After much deliberation, reading, research and great advice from this group, I have purchased a WSCG. I have read through most, if not all, of the posts under this topic as well as done other research, but wanted to ask if anyone has any additional advice, best practices, "wish I would have know when I first got my WSCG"-type advice and/ or resources. This is a big investment for me and I want to get the most out of it and have this grill last as long as possible. This is my first charcoal grill, I have a Weber gasser, so while not completely clueless, I could use help specifically with charcoal and this unit.
2 things: Hopefully Kathryn fzxdoc will chime in with her excellent lighting tutorial, and the single best accessory to date is the Weber pizza stone insert. I'll be purchasing the Pit Viper fan to go with my Fireboard just because, but I smoked some pork belly burnt ends yesterday and Spartacus ran a steady 231 for 5 hours in kamado mode. You're going to love this sweet ride.
I unfortunately cannot endorse the Fireboard unit. As good as it functions, my unit failed just after the 1-year warranty ended. The display shows garbage temps (780F, etc) even when no probes are attached. Disappointing....had over 100 successful cooks with the FB.
* - Weber 26.75" OTG
* - Weber 22.5" Premium cloaked in Crimson
* - Slow 'N Sear
* - Smoke E-Z - 26.75" (The Grain Silo)
* - Lodge Sportsman Grill
* - Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Starter
* - Thermoworks ThermoPop
* - Thermoworks Mk4
* - Thermoworks Dot
* - iGrill2 - 4 probes
* - Favorite Beer - the cold one in my hand (craft beers of all flavors; haven't had a blue yummy in over 6 years) my tastes change with the season so it is difficult to name just a couple. However, I will occasionally have a vanilla porter float in the summer (Empyrean Vanilla Porter w/a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream) as I usually drink stouts & porters in the colder months, pale ales & IPAs in the warmer months. I have to add Not Your Father's Root Beer to beers I use for floats.
* - Booze - I don't really have a favorite, but lean towards single malt Scotch & Irish whiskey
* - Wines - Reds: mainly the heavy stuff mixed in with the occasional pinot noir ( I have yet to meet a malbec I didn't like); Whites: German & Nebraska (hey, I have to support the home team)
* - Favorite Spice outlets - Volcanic Peppers - Bellevue, NE
* - Current butchers: Cure - Ft. Calhoun
Keep it clean. I had a metal kamado for a few years and rust became an issue. The one I had was not as nice as the Weber and I am sure the coating on the Weber is better. Make sure to keep the ash cleaned out of the cooker, ash is corrosive and it will eat away at everything.
Make sure to get a cover too. Keeping it clean and covered will pay dividends. A small shop-vac works great for cleaning them out. I use one for all my kamados.
Congrats on the acquisition. When do you get it? Like you I've been researching this here and on every other forum I could find because Im picking up a used one hopefully this weekend. I’m so pumped.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
Woohoo! Another WSCG/C owner joins the ranks. You certainly won't regret your purchase, Miscad . Its so much fun to be able to enjoy both the full kettle (with/without an SnS) and the full kamado experience.
Since CaptainMike suggested it, I'm putting the prep and lighting technique that I use with my WSCGC in kamado mode, FWIW. Read on...
Kathryn's Current WSCGC Kamado Method for Smoking
Note: 1 scoop full = 40 coals or ½ chimney
1. Foil the Ash Bucket and the Diffuser Plate. Wipe the (previously cleaned) grate down with a disinfectant wipe and then wipe down again with water. Set out two disposable aluminum pans for drip pans to be set on the diffuser plate.
2. Use 2.5 scoops for short cooks like ribs or chicken and 4 scoops for long cooks like pork butt, chuck or brisket. Four scoops will give you about 10-12 hours of decent temps (250° or more). Spread them pretty evenly on the charcoal grate. Top with 5-6 chunks of wood (4 to 6 oz each). Don't put a wood chunk directly over the igniter. 5 to 6 chunks will give you about 5 hours of beautiful blue smoke. For short cooks, use 1 chunk of wood. (Reminder: 1 Weber scoop holds about 40 coals, about half a chimney.)
3. Start the SnapJet ignition going. Let it run for exactly 5 minutes with the lid open and bottom vent fully open.
4. After the 5 minute ignition, turn off the SnapJet igniter. Add the diffuser plate, two aluminum drip pans and the food grate. Attach the ambient probes to the grate. Close the lid, flip down the top vent but leave the holes fully open (bottom vent still fully open) and watch the temperature climb.
5. When you're about 70 degrees from your goal temperature, close the bottom vent to the smoke setting (or just below if your WSCGC runs hot) and close the top vent to 1/2 or less, again, depending on your Weber.
6. Before adding meat, oil the grate with a soaked paper towel to give it some lubrication.
More Notes:
If using KBB, there's a ton of white smoke until the Weber gets around 225-250, then it settles out to white wispy/blue smoke for several hours. If the smoke is pure white (no grey), I'll put the cold meat on at 180°F grate level temp so it can get a jump on the smoke flavor. I feel (but don't know for sure) that adding that cold mass helps to keep the temperatures from running away. I've done it both ways--adding the meat early at 180°F and adding it at 225°F, and honestly, if I keep an eye on the temp, I've yet to have a runaway smoker.
With B&B Briquettes, there's no billowing white smoke. Just nice smoke pretty much right after shutting off the SnapJet. I use 3 scoops of B&B and one scoop of KBB, because the KBB lights more quickly. I place the KBB briquettes closer to the SnapJet side and spread the B&B briquettes around it. Ditto with Weber Briquettes.
Smoking in the 250-270 range: A 4-scoop-load of coals (Kingsford Original) lasts about 8-9 hours at that setting. I set the lower vent to just above (to the right of) the smoker setting and the upper vent to 1/3 open.
For cooking at or below 250, I close the lower vent to just below the smoker setting (to the left of it) and set the upper vent to 1/4 open. At 250 or less, I can get about 10-12 hours of smoke out of a single 4-scoop-load of Kingsford Original coals.
Thank you all for the advice and sentiments! I've had a few people suggest that I read the owner's manual - I have several times. It doesn't say anything about the first cook, but I've seen other people recommend a "burn off" before cooking food on it for the first time. Is that good advice? If so, what does it entail?
A burn off is just to get any manufacturing residue out of the cooker before you actually cook. I'm sure you can find an actual method on here somewhere but in short you get the coals rocking and let it burn wide open. I generally see 45-60 mins being the concensus
Cooking gadgets
Weber Summit Charcoal Grill Center
Weber Summit Platinum D6
Blue Rhino Razor
Dyna-Glo XL Premium Dual Chamber
Camp Chef Somerset IV along with their Artisan Pizza Oven 90
Anova WiFi
Thermometers
Thermapen Mk4 - ThermaQ High Temp Kit - ThermaQ Meathead Kit - ThermaQ WiFi - ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S - ThermoWorks Signals & Billows - ThermoPop -ThermoWorks ProNeedle - ThermoWorks TimeStick Trio x2 - and a Christopher Kimball timer - NO, I do not work for ThermoWorks...I just like their products.
Other useful bits...
KitchenAid 7-qt Pro Line stand mixer
A Black & Decker food processor that I can't seem to murder
A couple of immersion blenders, one a "consumer" model & the other a "high end" Italian thing. Yes, the Italian one is a bit better, but only marginally
Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 8-qt + accessories like egg-bite & egg holders
All-Clad pots & pans, along with some cast iron...everything from 7" Skookie pans to 8.5qt Dutch ovens
Weber GBS griddle, pizza stone, and wok
Knives range from Mercer to F. Dick to "You spent how much for one knife? One knife?!" LOL
Along with the pizza stone that CaptainMike mentioned, I’d also suggest the griddle insert.
When I was researching the grill this caught my eye... https://www.weber.com/US/en/blog/gri...ber-30121.html
So the griddle was one of the first accessories. I also have several of their grilling baskets & pans. The Weber 6678 pan has become my default grilled/smoked nachos pan.
And +1 on suggestions Spinaker made. I have a bench brush that now lives on the bottom shelf specifically for sweeping the ash into the basket for easy removal.
Since it’s quite efficient and can pretty much literally be shut off, there will almost certainly be unburnt charcoal. Easy enough to reuse, but kind of a pain when needing to change the charcoal grate position. I now use a metal detector sand scoop to clear that out. All the small stuff falls into the ash below and the rest gets added to another "non-critical" kettle mode cook. I don’t like bits & pieces when smoking because the heat won’t be as consistent IMO as with full size briquettes. When clearing them out I just toss them into a Buddeez Kingsford charcoal bin.
I also have a "Classic Accessories" cover because I didn’t want a black one. I’ve been pleased with it and recently purchased two more for other cookers.
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