New to Weber Kettle - Looking for Sage Advice

[Bbqmikeg]

The best thing you can buy for your kettle is a plastic 2inch putty knife. Clean the bowl with that instead of the one-touch blades. Keep that bottom damper tight! It’s the best buck you can spend.

[HawkerXP]

+1

[HawkerXP]

I see what, 6 Webers showing. What's under the covers? oops I see 7.

[wu7y]

sigaris, this is one of the better threads I've seen on this site re: charcoal kettles (not just Weber). Lots of good information here. Best info I can add is play with your new grill. Try different stuff and keep track of the temps and what you did to get and stay there. Even if you are not cooking something it's good information to have. Keep the info in a notebook so you can repeat it and not have to re-invent the wheel each time you cook.

Weather conditions can also affect the cook but where you are it may not be that big of a deal. All of the stuff you can buy for the grill (sns, vortex, etc.) is good stuff but you can do a lot for setting up two zone cooking with a fire brick or two to keep the charcoal on one side of the grate and a pan of water. Don't use building bricks. I will echo the recommendation of getting and using a remote thermometer which will monitor both the meat and cooking temp. The cook temp needs to be at the grate. Do not trust the dome thermometer. With ribs a leave in thermometer may not be all that useful cuz often there's not that much meat to give a reliable reading.

Good luck. You will enjoy the kettle. Merry Christmas.

[BBQandLove]

I think the Weber expansion rack is greatly underrated. I use mine a lot with the baskets on the side. Then I put my jalapeño poppers or whatever on the rack. Gets them up in the dome and away from the charcoal. Makes for beautiful, crisp bacon, perfectly cooked poppers. I put a lot of things up on that rack.

I rarely use the SnS. But I rarely smoke on my 22” Kettle either. I prefer to use the snake method on my 26” or to use my Weber Smokey Mountain. So don’t go by my experience.

The Vortex is a big deal if you learn to use it. I even make killer ribs in 50 minutes with it. Still amazes me every time. Here’s what you’re doing with the Vortex. You are turning your grill into an air fryer + radiant heat + smoke. What a combination. I always line the charcoal grate outside of the vortex with foil.

That’s another thing. Buy 18” heavy duty foil and use the snot out of it. Life is too short to do much grill cleaning and this is my trick so I have very little cleaning to do. I reverse sear almost everything. Use the baskets with foil on the charcoal grate in the middle. Then pull the foil and dump the baskets and sear.

Buy a super cheap tongs and keep them to pick up errant coals, etc. when you dump your chimneys. I buy them by the dozen for less than $2 each and give them away.

I got tons of crap. Shucks, my tote on my truck is better equipped than most home set-ups. But you don’t need all that crap. Keep it simple to start with. Then add as you go.

Does your upper vent have a plastic handle on it? If not, drill a 1/4’ hole in the center of the upright tab. Get a 1 1/2” 1/4-20 SS Bolt and stick it through. Thread a 14-20 SS nut on and tighten it up. Then screw a 3/4” phenolic knob with 1/4-20 brass threaded insert onto it. Makes life a ton easier to adjust the top vent. ignore if you have that plastic handle on it.

One more thing… want the best bacon ever? Buy a pack of good bacon. Set up with baskets on the sides and foil in the middle. Add a couple chunks or chips of your favorite wood. Put the bacon strips in the middle. In a few minutes you’ll have the best bacon ever!

I’m kinda rambling and dumping. hope you don’t mind.

[sigaris]

Thank you BBQandLove! Appreciate your advice!

[zinfella]

Well SnSGrills is having a good sale right now on both of the 22” Slow N Sears. The Deluxe deal ends today:

https://snsgrills.com/collections/slow-n-sear/products/slow-n-sear-deluxe

Best accessory there is for a kettle is what I believe many would say.

Ayuh, the SnS is handier than 2 pockets on a shirt!

It allows me to get 8 hours (sometimes more with one filling, and you cab keep refilling, cooking,'il 'ya drop!) of fuel for nice low and slow 225Ëš smoke. OR, I can crank it up run two chimney's in it, of 2 hours each, using a different vent setup, for doing some good 4 hour ribs. The SnS puts the fuel closer to the top grate making it great for searing too. The damn thing is just versatile!

I burn briquets because they give me consistency cook after cook. Besides, I'm old and cranky, so want to get along without needed variables.

[frailinryan]

As many have already mentioned, the Slow N Sear is a great accessory. Not necessary, but makes things a lot easier. I always use my SNS in my kettles.

[Richard Chrz]

I have not heard if you have any sort of temp alarm.

[StrikeBBQ]

Not a must have, but the rotisserie kit for a Weber kettle is a game changer for whole chickens, rabbits and roasts like leg of lamb. For the most part, the less you mod the kettle, the better I think it is. Technique over gadgetry. My grandpap made amazing chicken and roasts on the base Weber kettle way back in the 60’s. His sole gadget was a coal stove poker.

[Purc]

I have the Cajun Bandit rotisserie for my Weber MT kettle and it's great.I use it with the SnS.I have done chicken,turkey, lamb, boston butt, etc and was very pleased . It is heavy and made better than some sold cheaper on line. The Vortex is great for wings and thighs.

[StrikeBBQ]

I have the 26” so the Cajun Bandit was the only choice. I never thought of try a Boston Butt on the rotisserie.

[Purc]

I have only used a boneless Boston Butt from Costco on the rotisserie for slices and not pulled.

[ssandy_561]

I suggest putting on a gasket on the lid while it is still new. I found this was important for easily maintaining temperatures. I found that the kettle had too much air flow around the lid to maintain temperatures easily.