SnS with meat on both the upper and lower grills?

[CapitolHillBBQ]

Hi all,

I've been using the SnS on my Weber 22" and loving it so far - have made a few racks of ribs, some smoked chicken with white sauce, and a bunch of perfectly cooked steaks. It's awesome!

One thing confuses me though. I read in Meathead 's book that you can get more cooking space by using both the upper grill and empty space on the lower grill next to the SnS. How does this work? I was thinking of doing rib racks using both grills, but I'm worried about all the drippings falling down to the lower level and the mess it would make on the ash sweeper. Am I missing something obvious?

[Huskee]

You'll have better luck not using the lower charcoal grate for food, at least this has been my experience, YMMV. If you do, you'll have better luck with it when not using water in the reservoir. Typically most of the convection heat & smoke will travel upward out of the SnS and over the main food grate and up. Much less heat and smoke get down low beside the SnS. You'll get more radiant heat down low if the reservoir is empty, but often the lower grate remains 70-80 degrees (or more) lower the the main grate. I'll defer to David Parrish for further help.

[CapitolHillBBQ]

Thanks so much for the insight. That makes sense that the heat differential might be an issue.

[RonB]

If you need the space, a Hovergrill would work better. You need to monitor the meat temp on both grills and either switch them about halfway through, or put the large hunk on top because the upper grate will be hotter.

(AR link)

[CapitolHillBBQ]

Thanks - I'll check out the hover grill!

[Steve R.]

I agree. The charcoal grate is best used for charcoal and drip pan. The hovergrill will have the opposite problem with temperature but you can work around that much more easily.

[David Parrish]

Agree hovergrill better than using lower grate. It's much cooler down below.

[Mr. Bones]

Put you dem beans down theah, catch th' juices. Keep 'em stirred, now!!!