Real happy with the new Weber Kettle

[louisvillesmoke]

Smoking noob here. Got a charcoal vertical smoker about two years ago and did about 8 smokes on that over the years. Got a kettle since I realized it was basically a grillmaster right of passage to own one. Did my first smoke on it this weekend and man was I happy with how easy it was to manage temps and with how efficient it was with fuel (those two go hand in hand I think).

Cooked a rack of spare ribs using about 90 briquettes and 10 chucks of hickory for 6 hours and there was still about 1/4 of the charcoal left. I could easily see that going 8-10 hours if needed. Temps were stable between 225-275 with a vent adjustment every 45 minutes or so. I should have that up to two hours or so with continued experience. Used firebrick as the divider. I know this is nothing compared to the 16-20 hours I've heard you can get on the WSM, but I'll take it.

 

[gmc2003]

You can never go wrong with a kettle. Mine get used way more then my WSM. Ribs look really good to me.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Wow those ribs look great! Especially for your first smoke on a new cooker. Mad Props!

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

You can never go wrong with a kettle. Mine get used way more then my WSM. Ribs look really good to me.

Point for sure
Chris

Same! My Kettle is the workhorse around here.

 

[JCAP]

Those look awesome. The kettle is my favorite back yard toy too.

 

[noboundaries]

Beauuuuutiful looking ribs! The Kettle can do it all.

 

[chopsaw]

Nailed those ribs . I use my kettle the most also .

 

[Winterrider]

1st go on the kettle, pretty sweet looking. Got yourself out of the noob category real quick.

 

[Fueling Around]

You done real good.

Previously used the kettle only as a grill.
Now my go to for smoking small batches.
Learned the versatility for indirect and as a smoker from here and other websites.

Look into snake method. I've had better luck controlling my temps versus the Minion (dump a pile) method.

Get a cheap grate from Wally world and cut it to 2/3 or so.
Lots of room for your meat and for the fuel side.

 

[Dunstablegrizzly]

Great looking ribs! I'm looking into getting the Weber 26 inch kettle. Just trying to convince the wife that I just need one more grill.

 

[hardcookin]

You can't go wrong with a webber kettle. Awesome job on the ribs!

 

[kNewc]

I just got a Weber Kettle myself. I cooked a couple batches of chicken wings to get it "seasoned" a bit, and did my first smoke this weekend of a 2lb pork butt. I did the snake method but only went around 50% of the kettle. I got it to smoke for 6 hours at 245 Fahrenheit. For a first smoke I thought that was pretty good! It took another 12 coals or so to get another 45 minutes of smoke and to get the meat up to 190 degrees. I think next time I'll go 75% around the kettle and take the meat up to 192. My temps dropped like crazy the last hour and I wasn't able to get it higher than 190. Still pulled at tasted great! I should have gotten the Kettle years ago. I too was using an older vertical smoker (brinkmann model)

 

[Dunstablegrizzly]

Wife wouldn't let me get the 26 but I ended up getting a 22 Master Touch. It had a ding on the hood portion and got it already built for 160. So not bad!