2 Zones in Kettle

[JGo37]

Until I get my S'nS' Trifecta, I'm having to make do and it's working out well. I've posted this before in answers but not until now as a dedicated thread.

I use aluminum oven drip pans / cookie sheets to cut what I need to restrict radiated heat and they last forever. The first pic here is of a setup that just comes up to the top grate, no higher - spatchcock chicken heaven - I basically cut a sheet in half and left some tabs on it to secure them to the grate:



Someone in the PIT told me to put the chunks of wood on top of the top grate above the coals, not with them. That's given me a much cleaner blue smoke through the burn - so THANK YOU! For this setup I slide a radiated heat shield in that is a bit higher than the wood.



Believe it or not, the lid fits over a full medium sheet - with a slot cut into it to slide over the center bar in the grate it drops right in. Now I can pile wood chunks right on top of the grate, have more surface area for a big cut, and cook lower and slower. I'm keeping the grill clean but you can see in the lid I'm getting a great buildup of sludge already.

[jgreen]

Nice set up.

[JGo37]

Same way I setup the old square box. You can see the divider sheet between the grates. And thank you...

But.. I use the Kettle a LOT now - am I cheating on my old grill? (even named the red kettle Lucille)

[RonB]

If it works...

[FireMan]

Your cheating heart............ We feel for ya.

[JeffJ]

That's very clever and it's a good work-around until you are able to pull the trigger on the SnS.

[holehogg]

Also doing something similar. Glad you mentioned putting the wood chunks on the grate will try.

[JGo37]

Very cool -

[Buck Flicks]

I think something has gone unnoticed/uncommented upon here... putting the wood on top of the grate rather than on top of the wood. Does anyone else do this? I'm intrigued...

[Buck Flicks]

I wouldn't think it would work on an SnS long cook, unless the coals were right under the grate.

[customtrim]

When using a vortex i put the wood on the grate above it works like a charm

[Buck Flicks]

I can definitely see how that would work well with a vortex.

[Huskee]

While we were developing the Slow 'N Sear I used to use a brick and a bread pan (meatloaf pan?) to accomplish this. It's cool to see the clever ways we all rig up an indirect cooking zone.