Basic Rules of Thumb for hitting 225 and 325 2-zone Setup

[MillerTime]

After 10 years of only using a Weber genesis, it is on its last legs. Still going, but I can see the end in sight. After discovering this site, and after seeing a 22" Premium kettle on clearance for $74, I decided now was the time to experiment with a charcoal rig to see if the genesis is even worth replacing when it finally meets its end. Looking forward to the experimentation!

So I'm currently burning some coals to play around with temps. While I plan on - and look forward to - running some tests to get consistent 225 and 325 on the indirect side of a 2-zone setup, I gotta think you guys can go ahead and give me some general rules of thumb for how to get there. I gotta think these things are pretty consistently made, so what works for you should come close to working for me as well IF outside temps and weather is the same.

So how do you guys do it? How many coals? When do you close the intake? How far? Do you close the exhaust any? (I don't have a SnS, so right now I'm just using the standard kettle with charcoal baskets)

On my first run I put 50 coals in a single charcoal basket and overshot the 325, going all the way up to 350, closed both top and bottom dampers to bring it down to 325, and it is now pretty steady at 325. I figure I left the bottom vents wide open too long and thus the overshoot. Or maybe 50 coals was too much to begin with... or maybe leaving the vents wide open up to 320 was too long... or maybe both... hmmm. I have a WSM, so I'm not totally foreign to the world of charcoal - only to the kettle itself.

Love the newly discovered site, and look forward to venturing into the charcoal kettle world!

[Huskee]

225 for a long low & slow cook I'd recommend lighting 15-20 coals and once they're well-lit make a fuse with about another full chimney, with the lit on one side. Once the grate temp (not lid dial temp) gets to 200, tighten the vents to bottom "a crack" (you'll need to look and see where that is on the handle in relation to the vents themselves in the bowl, usually just right of the second hole cutout) and top vent about 1/4 open roughly.

For 325 I'd light about 2/3 - 3/4 chimney, make sure it gets well-lit, then add them to the basket. They will burn roughly 90 min, less if you wait too long to add them. If you need a longer burn at 325, do that but add that to about another half chimney of unlit coals, fuse or Minion style. Vents- bottom = half or so, and top as well. YMMV.

SnS is a very worthy add-on if you can get one some day.

[Huskee]

Oh, and welcome to The Pit! We'd love to get an intro from you over in the Introduce Yourself channel when you get a minute. https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...troductions-aa

[MillerTime]

225 for a long low & slow cook I'd recommend lighting 15-20 coals and once they're well-lit make a fuse with about another full chimney, with the lit on one side. Once the grate temp (not lid dial temp) gets to 200, tighten the vents to bottom "a crack" (you'll need to look and see where that is on the handle in relation to the vents themselves in the bowl, usually just right of the second hole cutout) and top vent about 1/4 open roughly.

For 325 I'd light about 2/3 - 3/4 chimney, make sure it gets well-lit, then add them to the basket. They will burn roughly 90 min, less if you wait too long to add them. If you need a longer burn at 325, do that but add that to about another half chimney of unlit coals, fuse or Minion style. Vents- bottom = half or so, and top as well. YMMV.

SnS is a very worthy add-on if you can get one some day.

Thanks for the tip - looks like your experience and my initial trial agree pretty well, with the exception of my overshoot that was caused by keeping vents open too long. 50 coals is close to 2/3 a chimney, and once it got stable I kept it there for awhile with the intake at a crack. About 90 mins after the start of all of this the temp started dropping even when everything was wide open, which obviously meant that they had hit their peak and were now just going down slowly. At that point I wondered what I'd do differently if I needed a longer cook time from the start, but you answered it great - go ahead and throw some unlit in there from the start instead of constantly re-fueling. I'm used to the Minion method from the WSM, so this makes sense once you get the hang of how much charcoal you need to hit the goal temp.

I will definitely try the 225 out as well and see how that goes. Any ballpark rules of thumb on how much time a 1/2 chimney of unlit coals buys you? Or do y'all just not worry about that b/c 1) charcoal is cheap so if you put too much in no big deal, and 2) you can reuse what didn't burn? I know I've wasted a lot of coal in the WSM b/c I put more in than I needed, but I didn't realize you could reuse them.

And don't you worry, I'm already sold on the SnS! But with an 18 and a 14 WSM already I gotta be sure I'm going to keep the kettle for the long haul before I add more accessories to it. But from the sounds of it the SNS could very well likely replace the 14 WSM altogether.

[JeffJ]

I have the SnS and 2 kettles - a 22 and a 26. My 14 WSM still gets use. it's a great little cooker and I love that it's portable. It's made several trips "Up North".

[Huskee]

I would guess a half chimney of unlit fused with 15 lit coals would get you 3-4hrs +/- at 225ish. In hot sunny weather maybe 4 or 5, in cooler or rainy weather maybe 3. The SnS really helps doing low & slow smokes on the kettle, it makes the burn much more efficient by making the heat barrier between the charcoal and the outside kettle wall, plus it groups the coals tighter.

[DWCowles]

Welcome MillerTime

[MBMorgan]

Greetings ... and welcome to the Pit!

[Juddlight]

Welcome, you're going to love that charcoal cooking

[l'inferno]

I think you probably already received the advice that you need from Huskee . (and you most likely can remove the word "probably" from the sentence)

But coincidentally I am researching the briquette calculations as I post.

I found two links. They may or may not be helpful. Good luck.

http://www.weber.com/weber-nation/blog/smoking-on-a-kettle

https://www.kingsford.com/how-to/arrange-your-coals-with-the-coal-configurator/

Just put together the smokey Joe because I didn't want the Jumbo Joe to get lonely.

[Danjohnston949]

MillerTime, Huskee is being too Modest he has an Interest in Adrenaline BBQ Co .Com! David Parrish is the President of the S 'n S Manufacturing Co. Go to abcbarbeque.com!
Huskee has an Excellant Tutorial on Temp Control of the Weber Kettle complete with Pics in the Technique Secton
for the S 'n S!
Eat Well and Prosper! From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[l'inferno]

Please send link.
It's late.
And I'm lazy.
Thank you.

[Huskee]

Actually, no interest in ABCbarbecue here, no current business ties.

[MillerTime]

Thanks all! That definitely gives me enough to get close with. Going for the reverse sear on some steaks tonight, so we'll see how it goes. Although I definitely don't want to screw up a good steak, if I overshoot the 225 then I'm right back to what I've been doing in the past anyway.

[Danjohnston949]

l'inferno, Below please find the URL for Adrenaline BBQ Co. Manufactures of the S 'n S for Weber Kettles! You think 10:30 PM is Late I had been in bed for 3 Hrs by then! I have also attached some Pics of my 22 1/2" Weber Performer with a S 'n S and Baffle, a DigiQ DX-2 Temp Control, It is Great for Low & Slow Smokes like Pork Butts, Beef Roasts and ThanksGiving Turkey and .....?
Eat Well and Prosper! From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan http://www.abcbarbecue.com