Weber Kettle Grill for smoking?

[sandman67]

I've about had it with my Brinkmann Gourmet smoker (holding temps for more than an hour is near impossible) and was wondering if anyone had good success using a Weber Kettle grill (22.5 inch) for smoking ribs, butts, brisket, etc...

 

[pineywoods]

I think a few people here use the Weber but before you give up on the Brinkmann look at the mods many have done and had great success with.

 

[lcruzen]

Yep. If I could only have one piece of BBQ equipment it would be the Weber Kettle. I've done butts, briskets, birds, ribs, sausages, etc. The cooking surface is not huge but using the offset coal method you can do some excellent Q.

Now since I can have more than one piece of BBQ equipment I most certainly do!

 

[erain]

i used the kettle for years but only grilled and did ribs, used the indirect method with coals one side only, have a constant rotation going with them. but you can do some great smokes on a weber. heat control is the biggest issue. heat shields with tinfoil help some. add wood to the coals for a good smoke flavor. also did lotsa beer can chix and smoked salmon.

 

[howufiga]

Add a charcoal grate. It will hold temps for like 4 hours with that single mod alone.

http://brinkmansmokermods.com/default.aspx

 

[sandman67]

I did add the grate. In fact that's the exact mod I followed. I'm gonna try drilling a few holes in the hood and also down in the charcoal pan and see if some air flow helps.

This thing is driving me crazy!

 

[deltadude]

I can not comment on the Brinkman, however concerning your question about using a weber kettle for smoking, I have smoked all the standard stuff:
Chicken, Brisket, Pork Shoulder/But, ribs, fish, turkey, etc.

Here is a link to a simple mod for the kettle when I smoke.

Side note:
Last night I did 2 2.5lb tri-tips. Somehow my two kettle indirect racks have disappeared. I still had the bottom piece I had cut from the baking tray shown in the above link, so last night I decided to use the bottom piece of the baking tray as a rack to hold charcoal on one side of the cooking grate. I notched the metal with 2 notches to be able to insert into the charcoal grate. The new indirect rack is higher than my old racks, so I could get more charcoal in and closer to the grill.

This simple piece of metal, worked great. I dumped my lit charcoal on the cooking side, added a few unlit briquettes and soaked wood chunks. The briquettes were about 3" from the cooking grate.

I cooked the two tri-tips about 7 minutes on each side, then pulled over to the side with no coals, and indirect cooked for another 15-20 minutes. Pulled the meat off arount 130 deg. Also cooked roasted small baby red potatoes, and grill some pencil size asparagus spears.

Sorry no pics, no time between cooking and watching Monday Night football.

 

[flash]

Work harder on that brinkman. Mine is over 30 years old and does great. Defenantly do the mods. They help alot. I can get over 400º in mine if I need it. Not that you would while smoking.
Try Playbox Sand instead of water for more constant and higher temps.

 

[gooose53]

If your interested in using the Weber, look for this item on ebay, 270272286567. It's a Smokenator and I've had mine for over a year....it works great and Don is great to do business with. Looks like he even lower the price...I paid $45 plus shipping. You can check out his website at www.smokenator.com as well.

 

[crewdawg52]

I've been using a Webber 22.5 for several years now for small smokes and it works great! You dont need any "special" equipment except that what comes with the cooker (unless you what to spend the $). I do recommend though one of those doublesided grates. It's easier to add coals when needed (about $16 I think). With mine, it takes 13-15 briquettes per side to maintain 250*. It's easier than picking up the whole grate to add fuel. Just put chips or a chunk on the hot coals, and there you are.......
I do have a drip pan in the middle to keep it somewhat clean.

 

[jwbbq]

I agree 100%. The Smokenator really lets you confine the fuel to one side very nicely. It also has a built-in water pan. Check out the site. Don is awesome. If you want to see it as it comes out of the box you can read my blog post about it (lots of pics). I've used The Smokenator for ribs, chicken, butt, and a (mostly failed - my fault) tri-tip roast.

 

[coyote-1]

I have a 22.5" Weber kettle. It's an awesome unit, it does just about everything well. I can smoke three whole chickens or 2 full racks of ribs or 2 briskets on it. And of course it does great direct grilling (burgers etc) too.

I will say though, if you're going strictly for smoking I recommend going for an offset. I'm in the process of graduating from that kettle to an offset right now. The Weber kettle, while it produces great results, does have limitations and inconveniences. It requires constant tending; you'll need the hinged top wire grate if you want to preserve your sanity. And to do 2 full rib racks, you'll need to create some sort of stacked grate system. The rotisserie attachment w/ modifications can help you add another couple levels, but then tending becomes even more of a PITA as you have to remove the whole thing in order to add coals or woodchips.