Bought a Weber Kettle

4Runner

at the beach for the week and the gasser is a mess and the knock off Weber kettle is worse.  What they heck....so I went to Home Depot and picked up some Royal Oak and Weber kettle.  Assembly is complete and pork tenderloins tomorrow and a reverse sear beef tenderloin later in the week.   I'm packing this bad boy up and bringing it home with me too.  It will be my poor man's smoker that needs care and feeding for a low slow cook at home.  I'm looking forward to experimenting.  I'll post picks later on week.  

jollygreenegg

I started smoking on a weber with a smokinator kit.  Weber kettles are a good value.  Biggest difference between the weber and egg is the lump consumption and moisture retention - I always used a water pan in the weber.

lousubcap

Good call and audible right there.  All in the end product, however you get there.  Have a fun week.  You likely will have a new-found appreciation for your BGE.

Ozzie_Isaac

I love Webers.  They are great grills!  Granted, I sold my kettle after Egg #2, but I never look down on a kettle.

Actually, I never look down on anything that holds fire.

E-ville Egg

I have two Webers at the cabin. Before I got a BGE that's all I had ever grilled on. I love the Weber for grilling but find myself disappointed when I cook ribs and a few other items on it. I need to pull the trigger on an Egg for up there. Probably a good reason to get another large.

HeavyG

It's not difficult to get a good 8+ hour run in my kettle (22") at 250ish (at least in nice calm weather). Look up snake method or minion method. Weber sells two little baskets to place along two sides to hold coal and create an indirect zone in the center. I believe the standard grate has flip up sections on each side so adding coal to the baskets is very easy. You could also buy one of these - http://www.abcbarbecue.com/

I've never bought the notion that a kamado retains more moisture. Moisture is tied to airflow (and also not overcooking your meat) and if you are holding 250 in a kettle the airflow is not going to be any different than the airflow in a kamado at the same temp (assuming nice weather). The physics of fire doesn't change in whatever cooker one is using.

Speaking of Weber and kamados - word is that Weber will be announcing their entry into the kamado market in early April. No detail as to whether it will be an insulated shell like an Akorn or just a more kamado shaped metal shell like the http://www.goldenscastironcooker.com/

RRP

Years ago back in the '60s & 70's when banks fought hard for deposits, we used to give customers premiums to entice them to do business with us. In the biz premiums were all over the place ranging from pots and pans, watches, calculators, even gardening equipment! Well, one if the most successful premiums my bank offered were Little Smokey Joe Webbers. Our marketing department over estimated the popularity and we ended up with a semi-truck load of them when the program ended. What we did to get rid of them was to sell them to employees at cost which was dirt cheap. I bought 6 of them and gave away a couple for Christmas, lost one on vacation, donated one and used the other two for years and years. Great little product! 

Ozzie_Isaac

@HeavyG my kamados hold more moisture.  My weber has a bigger fire to maintain the same temp.  Once the egg is heat soaked it is very efficient.

blasting

Have fun with it.  That's tough to beat as a travel grill.

I just picked up a table top weber this weekend at a estate sale.  $4, including a bag of briquets!

The full size weber was lonely, since it's only used to hold my charcoal chimney.

cookingdude555

Love my weber kettles. Used this one at my brothers wedding. Makes the XXL look small. 

Jeremiah

Check out bbqpitboys on YouTube. They're super corny but they kick out some great looking food on Webers.

theyolksonyou

A true egghead would've ran out for a mm. 

lousubcap

@cookingdude555 - a cook of beauty right there.  Most eggcellent.

GregW

Weber's do a very good job, my only complaint is they soon become rust buckets.
If they made one in cast aluminum it work be fantastic, provided, unlike the Portable Kitchen (PK) grill they included a stainless steel grid. PK is a classic example of a company finding a way to screw up an otherwise excellent product.

I do keep a small Weber handy for offsite cooking.

YEMTrey

We have a weber kettle we keep at the campsite.  I cooked on it for many a weekends.  Got a mini max now to take with me, but absolutely no complaints about the weber.

feef706

4Runner said:

at the beach for the week and the gasser is a mess and the knock off Weber kettle is worse.  What they heck....so I went to Home Depot and picked up some Royal Oak and Weber kettle.  Assembly is complete and pork tenderloins tomorrow and a reverse sear beef tenderloin later in the week.   I'm packing this bad boy up and bringing it home with me too.  It will be my poor man's smoker that needs care and feeding for a low slow cook at home.  I'm looking forward to experimenting.  I'll post picks later on week.  

What beach? Spring break here in NWF, just curious.

4Runner

Mine has the baskets and a 10 year warranty. Will be my travel grill.  I'll post a few pics after some cooks.  

northGAcock

Nothing wrong with a weber.....sold one recently that was 20 years old. Worked as good as the day I purchased it.

You are welcome to borrow my MM next time for the vaca.....

Botch

When What's-her-name and I spent a week on the beach (Ft Walton) we ate seafood the whole time.  Egg was there when we got back.  
whatever works.  

Ozzie_Isaac

@cookingdude555 I would love a Ranch Kettle!!  Those are awesome looking and have room to spare.

4Runner

feef706 said:

4Runner said:

at the beach for the week and the gasser is a mess and the knock off Weber kettle is worse.  What they heck....so I went to Home Depot and picked up some Royal Oak and Weber kettle.  Assembly is complete and pork tenderloins tomorrow and a reverse sear beef tenderloin later in the week.   I'm packing this bad boy up and bringing it home with me too.  It will be my poor man's smoker that needs care and feeding for a low slow cook at home.  I'm looking forward to experimenting.  I'll post picks later on week.  

What beach? Spring break here in NWF, just curious.

Litchfield, SC. Beautiful today.   

cookingdude555

Thanks @lousubcap & @Ozzie_Isaac. Love the ranch kettle. I have a large extended family, and that 37.5" grid comes in handy. I love the eggs, but if you want grid space, this is it. XXL included, I don't care how much charcoal I waste. 

Retired RailRoader

Love my egg but when it comes to tailgating my Weber rules. Made some chicken bombs, grilled zucchini and Mexican corn at my last tailgate.

fishlessman

for burgers, dogs, and chicken thighs or legs i liked my kettle better to cook with. i hate cooking burgers in the egg

WeberWho

I picked up a Weber Jumbo Joe with the recommendation from Focker. My Weber Joe lid flew out of my truck bed after tailgating one night on the road. I used my Weber Joe weekly for tailgating and now with the Jumbo Joe it's been even more productive. The Jumbo Joe 18" grid usually fits everything on for tailgating. Clean up takes 5 minutes at most and don't have to worry about someone stealing/cracking/waiting on my mini/small egg. Best of all it was under $40

xfire_ATX

After my Stick Burner died I used my (found) Weber for about a year with great results.

pgprescott

HeavyG said:

It's not difficult to get a good 8+ hour run in my kettle (22") at 250ish (at least in nice calm weather). Look up snake method or minion method. Weber sells two little baskets to place along two sides to hold coal and create an indirect zone in the center. I believe the standard grate has flip up sections on each side so adding coal to the baskets is very easy. You could also buy one of these - http://www.abcbarbecue.com/

I've never bought the notion that a kamado retains more moisture. Moisture is tied to airflow (and also not overcooking your meat) and if you are holding 250 in a kettle the airflow is not going to be any different than the airflow in a kamado at the same temp (assuming nice weather). The physics of fire doesn't change in whatever cooker one is using.

Speaking of Weber and kamados - word is that Weber will be announcing their entry into the kamado market in early April. No detail as to whether it will be an insulated shell like an Akorn or just a more kamado shaped metal shell like the http://www.goldenscastironcooker.com/

8 hours isn't easy in a kettle IMO, without adding charcoal. The flip up baskets make it EASIER, but not nearly carefree. Love the Weber kettles as well, but keeping a fire for more than 4 hours isn't easy. Not saying it cannot be done, but it isn't what the kettles do best.

Loss of heat through the metal exterior will increase airflow. Also the airflow will surely be different as they are similar. but not the same. The height of the cooker, the location of air intake and exhaust are among the variables that will surely change between cookers. Ozzie is correct. That is precisely why people buy the Kamados. The ceramics are drastically different from steel cookers.

The new Weber is an insulated cooker. Metal shell, yes.

Just couldn't let it go. 

Big_Green_Craig

There's no shame in that. I use one with my Rodizio. 

SmokeyPitt

I think for direct grilling a kettle has an advantage over the egg.  It is easier to get a full bed of coals lit evenly.  

@HeavyG - that is interesting about Weber bringing out a Kamado.  I found this teaser ad (sorry I could only find it on FB):

https://www.facebook.com/allthingsbbq/videos/10153479272308947/

Photo Egg

SmokeyPitt said:

I think for direct grilling a kettle has an advantage over the egg.  It is easier to get a full bed of coals lit evenly.  

@HeavyG - that is interesting about Weber bringing out a Kamado.  I found this teaser ad (sorry I could only find it on FB):

https://www.facebook.com/allthingsbbq/videos/10153479272308947/

Wow, they really don't give up much in the video. I got a heads up from the Virtual Weber forum but no images.

caliking

Weber kettles are pretty versatile in their own right. I miss the 2-zone cooking that was easy to set up on a kettle. 

To set up 6-8 hr smokes, the snake or C method works best - line up the charcoal along  the circumference of the grill and light one end. There are many youtube vids demonstrating how to do that. You may have better results with briquettes though (yes, that's what I said). I think @20stone posted a thread  a while back too.