Spent a small part of my Saturday adjusting one of my one touch blades on my Performer Deluxe. I’m surprised how flimsy they are at the bend area. Even after cleaning the bowl as much as possible one managed to get junk underneath it and it just gets worse from that point on.
To those that own a WSCG, are the blades as flimsy on them?
I have to think so. My 83 kettle still has the original sweepers in it and they, along with the kettle itself, seem to be much more robust than the late model stuff. The one thing that I noticed right away on my WSCG is that the sweepers really don’t do a great job of cleaning out everything from the bowl. Lots of residual ash sits in there and the one blade doesn’t really sit flush with the bottom so I did try bending it and noticed it seems really flimsy. I still can’t really get it to conform to the curve but I haven’t noticed that it has affected my temp range or stability in any way.
Same. Mine leave a little behind. I'm going to make a better effort to hit the lower bowl with a plastic putty knife from time to time. I generally do a good job of that but to be honest it's sometimes tough in the middle of winter.
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
I really don't depend on One Touch blade to clean the ash from my WSCGC. I use a dry paintbrush to coax all the ash down into the One Touch ash collector. Then I'll swish the blades back and forth a couple of times and brush the ash down some more.
Also, before I sweep out the ash, I put a newspaper under the One Touch collector pot, since ash flies out of it onto whatever is stored below, like my SnS and DnG.
While using the paintbrush, I wear a mask so I don't inhale fine ash particles that may become airborne. In these days of COVID concern, I've literally dusted (the ash) off those used N95 masks purchased at Lowes back in the day to use in the interim.
Interesting. Do you let the briquettes go and do a burn off when you are done cooking, or do you close it up and try to save whatever briquettes are left?
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
Razor, I never save briquettes. I did for a while but found that they relight weirdly sometimes. I figure briquettes are the cheapest thing about my smoking hobby, so I start fresh each time.
Often I open all the vents at the end of the cook to help burn off some of the gunk in my cookers and grates.
That said, I do try to use up as much of the fire as possible by adding meats after the main meat has been added, staggering the cook if there's no room to start with. I can always toss on a chicken or some sausages at the end if the fire is still going strong.
I use those blades just to get the ashes closer to the vent holes to be easily swept down with a whisk brush or something similar. The key to avoiding those grease/ash clods is to keep the grease from getting down there in the first place. Foil on the charcoal grate solves that problem for me.
The blades on my WSCGC are right on the bottom of the bowl, so they appear to be scraping off some of the finish. I hope that does not cause a rust issue down the road. I have had the grill almost three years, and no issues so far. I use a plastic putty knife to get the ashes the sweep won’t get, but I like the idea of a small paintbrush to get the rest of the ash cleaned out. Also like the idea of brushing the ash into the collector pot, so then I don’t have to use the sweeper blades so much.
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