I ran a 225 degree test last night with a full chimney of Weber charcoal. It ran 7.5 hrs at temp, I had to take tongs and adjust coals after 4 hrs.
The ash deposit was better than KB which blocked off the whole east side of the intake blowers. The Weber only blocked the NE corner. Now I know why you are running the fan on the left (I had mine right under the coals.)
Regarding your charcoal box, I was looking at YouTube videos on how to bend & shape steel and they all use a huge brake. What is required to bend 0.06 thickness?
Instead of a charcoal basket I'm thinking something like this to create a wall and just stack the coals against the PK surface (I haven't seen any damage yet.) It's 4 inches high and you can have them custom cut the length.
I’d consider it but isn’t aluminum melt point around 1200F?
Charcoal can easily get above that, especially with extra forced airflow. I use the pk for searing too and let the fan run while I do it, so I just went with stainless.
I started with extruded steel coal baskets but the very square corners meant it didn’t fit well. Also looked at cutting the bottom out of a 1/8 stainlesss steam table pan, but that didn’t seem robust enough.
Even my stainless basket has warped a bit after almost a year of heavy use.
Im hoping the pk folks come out with theirs soon and it fits perfectly and meets or exceeds my specs.
The melting point of the PK360 is 1080F. But I believe the thick, heavy cast aluminum pulls heat away so it won't get hot enough to melt. But you're right...forcing too much air or creating a hot searing environment would be risky. The user manual says to not use a blowtorch to light coals, or excess lighter fluid, gas, alcohol.
The charcoal basket is sold as an accessory item. If they were really concerned I'd think they'd provide one in every grill with a visible warning stating "Use this or your warranty will be voided."
Yesterday I cooked a pork butt so in the last week combined I've burned over 20 hours of Weber & KB coal at 325 & 225 temps. Lots of fuel stacked up against the cast walls and everything is still looking good.
Last edited by Larry Grover; February 18, 2018, 09:20 PM.
Perhaps this is why the charcoal is not melting the surface. According to PK's website:
When aluminum is exposed to the atmosphere it spontaneously forms a thin but effective oxide layer that prevents further oxidation.
Poking around the web it turns out the melting point of aluminum oxide is 3762F which gives welders problems. From what I understand their torches won't melt aluminum; they have to remove the oxide layer first with solvents or a wire brush. And they have to work fast because the oxide layer comes back quick.
Some of AO's uses are as an abrasive (sandpaper), refractory material due to it's high melting point (kilns) and grinding operations due to it's low heat retention & low specific heat.
What I don't understand is if you tossed the PK in a 1200F fire would it melt or would there need to be a special process to remove the oxide first? Any scientists in the house?
Comment