Weber Kettle Thread!

[JonM]

Not too long. I prefer to use the skinny carrots because they cook through faster. I never really timed it, but I occasionally pick them up and try to bend them against the grate. When they bend easily, they're ready.

 

[passedpawn]

Man, the food in this thread looks yummy. The grilled veggies are amazing but how long do whole carrots take? I could eat a pound of grilled asparagus without issue. In fact, I downed a 1/2 # Saturday night before my steak was touched.

Boil the carrots first, just long enough so that you can barely get a fork in them. Then toss them in ice water to stop them from cooking. You can do this long before you grill. This way they will be soft when the grilling is done.

At grilling time, coat with butter, grill, when done grilling, glaze again with butter/honey/orange zest/be creative, sprinkle with some parsely, and serve. Perfecto!

I grill asparagus and pole beans and other small veggies on a shallow stainless basket like this:

 

[bigjohnmilford]

Boil the carrots first, just long enough so that you can barely get a fork in them. Then toss them in ice water to stop them from cooking. You can do this long before you grill. This way they will be soft when the grilling is done.



At grilling time, coat with butter, grill, when done grilling, glaze again with butter/honey/orange zest/be creative, sprinkle with some parsely, and serve. Perfecto!



I grill asparagus and pole beans and other small veggies on a shallow stainless basket like this:

^
Awesome, thanks for the info. New grilled veggie for this weekend. Thanks

 

[JonM]

Anyone ever experiment with somehow blowing air in through the bottom vents to stoke the coals and get a hotter fire? I'd like to do a whole chicken at around 500 with indirect heat, but with the vents wide open and a whole chimney, I could only get around 350.

Seems like it would work in theory, but there'd likely be ashes blowing around and landing on the food. Wondering if anyone smarter had figured out a way to make that work.

 

[brewbama]

Anyone ever experiment with somehow blowing air in through the bottom vents to stoke the coals and get a hotter fire? I'd like to do a whole chicken at around 500 with indirect heat, but with the vents wide open and a whole chimney, I could only get around 350.

Seems like it would work in theory, but there'd likely be ashes blowing around and landing on the food. Wondering if anyone smarter had figured out a way to make that work.

I used to have a pitmaster iQ 110 that did that. Most of the auto temp controllers have adapters for the kettle.


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[bob1852]

Anyone ever experiment with somehow blowing air in through the bottom vents to stoke the coals and get a hotter fire? I'd like to do a whole chicken at around 500 with indirect heat, but with the vents wide open and a whole chimney, I could only get around 350.

Seems like it would work in theory, but there'd likely be ashes blowing around and landing on the food. Wondering if anyone smarter had figured out a way to make that work.

Hair dryer on the lowest setting. It doesn't take much....

Those pitmaster motors are pretty small.

 

[passedpawn]

Anyone ever experiment with somehow blowing air in through the bottom vents to stoke the coals and get a hotter fire? I'd like to do a whole chicken at around 500 with indirect heat, but with the vents wide open and a whole chimney, I could only get around 350.

Seems like it would work in theory, but there'd likely be ashes blowing around and landing on the food. Wondering if anyone smarter had figured out a way to make that work.

I've got the Auber smoker controller with the smallest blower on my smoker. It would attach just fine to my kettle, too. I'm sure it would do exactly what you're proposing. I mike get my kettle stoked this weekend, I'll put the controller on there and see how hot it gets it.

 

[krenshaw]

great thread! glad i found it even just for the lighter cubes. never a fan of how the newspaper flies through the air just after lighting

 

[JonM]

I've got the Auber smoker controller with the smallest blower on my smoker. It would attach just fine to my kettle, too. I'm sure it would do exactly what you're proposing. I mike get my kettle stoked this weekend, I'll put the controller on there and see how hot it gets it.

I have the 10 CFM Pit Viper fan that I use with my WSM. I should see how that works with the kettle. I have also thought about removing the ash pan and putting a small room fan on the ground and pointing it up at the vents. I see some experimentin' in my future.

 

[hungry4hops]

Here's mine!

 

[glenn514]

I bought my first...and ONLY...Weber kettle in 1973. I did do a "rebuild" of it two years ago: new wheels, new kettle handle. I called Weber-Stevens to get replacement dampers...one of mine escaped some years ago...and they sent me a package of three free! The only thing I've never done with my Weber is bake a cake! Turkeys? Yummy. Fish? Delish! It does need a new charcoal grid and a new cooking grid...but it's the very same kettle I bought 41 years ago!

glenn514

 

[passedpawn]

Here's mine!

Pizza on the kettle... I've done that too. Worked great until I broke my stone on there from the high heat. I bought a much better stone, but I just use it in the oven now. I switched to using a pizza cutter and it works fine. I like the thin and crispy pizzas myself, but I make thicker crusts too.

 

[JonM]

Well, I tried some experimenting yesterday and put a fan under the kettle to try and stoke the coals and get a hotter fire. In short, it didn't work very well. I did get a slightly hotter fire, but not enough to make any kind of a difference. Plus, a coal fell out of the vent and landed on the fan, causing a melted spot. Sheesh.

BUT I did try something else. I had the fire set up for indirect heat with the coals on the outside and a cooking area in the middle. I had an oven thermometer in the cooking area so I could keep an eye on the temps. When I saw that the temps were going nowhere with the fan, I removed the fan and put a couple pieces of dry oak on the coals and let them flame up. Guess what? The temps in the cooking area got to 500-550.

So indirect open flame cooking. Since this was just a dry run, I think I'll have to try that method with a chicken or something. EDIT: Once I saw that the temps were going way up, I added some more wood and that, of course, made the temp go up even more. The oven thermometer goes to 600, and I had it pegged, leading me to believe the temp in the cooking area was 700 or more. That sounds like steakhouse oven temps to me.

AND once the flames died down, it was pretty clear that the oak made some nice coals. I think doing some direct grilling over hardwood coals might be in my future too.

 

[brewbama]

Kettle Pizza



In another post someone asked what I like burnt. My answer was Pizza and this is an example of the black spots I like.



Cheers!

 

[blakelyc]

Another vote for the smokenator mentioned earlier in this thread. I sold my WSM and another box smoker after discovering that thing. If you follow the instructions to the letter, you can hold perfect smoking temps for 6-8 hours with almost no attention.

 

[Zuljin]

Hmmm. Fruit pie in the Weber. This must be done.

 

[passedpawn]

Hmmm. Fruit pie in the Weber. This must be done.

[waiting patiently for pics...]

 

[govner1]

Has anyone used a Pizza Kettle attachment on their Weber a Kettle?


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[JonM]

Yep, I got one and it works great. The key is to get a good stone (Red Sky is really good) and to let it heat up well. (An infrared thermometer is really helpful - should be around 600 or more deg) and then throw hardwood on the coals for the heat to cook the top of the pizza. I've read that it's a good idea to pizza pan or another stone on top of the insert to really trap the heat.

Bottom line, it works well but with the stone, the insert, the IR thermometer, a pizza peel, etc, it gets pretty $$$. It's fun nonetheless.

 

[govner1]

Thx for the feedback.


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[adiochiro3]

I bought my first...and ONLY...Weber kettle in 1973. I did do a "rebuild" of it two years ago: new wheels, new kettle handle. I called Weber-Stevens to get replacement dampers...one of mine escaped some years ago...and they sent me a package of three free! The only thing I've never done with my Weber is bake a cake! Turkeys? Yummy. Fish? Delish! It does need a new charcoal grid and a new cooking grid...but it's the very same kettle I bought 41 years ago!

glenn514

Dang it, Glenn! You've got me beat! LOL! We received a Weber Kettle for our wedding almost 29 years ago, and it's still going strong as well. The only "repair" was new handles I fashioned out of a broken sledge hammer hickory handle. I do need to replace the lower vent fins soon.

Like most, I've pretty much done it all in my Weber (except the cake). I own 4 other smokers -- large and small -- in numerous configurations and fuels, and I smoke almost exclusively in the Weber kettle unless I have a huge pile of food to prepare. It's stupid easy, and I can run it in my sleep (and essentially have on occasion).

My "smoking" career began with turkeys in the Weber, and I was off to the races. These are phenomenal!

I built a custom rack to set the turkey lower in the kettle to clear the lid. I've done up to 24 lb. turkeys. And DON'T forget to catch the drippings for the gravy!!!!! And of course, you have to make a smoked turkey soup out of the carcass! The gift that keeps on giving, for sure.

I will NEVER be without a Weber. By far the handiest most versatile reasonably-priced outdoor cooker.

 

[JonM]

W I had the fire set up for indirect heat with the coals on the outside and a cooking area in the middle. I had an oven thermometer in the cooking area so I could keep an eye on the temps. When I saw that the temps were going nowhere with the fan, I removed the fan and put a couple pieces of dry oak on the coals and let them flame up. Guess what? The temps in the cooking area got to 500-550.

So indirect open flame cooking. Since this was just a dry run, I think I'll have to try that method with a chicken or something. EDIT: Once I saw that the temps were going way up, I added some more wood and that, of course, made the temp go up even more. The oven thermometer goes to 600, and I had it pegged, leading me to believe the temp in the cooking area was 700 or more. That sounds like steakhouse oven temps to me.
.

I tried it with some pork chops and they turned out way, way, way too smoky. But that was with the lid on.

I do have the Pizzakettle insert though. I might see what happens if I use that. Seems like cooking with basically an open-front wood fired oven would keep the hot temps, but let the smoke out. Will report.

 

[Zuljin]

Chicken and chops

 

[Hello]

Chicken thighs today.

So I'm noticing not all of my coals are burning but the temp will drop off rapidly. I have coals lined up around the kettle then I start a chimney of coal and spread around the outside over the cold coal. Temp gets right up into high 400s and spends the next 30-45minutes dropping to 300 and eventually I'm running to add more coal. I've tried the snake and minion method with similar success. Right now I have a ton of half burned coals. Do I dump all and start new or add to those?

 

[Zuljin]

I fill a coal bin, dump it into the chimney and light it with paper. Once it's going, I dump it back into the bin and do that again with the next bin. This way, I've two bins of well lit coal, rather than one well lit and one that might go out.

If I wind up with coals trying to burn from the top down, I rake them down some and either add coal or wood to the top. Or, and there are top down techniques, I rake it so the lit coals fall down into spaces in the bottom and catch the coals on fire that way. That technique seems to make a lower slower heat. I don't use a thermometer though, so I'm just going by feel and how long it takes to cook.

And strips of paper seem to light coals better than wads.

 

[hungry4hops]

Made meatloaf over the weekend turned out fantastic!

 

[JonM]

That looks awesome! Did you use the recipe on the Weber website?

 

[Hello]

I fill a coal bin, dump it into the chimney and light it with paper. Once it's going, I dump it back into the bin and do that again with the next bin. This way, I've two bins of well lit coal, rather than one well lit and one that might go out.

If I wind up with coals trying to burn from the top down, I rake them down some and either add coal or wood to the top. Or, and there are top down techniques, I rake it so the lit coals fall down into spaces in the bottom and catch the coals on fire that way. That technique seems to make a lower slower heat. I don't use a thermometer though, so I'm just going by feel and how long it takes to cook.

And strips of paper seem to light coals better than wads.

I was thinking about this technique and I will try that. My method was technically top down, which I thought would work but I am wondering if I am smothering the cold coals too much or something. This is entirely user error, I am certain of it, but I find myself having to add more coals which isn't very easy when there is food on the grill. I don't have another grill to use to light my chimney so I have to rearrange food and such to make room to start the chimney.

Do you leave all coals in the bins after lit?

Also, to light my coals I use those little white starter deals. They're inexpensive and so dang easy.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Have you tried gently shaking your kettle to make sure the ash finds its way below the unlit coals? I usually find doing this on my smoker helps on long cooks.

For adding coals on a kettle mid grilling, the grates that you can lift the side 1/3 are really nice.

 

[glenn514]

On my old Weber, the cooking grate has "handles" with an open space in the grate. When I cook indirectly, I position the "handles" over the location of my hot coals. Then, when more charcoal is needed, I can add it through the "handle" holes. I also have a long, metal tent stake that I use to position the new charcoal, if need be.

glenn514

 

[TCB]

While I don't have a lot to add in terms of technique I would like to say that I came to HBT for the beer and was pleasantly surprised to see everything else there is here especially grilling. My weber kettle and genesis are like my children.(Shh. Don't like the old lady know.)

Anyways here are a few pictures to stay more on topic.

 

[hungry4hops]

That looks awesome! Did you use the recipe on the Weber website?

I used a recipe from Americas test kitchen cooks country, but I'll have to check out the weber recipe and compare them!

 

[Hello]

On my old Weber, the cooking grate has "handles" with an open space in the grate. When I cook indirectly, I position the "handles" over the location of my hot coals. Then, when more charcoal is needed, I can add it through the "handle" holes. I also have a long, metal tent stake that I use to position the new charcoal, if need be.

glenn514

Have you tried gently shaking your kettle to make sure the ash finds its way below the unlit coals? I usually find doing this on my smoker helps on long cooks.

For adding coals on a kettle mid grilling, the grates that you can lift the side 1/3 are really nice.

I can add coals okay. I need to get them lit in the chimney which has to sit on a grate and not my deck railing. I have no place to do that with food cooking. How do you light more coals when the ones lit before are spent?

 

[JonM]

We tailgated last weekend with the Smoky Joe and, because it was a tailgate, I didn't spend a lot of time cleaning the grate afterwards.

Anyway, I pulled out the Smoky Joe last night so I could get a 1/3 of a chimney going for a cook on the 22.5. Then it hit me - why can't i put the Smoky Joe grate on top of the super hot chimney while it's heating up and burn all the gunk off? It worked like a charm. I might have to find a MacGuyver way to do the same thing with the 22.5 grate.

 

[brewbama]

I own four Webers: a 22.5" WSM, 14.5" WSM, a 22" Kettle, and an 18" Jumbo Joe. I modified the Kettle with an ash catcher, temp gauge, and hinged grate to make a OTG.

How do you light more coals when the ones lit before are spent?

I have a small metal trash can I use to discard ashes in. I have an extra small grate I place on it with one lighter cube and a chimney of charcoal. Works great.

But I rarely have to do that.

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[TCB]

How do you light more coals when the ones lit before are spent?

When I'm smoking something for a long time I will add a few unlit coals every 30 to 45 minutes. This seems to hold the temperature well and no need to light them.

 

[brewbama]

I grilled a Tri-Tip Sat but had some leftovers. Tonight, I decided to use it in a taco cook.
















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[TallDan]

Happy to find this thread. I am no gourmet like some of you appear to be, but here is my weber grilling some pork chops for dinner tonight.

Fun fact: my kettle was made before the date code system was started at weber, which means my grill is older than I am. It was given to me 5 or so years ago by my vegetarian aunt and uncle. I don't think they used it since going vegetarian in the 1970's. Happy grilling!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I grilled a Tri-Tip Sat but had some leftovers.

Well that just makes zero sense!

 

[DrunkleJon]

Happy to find this thread. I am no gourmet like some of you appear to be, but here is my weber grilling some pork chops for dinner tonight.

Fun fact: my kettle was made before the date code system was started at weber, which means my grill is older than I am. It was given to me 5 or so years ago by my vegetarian aunt and uncle. I don't think they used it since going vegetarian in the 1970's. Happy grilling!
View attachment 215882

That grill is in darn good shape for being unused since the 70s.