How much charcoal to use: chimney fractions and briquette counts by cook

Fill the chimney to the top for searing. That is about 100 briquettes, and about 4 pounds of Kingsford Original, which is what Kingsford says a standard chimney holds. Half of it, about 50 briquettes, for medium heat. A quarter, about 25, for low heat. Those three fractions are Kingsford's whole chart, and they map to 450 to 550°F, 350 to 450°F and 250 to 350°F.

Weber counts differently, by grill diameter rather than by chimney, and its numbers are smaller. A 22.5 inch kettle gets 50 standard briquettes for direct cooking, and 25 per side for the first hour of indirect cooking with 8 more per side for every additional hour. The two charts disagree on the count and agree on the principle. The pile sets how hot the grill can get and how long it stays there. The vents set where inside that range it actually runs.

For low and slow, the lit amount drops to almost nothing and the unlit amount goes up. Kingsford's snake for a kettle is 100 unlit briquettes in two rows around three quarters of the edge, started with 6 to 8 lit coals. Everything below is those three numbers, adjusted for the cook and the kettle.

Why the chimney is the unit

Kingsford writes its chart in chimneys, and the chimney is the one measure every charcoal cook owns. A full one holds about 100 Kingsford briquettes, about 4 pounds. Weber's instruction is to fill its chimney starter all the way to the top, and to use less when cooking less food. Fill it, count nothing, and the fraction you pour is the amount.

How the coals land matters as much as how many. Kingsford's note under its own chart: spread the lit coals thin over a large area and the temperature is lower and the heat fades faster. Pile them deeper and more concentrated and the grill runs hotter and stays hot longer. Half a chimney piled two deep on one side is a different fire from half a chimney scattered across the grate, and the count is identical.

Weber says the coals are ready to pour in about 10 to 15 minutes, once the ones on top have started to turn gray with ash, and the covered grill then needs another 10 to 15 minutes to preheat. Kingsford's figure is 15 to 20 minutes, poured when every coal is ashed over.

Searing: a full chimney, spread with a gap

Kingsford's direct-heat setup for high heat is one whole chimney, about 100 briquettes or a 4 pound pile, spread evenly across the lower grate. It also says to leave a small area with no coals unless cooking space is short, as a place to move food when fat flares.

Weber's own number for the same job on its 22.5 inch kettle is half that: 50 standard briquettes for direct cooking. A newer Weber guide for the 22 inch Original Kettle Premium lists 40. Weber's Australian setup page splits the same grill three ways for Weber's own briquettes: 45 to 50 for direct high heat, 35 to 40 for medium-high, 30 to 35 for medium.

Fifty or 100, both sear. Weber's count is the amount that brings its grill to direct high heat. Kingsford's full chimney is a deeper bed, which by Kingsford's own description stays hot longer. For a few steaks, 50 is plenty. For a long run of burgers with the lid going up and down, the full chimney buys time. Start at Weber's number on a Weber and add the second half of the chimney the first time the fire runs out before the food does.

Two-zone: half to a full chimney, on one side

Kingsford calls the two-zone fire its configuration for almost everything and gives it half to a whole chimney, 50 to 100 briquettes, spread to cover half of the lower grate. The empty half still cooks, just slower, and it doubles as the place to move food when fat catches. The fraction you pour picks the heat: a full chimney for 450 to 550°F, half for 350 to 450°F.

For roasts and whole birds Kingsford splits a full chimney along both sides of the grill instead, with a foil pan of hot water in the empty middle. That layout runs 250 to 350°F and Kingsford says more coals will be needed later.

Weber writes the indirect fire as an hourly budget. On the 22.5 inch kettle: 25 standard briquettes per side for the first hour, then 8 more per side for each additional hour, with a drip pan between the two piles. The newer 22 inch Premium guide says 20 per side to start and 7 per side per hour after that, added through the hinged grate, which Weber says lifts on both sides for adding fuel. Add up Weber's older chart for a two hour roast and it comes to 66 briquettes, about two thirds of a chimney spread across the cook rather than poured at the start.

Low and slow: a few lit coals and a lot of unlit ones

The snake is the low and slow layout Kingsford describes for a kettle. Lay 100 unlit briquettes in two rows along the outer edge, three quarters of the way around, so the rows form a C. Light 6 to 8 coals in the chimney and pile them at the head. The fire creeps down the line for hours, and Kingsford says to add more briquettes to the tail if the cook needs more time. Its target for the layout is 225 to 250°F. Kingsford's brisket instructions add the part the layout page leaves out: a drip pan of water directly under the meat, which Kingsford says stabilizes the temperature, and a lid that stays closed except to add fuel.

For a dedicated smoker Kingsford describes the burn-down instead: fill the charcoal bed with unlit briquettes and set a few lit coals on top, so the fire works downward over time. Same principle, different shape. The lit amount is small in both because the unlit fuel is the clock.

Lump changes the count, not the fraction

Every number above is a briquette count. Lump does not come in countable pieces, so Weber's per-side tables do not translate to it. The fraction does. Kingsford's chart is built on the volume of a standard chimney, so a full chimney of lump is still the searing load and half a chimney is still the two-zone load. What changes is how the bed behaves once lit, and briquettes vs lump charcoal covers that side of the decision. The planning version is short: the ring methods want briquettes, because a fuse made of irregular chunks burns irregularly, and a hot direct bed is where lump belongs.

Smaller kettles: Jumbo Joe and Smokey Joe

A full chimney is the wrong unit for anything smaller than a 22. Weber's counts scale with the bowl.

Those are standard briquette counts from Weber's charcoal grill owner's guide. Weber's newer portable-grill guide lists lower counts for Weber's own briquettes alongside these: 25 rather than 30 for direct heat on the 14 inch grill, 30 rather than 40 on the 18 inch.

Read the table against the chimney. A Smokey Joe's direct load is under a third of a full chimney and a Jumbo Joe's is under half. Weber makes a compact chimney starter for exactly these grills, and its chimney page names the Smokey Joe as the example. Pour a full standard chimney into a Jumbo Joe and you are cooking over a fire sized for a bigger grill.

Which Weber kettle sorts these models by where they live and how they move, and the Original Kettle 22 review covers the grill most of these charts are written for.

What the vents do once the charcoal is in

Weber is blunt that the dampers, not the charcoal amount, set the running temperature: more air in, hotter grill, less air in, cooler grill. Its instruction is to leave the bottom dampers fully open and drive with the lid damper. Fully open for 450 to 550°F. Half open for 350 to 450°F. A quarter open for 250 to 350°F. A quarter to an eighth for the 225 to 275°F smoke zone. Fully closed to put the fire out. The same page adds the ash rule: clear the bowl and ash catcher so the bottom vents keep breathing. Weber also says wind raises a charcoal grill's temperature, so keep the lid on, while cold weather and altitude lengthen cooking times.

The two charts fit together like this. The charcoal amount is the ceiling and the clock. The lid damper decides where under that ceiling the grill sits. A full chimney choked to a quarter open is wasted fuel that will still run hot, and six lit coals with everything wide open will not sear anything. Pick the amount for the cook, then let the damper hold it. The rest of the kettles and barrels covered here are in charcoal grills.