Just saw this video, it’s only two days old so this must be a recent change. The top of the line Weber kettle is their Master Touch, which used to come with two charcoal baskets for indirect grilling or searing. Apparently they no longer include the baskets with the Master Touch and have substituted 2 wire racks to hold the charcoal off to the side. After watching the video, not a fan! 🙄 It’s a downgrade if you ask me. Too much room for the charcoal to spill out for one thing. What do you think?
I have those wire fences and they work great. Can also use them in my other BBQs. Maybe it's a down grade from what Weber use to provide, but they work fine.
I really don't have the need for the baskets since I have a SnS and a Vortex. So, I'm glad that's where Weber is cutting costs and not in the quality of the kettle itself.
Gotta say, I like the rails better. Gives me the opportunity to make the basket the size I want. Actually, this post comes at a good time for me as I am looking to buy a set of Weber baskets and was going to make my own. Thanks John! Panhead John
Stir frying using a slotted basket. I adjust temps as needed by adding less or more charcoal.
Using the rotisserie. Moving the baskets closer or farther from the chicken allows me to control browning.
The big thing for me is that I reuse half used charcoal for fast cooks, and the baskets make transferring the used coals where I need them easy.
I do remember having a pair of those charcoal rails years ago, but I didn't care for them. They got floppy after some time, and you have to be careful how the charcoal grate is placed in the kettle because they only fit one way.
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What's nice about the baskets, or something like the SnS too, is the extra layer of air between the coals and the outside (cold) kettle wall. Doesn't matter much for searing steaks and burgers, or even a low & slow cook in the summer or a southern area, but for low & slow in the north, when it's frigid out, that insulating layer is helpful. Bricks or the wire racks work of course, and are cheap, but if you can contain the coals you'll get more mileage when it counts as opposed to stacking the coals right against the outer kettle wall.
I think I'd be okay with these. I have old-style Weber baskets that have never seen the inside of a grill. This seems like a better way to bank the coals against one side like people have done forever.
I use Weber baskets all the time. The rails pre-date the baskets, so they are going BACK to a previous iteration. I found an old set once, so I tried them out
The rails work well, but I want to be able to pick up the leftover charcoal and dump it (wherever). So it’s baskets for me.
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I never use anything in my kettles anyway. I always just bank the coals and use firebrick as a dividing line.
I feel like is these were going to hold the charcoal back, wouldn't they fall through when the charcoal burns and ashes up? I really don't think it matters either way. I am with Richard Chrz , fire brick is easy and it works. When it comes to cooking with kettles, I am going for ease of use.
I use both the Weber baskets and an SNS divider that is solid but is movable like the "new" Weber divider shown above. The baskets are great with the Weber kettle rotisserie that I use quite a bit for chickens, turkey and prime rib with great success. The movable divider is handy for setting up two zone grilling sections, of varying sizes, on the kettle. Seems like the dividers and the basket are both good tools for the kettle, the most versatile home cooker I own or have ever used.
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