuse!

YetiDave wrote:It's got a lid, even if the weather's bad there's no excuse!

Absolutely, this is England, we should embrace the rain! It's only torrential rain that's going to stop play for me, anything less and I'm going strong.