BGE XL Lump Reducing Ring

Stoater · March 2012

Hi Guys,

I am thinking of ordering a lump reducing ring for the xl I hope to have next month, and have a few questions:

Should I go with the open wall or the sheet ring, if so which would be better.

If I fill the lump reducing ring am I going to be able to get high temps for pizza and searing steaks or am I going to need more lump for those kinds of cooks.

How often do you bge xl owners remove the lump reducing ring and in what kind of situation would it be necessary.

Does the wok and the spider work well with the ring or is it best used with no ring.

Does the lump reducing ring work well with the plate setter in both positions.

Any advice is appreciated.

Cheers.

Cowdogs · March 2012

I bought the open ring model, but I really don't think it matters much which you get. If I was to buy again, I would get the solid model because small lump escapes through the open ring.

I use it for all my low and slows and for pizzas. I overfill it a bit for both of these cooks. If I was doing a really long low and slow cook I would remove it, but most of my cooks are limited to 15 hours or less. I like the way that the LR ring is 15" and the deflecting stone is 17". This means completely indirect cooking.

I have the woo2 with built in spider, and it works great for searing. I sear using the reducing ring, woo2 spider, and 18 inch CI grid from large.

The plate setter works fine in all positions, but I quit using it when I got the woo2.

The only cook I don't use it for is the "whole bunch of hamburgers and hot dogs" cook, which is very rare. Here I want the whole 24 inch grid to be hot.

Stoater · March 2012

Thanks Cowdogs, that all makes sense and puts it into perspective, do you have any photos of cooks with the woo2 in varying positions.

Cheers

Stoater · March 2012

Nevermind I see the photos on the cgs website.

Doc_Eggerton · March 2012

I hav e the solid ring and use it frequently. I like the Ang-L brackets even better. It reduces the lump used and lets me have half the XL indirect. I cook veggies that way almost every day.

ChokeOnSmoke · March 2012

I keep the lump reducing ring (mine came from my retired WSM) in there for 99.9% of all my cooks. It gives me direct and indirect (around the edges) every time I grill.

I've accidentally hit 900+ with the ring in.

No problems with plate setter in any position.

I highly recommend attaching a grate to the bottom so you can simply lift out the ring after each cook, shake the ash off and then place it back in and you're ready to go with your leftover lump. Works great!

centex99 · March 2012

ChokeOnSmoke Is that ring off the 18" WSM? Also, what size grate is that? (Charcoal grate off wsm as well?)

And where did you get the metal rings to connect the two? How'd you bend them?

Stoater · March 2012

What a smart idea!! What size is the grate?

Stoater · March 2012

If you do your veggies around the edges I guess you have to be careful they don't fall through, it would be nice to have some kind of circular veggie tray that just runs around the outside edge.

Stoater · March 2012

Maybe I need both, the lump reducing ring for pizzas, smoking etc and then the angle brackets with a half moon perforated cooking grid for indirect veggies and direct for meat. Arghh, I can tell I am going to be spending a fortune on this baby.

JEC23 · March 2012

Excellent just saved me a post I was debating which one to get will go with the solid.

stevesails · March 2012

I have the bar designed one. I have only started using it again after two years. Quite honestly, you can just pile the lump up to one side of the XL egg. (the back) and accomplish the same thing for no cost at all.

You will have direct in the back and indirect in the front.

I wish i would have bought the woo to raise the cooking grid up and some other accessory. but I will probably end up with that too!

stir up the lump before next cook make a new pile with some new lump and put the old on top of it.

Doc_Eggerton · March 2012

onedbguru · March 2012

I have an XL and really think this is a waste of $$$.. I position the heat where it is needed without the use of any kind of ring. I think that I have only needed to do a "full load" maybe a couple of times in the last 3 years, but I had a LOT of meat on the grill - brisket and pork. Even for my 15-18hr low-slow (pork butt and/or brisket), I generally only need to do 1/2-5/8 load - even still, think that the reducer rings would not provide any better cooks than I get without them.

hogsfan · March 2012

I've had good luck with fire bricks. You can pretty much place them in any size or shape you want. Initially I was using them to decide which other product will work best and in that process decided the fire bricks themselves are best for me right now.

ChokeOnSmoke · March 2012

ChokeOnSmoke Is that ring off the 18" WSM? Also, what size grate is that? (Charcoal grate off wsm as well?)

And where did you get the metal rings to connect the two? How'd you bend them?

Yup, the ring is off the 18" WSM and so it the grate (the middle grate in the WSM). The grate measures 17" across and fits EXACTLY on the bottom of the XL. I attached the grate to the ring with 2 split lock washers. I just bent them out a little to get them on and then bent them back to secure them.

centex99 · March 2012

choices... I have been using that middle grate to sear steaks on my spider setup...

thanks for the details!

ChokeOnSmoke · March 2012

choices... I have been using that middle grate to sear steaks on my spider setup...
thanks for the details!

You could always order one from Weber as a replacement part...just a thought.

centex99 · March 2012

I think I'm going to find me an 18" cast iron grate for searing instead... and then setup that grate as you have it...

ChokeOnSmoke · March 2012

I think I'm going to find me an 18" cast iron grate for searing instead... and then setup that grate as you have it...

Good idea.

You won't regret setting it up. With it, you have a clean start every time and never wonder if you have clogged holes (which I use to get all the time before I built this thing).

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BGE XL Lump Reducing Ring

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