Here at AR I see 2 zone cooking is setup as heat on one side and meat on the other. Some other reading I have been doing suggests outside burners on and meat in the middle. What do you use and lessons learned? I have a four burner gas grill.
Anything indirect, so long as the meat isn’t directly over the heat source. And it depends on how hot the indirect you want. Perhaps you want it closer or farther away from the heat (not really much consideration as to which burners are on or off). Can’t mess it up.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
I don't see the advantage of using two outside burners. Maybe no disadvantage either, of course. I have a four burner Genesis, and I often find that the single burner on the far left will give me what I need in the way of ~225 low-and-slow. It seems like it would be more trouble to have to balance two burners on opposite sides.
Now that I think of it, the only thing I ever use the burner on the right far is the burn off the gunk left over from the last cook.
I think the outside burners with the meat in the middle would prevent the need to turn the meat that is sometimes recommended to prevent one side from getting too dry. I haven’t found a real need for it though most of the time.
Weber Kettle -- 22.5" (In-Service Date June 2015)
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Pit Boss 820 (Retired)
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The two things that 2-zone does for you are: 1. Create a low-temperature, indirect heating area (like an oven but with smoke), and 2. Allow you to control the temperature for a consistent cook. I don’t cook with gas, but if you can control the temperature in the range you want with outside burners, then I don’t see an issue.
I have a six burner Weber Genesis gasser. Weber recommends indirect cooking using the two outside burners I suppose to give balanced heating in the cooking chamber. You also do the same when using the rotisserie.
Having said that, I’ve tried both the center zone as indirect and moving to one side. I find no appreciable difference between the two. To be honest I prefer to use one side to cook and fire up the other so one side is always available for the next cook.
All of that was by trial and error, I suggest you do the same. Know your cooker and master the tool.
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