First Cook on Weber 26" - Using Char-Baskets for Low & Slow

[RafaelSantana]

Received a Weber 26" Kettle for my birthday yesterday, my sister and her family are flying into town today, and tomorrow is portending to be a picture-postcard day. So i have to cook up some chicken and ribs, right? Unfortunately, i probably won't have time to calibrate before i start cooking tomorrow.

The general game plan is about 6 hours for the ribs at 225, and then put the chicken on with about 2 hours to go, maintaining ~ 225. What would be the best way to use the baskets that come with the 26"? Should I use both, or is one enough? Should I fill them entirely, or halfway with lit coals? A mix of lit or unlit? Should I plan on replenishing part way through, or the end to crank up the temp to get a nice sear? (The grate is hinged on both sides)

Writing this out, I'm thinking my brother-in-law and I may have to stay up late tonight, drink some beers, and see what this puppy can do. But any and all advice will be welcomed. Thanks!

[JeffJ]

Pull the ribs when they are done and keep them warm in a faux cambro - (wrap in foil, place in a cooler and fill the remaining space in the cooler with towels). Then, add some lit coals, open all of the vents all of the way and cook the chicken in the 300-350 range. Chicken will dry out if it takes too long for it to come to temp, which it will if cooked at 225.

Wrap the baskets completely in foil and create a wall with space on the far side for your charcoal. In this scenario you are using the baskets as both a heat shield. Fill the charcoal area with unlit coals (60 or so) and then light 15 coals and pour them on one corner of the unlit coals. Feel free to toss in a wood chunk on top of the coals. Place a drip pan under the ribs and pour in about a quart of boiling water. This will create a more humid cooking chamber and will help keep temps down.

For the ribs, try to keep temps under 250. Without having time to calibrate your device it's going to be more volatile with its temps. However, you do it make time to throw a full chimney of lit coals into the grill and let it burn out before cooking in it for the first time. This will burn off any cardboard particles, manufacturer's grease, etc. that can all contribute off flavors.

[Danjohnston949]

RafaelSantana, Man You Like to Sweat! I have used Weber Kettles and Baskets or Coal Racks for about 44 Yrs. I have never used a 26" Ranch Kettle. My inclination is for you to start with one basket and see what your temp is running and holding! Try going on ABC.com and light your coals like they recommend for Low and Slow cooks! If you are running cool you could then add the second basket with coals lit a fuse fashion! Look at the S 'n S for
Your 26" Kettle that Adrenaline BBQ just introduced! Not being much help but I would bet the Cavalry is on the Way!
Congrats on your New Ranch Kettle! Eat Well and Prosper! From Fargo ND, Dan

[JeffJ]

Yes, definitely look at the Slow N Sear. It makes smoking in a kettle a breeze.

[RafaelSantana]

Yes, i have my eye on the new SNS, but i want to play with this new toy for a while first! Also, to be clear, I didn't get the 38" ranch kettle, but the 26"

[Danjohnston949]

@RafaelSantane, I understood you have the 26” Webber. I think @Jeff3 & Powersmoke_80 are giving you good
Advice! Hope All Goes Well! 👍👍👍👍👍. Have a Great BBQ, Dan

[JeffJ]

The problem with the baskets is they are not shielded and what you don't want is radiant heat when going low and slow. This is why I suggested using them as both a shield and as a wall to create a charcoal area on one side of the grill. Before things like the SnS and the Smokenator, people used to wrap bricks in foil and use them in the exact manner I am suggesting you use the baskets.

[RafaelSantana]

Ahh, that makes sense. THanks!

[Powersmoke_80]

I think the bricks wrapped in foil standing along side the baskets as a heat deflector is a good idea for a two zone cooking area.

[LA Pork Butt]

@https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/member/11080-rafaelsantana I've cooked a number of times on my son's 26' Weber kettle. We tried using four baskets so they would surround the meat, but found that the snake method worked better. You can find it on YouTube done by an Aussie. It is almost a set and forget it method. Happy smoking.

[Huskee]

If at all possible, I too recommend cooking your chicken much hotter. A great target is 325-350. You can go hotter if your birds don't have a sugary rub (like a rib rub), but sugar in rubs tends to want to blacken/burn much over 350. Otherwise cook them chicks at 325, 350, 375, even 400. As long as the breasts don't exceed 165 when you're serving them, it will be amazingly good! In my experiences a ~5lb chicken takes about 75min at 340-350, 90min at 325.

You could keep your ribs in a baking pan in your house oven at 170 (or your lowest setting) while the chickens cook. Put them in there just before the "bend test" checks out to avoid overcooking your ribs.

[RafaelSantana]

Update time:

Things went deliciously, thanks for all the advice.

I decided to forgo the baskets, and just bank coals on one side and use some bricks wrapped with foil as a heat shield. I also had a drip pan with a bout a quart of near-boiling water. I put about 50 unlit bricks in the bank, then topped them with about 15 lit bricks. Once I got to 225, I put the ribs on, and a handful of hickory chips on the lit coals.




I kept it close to 225 at first, but because time was limited (and I tend to like a chewier rib) I decided to aim for the 275 area. Here's what they looked like after about 4 hours of cooking,:




I then wrapped them in fol and put them in an oven at 200.

The next step was the chicken. I had already started up about 20 coals, since i wasn't sure how much i'd have left. As you can see, i probably didn't need to. In any case, I had used the Simon and Garfunkel rub, then smoked them at about 325 with some hickory.

Here are the chicken and ribs on the platter:




And on my plate:



Oh yeah, I also roasted some veggies on direct heat while the chicken was on indirect.

Everything was quite tasty. On the ribs, I used the Memphis Dust, and no sauce, either on the grill or for dipping afterwords. I might augment the dust with extra brown sugar next time. Thanks again for all the help!

PS, the only leftovers was a chicken thigh. THe next day, to make a quick meal for me and my kids, I shredded the chicken, cut up the skin into strips, warmed them up and then tossed them with some linguine, peas, pecorino, olive oil and garlic. When my kid asked from the other room whether I was making bacon - he smelled the smokiness of the chicken -- i realized that I was kind of making a carbonara, but with smoked chicken instead of pancetta. Next time, i might make a carbonara proper, i.e. with egg yolks, etc., with any leftovers...

[LA Pork Butt]

It,looks like you figured it out. I am hungry for BBQ.

[fuzzydaddy]

That looks like a very successful cook. Your food looks awesome. Thanks for sharing the photos!

[Breadhead]

A great cook my friend. It looks delicious.

[JeffJ]

Very nicely done! Everything looks great! I really like that you took advantage of all of that space the 26 has and threw in some veggies while you were cooking your meat.

That was an excellent write-up. Your technique was spot-on and obviously the results were really good. Thank you for sharing this. That was a somewhat complex cook and it sounds like you pulled it off like a pro. It must have been a lot of fun.

Keep grilling!

[MSU Spartans]

Question on the weber grills. I know it is all relative, but how many butts can you smoke on the standard weber and the 26 in weber. Trying to decide what to do.

[Breadhead]

I have a 26" kettle. I've never tried to see how many butts I can get on it but... With the addition of the hover grate I'm thinking I could do at least 6 butts.

[MSU Spartans]

Great thanks you for the input!

[martybartram]

I put four butts on (two 8 pounders halved) on a 22.5" weber with an SNS. Added close to three hours to the cook. Check out this post and you should get an idea about the difference a 26" would make. https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...994#post162994

[MSU Spartans]

Great Thank you!

[MSU Spartans]

Have any of you used the SNS with the weber with a pizza stone to make neopolitan pizza? Thinking what my best option would be for a charcoal grill to make pizzas and smoke ribs/butts/brisket etc.

[martybartram]

I think there are pizza recipes in the recipe board. From what I recall you want high heat so with pizza you would put the charcoal in the center of the grill. I may be remembering incorrectly however. https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...s-on-the-grill

[Breadhead]

I've never tried cooking pizza on a kettle but if I were to give it a go I'd put the standard coal baskets under the regular grate in the center. Then I'd elevate the pizza stone up higher than the normal grate level. I would preheat the stone and try to get a 600°/650° cooking temperature.

[Paulie Brisket]

Nicely Done! Happy (belated) birthday!!