There's no doubt that the Weber Kettle is probably the most successful charcoal cooker ever. And while most people use it primarily as a grill, the more adventuresome, as in members of The Pit, have also used it for smoking. The "safe" modification/accessory is to use an SNS type of device to contain the fuel off to one side, allowing indirect cooking on the remainder of the grate. The addition of smoking wood chunks give a reasonable simulation of more traditional smoking devices without the need to take up patio space with a complete additional cooking unit. Or, if not interested in a purpose built accessory, some fire brick or other blocking device can accomplish a similar separation of zones.
The tradeoff with the above methods is a loss of useable grate space. A typical SNS type device, or fire brick dam, renders approximately 1/3 of the grate space as unusable for indirect cooking, and limits to some degree the amount of fuel load at a given time. Grates with hinged portions help with refueling on the fly, but mean you need to give more focus to your fire management if going for a longer smoke.
One recent alternative has been shown on here by Mosca, a two piece device that consists of a deflector plate and a fuel containment ring. I'm not sure how limited the fuel load actually is compared to the SNS, but it appears to be similar or maybe slightly more. But having the fuel below the deflector plate does leave you with the full surface of the grate for food placement. As Mosca has reported, there doesn't seem to be any undue concentration of cooking heat at the edges of the deflector plate. Priced at about $100 it's in the neighborhood of the SNS budget wise.
There is another alternative that I came into using by a sort of back door way, but it was clearly designed to be another option for Weber kettle users. A bit over a year ago I purchased a Kamado Joe Kettle Joe which featured what they call a SloRoller. This is an engineered venturi shaped component that separates the fire area from the grate with the claimed outcome being a churning of the smoke and heated air forming a convection action that evens out the distribution of cooking gases. The Kettle Joe ends up being a quasi-kamado style smoker which functions well, though the jury might be out on whether it produces any better flavor outcome than not having that vortex/venturi affect.
As an add on to the Weber kettle though, it is a very good smoker conversion accessory from the standpoint of usable grate space, and larger fuel load capability. You get the full grate surface area, and the entire space of the lower bowl area to stack fuel...........including small splits if you wish to get smoke quality beyond charcoal briquettes or lumps. And, of course, with more space you'll enjoy longer cooking time without fuel burn out anxiety. On mine, I have gasket material on the bottom of the SloRoller ring, as well as the lid, so air management is strictly by the lower and upper vents of the Weber. It has functioned very well as a smoker. A couple cooks pictured here are a pork belly and some English cut beef ribs, both turned out well. KJ now sells the SloRoller assembly as an accessory on their site. It includes the venturi ring, a separate deflector plate and a two piece grate for $120, again, roughly in the range of the upper end SNS and the other device above. They currently show it out of stock, but it may be available through dealer stock. Kettle Joeâ„¢ SlÅRollerâ„¢ - Kamado Joe Anyway, for folks willing to think outside the box of norm, this might be worth considering.
The tradeoff with the above methods is a loss of useable grate space. A typical SNS type device, or fire brick dam, renders approximately 1/3 of the grate space as unusable for indirect cooking, and limits to some degree the amount of fuel load at a given time. Grates with hinged portions help with refueling on the fly, but mean you need to give more focus to your fire management if going for a longer smoke.
One recent alternative has been shown on here by Mosca, a two piece device that consists of a deflector plate and a fuel containment ring. I'm not sure how limited the fuel load actually is compared to the SNS, but it appears to be similar or maybe slightly more. But having the fuel below the deflector plate does leave you with the full surface of the grate for food placement. As Mosca has reported, there doesn't seem to be any undue concentration of cooking heat at the edges of the deflector plate. Priced at about $100 it's in the neighborhood of the SNS budget wise.
There is another alternative that I came into using by a sort of back door way, but it was clearly designed to be another option for Weber kettle users. A bit over a year ago I purchased a Kamado Joe Kettle Joe which featured what they call a SloRoller. This is an engineered venturi shaped component that separates the fire area from the grate with the claimed outcome being a churning of the smoke and heated air forming a convection action that evens out the distribution of cooking gases. The Kettle Joe ends up being a quasi-kamado style smoker which functions well, though the jury might be out on whether it produces any better flavor outcome than not having that vortex/venturi affect.
As an add on to the Weber kettle though, it is a very good smoker conversion accessory from the standpoint of usable grate space, and larger fuel load capability. You get the full grate surface area, and the entire space of the lower bowl area to stack fuel...........including small splits if you wish to get smoke quality beyond charcoal briquettes or lumps. And, of course, with more space you'll enjoy longer cooking time without fuel burn out anxiety. On mine, I have gasket material on the bottom of the SloRoller ring, as well as the lid, so air management is strictly by the lower and upper vents of the Weber. It has functioned very well as a smoker. A couple cooks pictured here are a pork belly and some English cut beef ribs, both turned out well. KJ now sells the SloRoller assembly as an accessory on their site. It includes the venturi ring, a separate deflector plate and a two piece grate for $120, again, roughly in the range of the upper end SNS and the other device above. They currently show it out of stock, but it may be available through dealer stock. Kettle Joeâ„¢ SlÅRollerâ„¢ - Kamado Joe Anyway, for folks willing to think outside the box of norm, this might be worth considering.
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