Charcoal Grilling Insert for Pellet Barbecues

A grill box insert and grill insert controller for attaching to a pellet barbecue. The grill box insert has an open top, and an opening on the bottom for placement directly over a pellet barbecue's fire pot. The grill box insert has within it, a burn plate, upon which charcoal is placed. A cooking grate temperature sensor may be added to detect the temperature near the charcoal and grill box insert burn plate. The grill insert controller is wired such that it is capable of disrupting power to the pellet barbecue controller, directly controlling the pellet barbecue's electric combustion fan and monitoring the pellet barbecue's electrically heated igniter.