New table for my weber kettle

[Atalanta]

Beautiful table. I don't have the right power tools, I have to smile at the guys in the lumber department to cut my dimensional lumber to length for me.

[Mr. Bones]

If I tried that, old an' ugly as I am, I'd most likely end up with dimensional lumber sticking out of places that Nature never intended. Glad it works for you, though!!!! Atalanta Smoke on, Sister!

[Blkman184]

Nice table, I will be building one for my kettle as soon as I stop being lazy

[xaugievike]

I'm with you...the struggle is real

[cornbiscuits]

Opinions: I'm thinking either putting a drawer in it on the right side, or a propane deep fryer. Thoughts?

[Blkman184]

I say go with a drawer

[cornbiscuits]

Putting her to use now

[Atalanta]

During the next ice storm, you can build a picnic table with a beverage cooler.

[cornbiscuits]

That would be nice!

[JeffJ]

That is awesome!

[Dr ROK]

Any worries about the kettle burning the surrounding wood?

[PaynTrain]

A Weber kettle gets WAY hotter than the base of a Komodo. I am curious to see how this does, as I built one for my Weber, and it started smoking 10 minutes in. I built with a 1" gap all the way around.

[Histrix]

Lots of people have built wooden tables for the Weber Kettles and have not had them burst into flames. If your wood table was smoking I'm betting that what was happening was that whatever surface finish you used was just reacting to the heat.

[PaynTrain]

Perhaps. I know this post is motivation enough to trying again!!

[Histrix]

PaynTrain The ignition point of wood will vary somewhat depending upon species. Lower density woods like pine will generally ignite sooner than denser woods like oak. However, a general minimum ignition temp for wood is about 356°F. With direct contact to wood charring and eventual ignition can occur at lower temps over much longer periods of time (months). That is why an air gap is important. Especially if you are running your kettle non-stop for weeks at a time.

Out of curiosity, I just fired up my kettle (22") with a full load of Kingsford. I let the chimney get all the coals red hot and then spread them evenly across the charcoal grate. Top and bottom vents were fully open and I let things run for a few minutes to get everything up to temp. The temp of the exhaust air coming out of the top of the kettle was around 480°F. The ambient air temp was a pleasant 60°F today.

I then took a pix of the kettle with my infrared thermo:



As you can see the temp of the surface of the kettle is about 256°F. The whiter hotter spots were just a bit higher at about 270°F. I couldn't really get a clear pic since the exact edge of the kettle couldn't be positively identified but the air temp just a fraction of an inch away from the bottom part of the kettle a couple inches above where the charcoal grate would appear to be was only about 80-100°F.

You can tell if you look at the side surface of a kettle with your eyes that the shimmering layer of heated air is very thin (1/4"?). You can also position your hand within a fraction of an inch to side bottom surface and it is just a bit warm and quite comfortable. Move it that extra fraction of an inch tho and actually touch the surface and it is rather hot and uncomfortable.

That is why an air gap is important. The temperature drop over just a fraction of an inch is dramatic.

I have seen some folks build wooden table tops for their kamado or kettle that placed a metal band/ring about the same width as the thickness of the tabletop around the cutout wood opening. They used bolts/washers so that the band left an air gap of a 1/2" or so from the wood surface and the metal band/cutout was sized so that there was an air gap of about 1/2" between the metal band. Their thinking was that the metal band will eliminate any effect of radiant heat being a problem. I've always thought that was overkill but I guess if pine or the like is used as the tabletop it couldn't hurt to take a "belt and suspenders" approach.

[Atalanta]

When I was looking for plans, I came across one (referenced several places) that made a custom cement ring. I would worry about it scratching the paint.

[cornbiscuits]

This is with 4 burns, one of them being a hot sear fire for steaks. It had discolored the wood slightly, but I do have room for an air gap should the need arise down the road. I've also thought about putting a piece of foil tape around the perimeter. Think that would help?

[xaugievike]

I'd get a roll of aluminum flashing and tack it around the opening. Just my .02

[Atalanta]

I like the idea of flashing. It's thin enough to easily be cut and tacked.

[HawkerXP]

Its strange that its in only one spot. Could it be a leak between lid and base?

[Histrix]

cornbiscuits I wouldn't worry about it at the moment but I would keep an eye on it every couple of cooks. It could just be that the open exposed grain of that board had some resin/pitch/sap that was reacting to the heat.

Was the browned are in the same locations as you may have banked a lot of coals to that side of the kettle?

Are you positive that your kettle base was centered in your opening and not perhaps actually touching that area?

[cornbiscuits]

The browning area is where I pile my coals in my grill for my 2 zone setup. I think I'm just going to put some heat tape there, like u say, im sure it's nothing to worry about, just have to check it every once in awhile.

[lschweig]

IMHO flashing or foil tape will act as a heat conductor not as a heat barrier. I would make sure I had a air gap and then put like 4 spacers at the 12 o'clock 3,6, and 9 positions to keep the cooker centered and maintain the air gap. As little as as 1/4" or so will help, but more is better.

Over time as wood is exposed to heat it gradually carbonizes and its ignition point lowers.

[lschweig]

Shane Rakow so why even put the foil tape in the mix?

[Shane Rakow]

Good question. You have an answer?

[lschweig]

Shane Rakow I really think we are in agreement to eliminate the foil tape and then provide an air gap between the wood and cooker heat source.

[Histrix]

cornbiscuits Does your kettle just sit in the opening itself with no air gap? As I mentioned upthread an air gap will pretty much eliminate this problem.

You can probably get by without an air gap but if you are banking a lot of coals to one side you might want to use something like the Slow n Sear or the Weber charcoal holders which are much cheaper - https://smile.amazon.com/Weber-7403-...=weber+baskets

They would let you pile up some coals and yet keep an air gap inside the kettle base since the coals wouldn't be piled up right agains the wall of the kettle itself.

[Medusa]

Very nicely done and inspirational! --Ed

[cycledr]

I would think just raising the grill with a spacer at the bottoms of the legs would held increase the air gap to allow more air flow and less contact.