XL Woo Adjustable Rig Combo or the XL Adjustable Rig 2 Grid Combo

KRod

The wife is asking what I want this year and I’m trying to decide.   Am I right that one uses the plate setter and the other uses a stone!   I already have the XL pizza stone and the plate setter.   Which route should I go??

Langner91

I thought the PS Woo used the PlateSetter (PS) and the Woo used the stone.  It doesn't appear there is a PS Woo for the XL

I thought the adjustable Rigs went on top of the grid and had nothing to do with holding stones or plate setters.

KRod

I think.  I just watched a video and thought one held a stone and one held a plate setter.  I’ll rewatch

KRod

https://ceramicgrillstore.com/products/xl-woo-adjustable-rig-combo-bge?_pos=4&_sid=68a33544e&_ss=r


https://ceramicgrillstore.com/products/xl-adjustable-rig-2-grid-combo-bge?_pos=1&_sid=5b68d1f35&_ss=r

Langner91

So the first one takes a stone and holds a stone.

The second one sits on top of your existing plate setter.  It isn't a plate setter basket like the PSWoo for the Large.

KRod

is there a plate setter basket for the XL?

Langner91

It does not appear from CGS.  CGS would call it a PSWoo, I believe.  The only PSWoo is for Large.

There is the BGE Version.  ConvEGGtor basket for the XL.

https://biggreenegg.com/product/eggspander-conveggtor-basket/

johnmitchell

I would direct her to the Exotic car thread but that’s just me😜

KRod

According to the video you can add the plate setter instead of the stone if you want.  I think I’ll go with this.

https://youtu.be/7tOCbXV_JAI

Photo Egg

KRod said:

According to the video you can add the plate setter instead of the stone if you want.  I think I’ll go with this.

https://youtu.be/7tOCbXV_JAI

You will not be disappointed.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Langner91 said:

I thought the PS Woo used the PlateSetter (PS) and the Woo used the stone.  It doesn't appear there is a PS Woo for the XL

I thought the adjustable Rigs went on top of the grid and had nothing to do with holding stones or plate setters.

I have the AR. it is definitely made for stones. I have the brisket rib combo with oval stones and oval grids and it is all I use. I haven’t seen my platesetter (I think I still have it somewhere) in 10 years. 

The stock grid sits on top of the AR. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Photo Egg said:

KRod said:

According to the video you can add the plate setter instead of the stone if you want.  I think I’ll go with this.

https://youtu.be/7tOCbXV_JAI

You will not be disappointed.

Correct. Great setup

CGS

Maybe this helps:

- the xlwoo can hold the conveggtor or two 18" Half stones, same diameter coverage conveggtor vs. half stones. most folks opt for the half stones after a while - for more options and woo/stones easier to lift than woo/conveggtor.

- the xl rig can sit atop the xl woo or conveggtor with xl grid under the rig. the best single grid bbq set-up is the xl rig with the 18" Half stones and 16x20 or 20 grid. It provides really good airflow and access to the fire for adding more smoking wood or to check on the burn. 

- the xl grid can not sit atop the xl rig, not enough headroom on the dome. the 20 round grid is about same diameter of the fire ring, so you are not losing direct capacity when compared to the xl grid. 

- the 20 grid can sit on the xl woo's lower ring for grilling at the fire ring. 

- the xl rig can be set up with a bottom grid and atop the rig a half grid with/without 18 half stone for a tiered grid set up. it's a cool steak cooking set up. at 6" tall, the xl rig give ample room to get at the entire lower grid. 

- add the rig and two grids to the conveggtor or xlwoo/half stones and you can do up to 9 full racks of babybacks or  st. louis style ribs.  ribs are whole and accessible without handling the set up. 

- as you can see, lots of set up options when it comes to the xl woo and xl rig. this is not all the possibilities.

t

Ragingirishman2

Thanks CGS, this was very helpful.  I asked for the XL Woo for Christmas so I hope my in-laws placed my order. 

Slkegger

This will depend on if you have a newer XL with the flat fire ring. I have all CGS stuff for my medium but think the BGE convegtor basket is better than the woo for the XL and newer fire ring. With the BGE basket you can use 2 half moons for indirect cooking  with a around 21 inch  diameter vs 18 with normal stone or 19 with CGS stone. The large vs xl is 15inch vs 18inch so gaining another 2-3 inches indirect to 21inches on the xl is like going almost one egg size larger again for the same price. Also the higher placement of the stone gives more room for lump. Flush with the fire ring if you want for lump. If I only did smaller indirect cooks the AR with 18-19 inch stone and access to the lump for more smoke like their video shows would be the way to go, but... I didn't buy the xl to only cook 1 thing at a time.   

I remember asking here if CGS was going to change the woo design and never got an answer. I would change to a new style woo as the CGS stuff is a heavier wire and I find the BGE basket flexes when hot and moving around. This requires the half moons to be adjusted sometimes if adding more chunks or at high heat once up to temp. Minor problems though i only cook larger batches every couple days now vs every day ease or use is still important.

Sorry for the long post.

Slkegger

To add to my earlier post, air flow is not a problem even with 21 inches of stone in the xl. I regularly do chicken thighs and turkey  thighs at 450-475F indirect for a fast cook, super juicy and crispy skin no brine or marinade needed.  This also works for chicken breast but I like them better done direct at a lower temp.

KRod

I have a 2 year old XL and I already have the XL BGE pizza stone that is 21” I’d I remember correctly.

Slkegger

My bad. I thought the pizza stone was 22. The half moon may only be 20 then. 

Yno

My XL is coming up on its seventh birthday. I hesitated buying a PS Woo until one came out with handles. I love it, and it stays in my Egg as I normally only do low and slow cooks. Does CGS still make the version with handles?

Slkegger

So the pizza stone is 21 and the half moons are about 20.5, not much difference. I just did an indirect cook with the BGE conveg basket and 21 inch pizza stone as a platesetter at 450F in the same time and vent settings as with a regular conveggtor. Very versatile, lots of coverage and no more need to wrap rib tips in foil. 

MasterC

I went with the bge setup, conveggtor basket and half stones, on the xl. Adding a 21 inch stainless steel drip pan gives you max grid area. Very satisfied with it.

Slkegger

MasterC said:

I went with the bge setup, conveggtor basket and half stones, on the xl. Adding a 21 inch stainless steel drip pan gives you max grid area. Very satisfied with it.

Where did you get a 21 inch stainless drip pan? I have been looking for one.

MasterC

Amazon. I  got a special gift, whatever that is, and total cost delivered delivered was $2.09. I belive it was 16 or 20 dollars. It's a stainless steel pizza pan 1 inch deep

CGS

Slkegger said:

This will depend on if you have a newer XL with the flat fire ring. I have all CGS stuff for my medium but think the BGE convegtor basket is better than the woo for the XL and newer fire ring. With the BGE basket you can use 2 half moons for indirect cooking  with a around 21 inch  diameter vs 18 with normal stone or 19 with CGS stone. The large vs xl is 15inch vs 18inch so gaining another 2-3 inches indirect to 21inches on the xl is like going almost one egg size larger again for the same price. Also the higher placement of the stone gives more room for lump. Flush with the fire ring if you want for lump. If I only did smaller indirect cooks the AR with 18-19 inch stone and access to the lump for more smoke like their video shows would be the way to go, but... I didn't buy the xl to only cook 1 thing at a time.   

I remember asking here if CGS was going to change the woo design and never got an answer. I would change to a new style woo as the CGS stuff is a heavier wire and I find the BGE basket flexes when hot and moving around. This requires the half moons to be adjusted sometimes if adding more chunks or at high heat once up to temp. Minor problems though i only cook larger batches every couple days now vs every day ease or use is still important.

Sorry for the long post.

When EGG eliminated the fire ring notches and dropped the fire ring down approx. 0.75", we reworked our XL woo ring, eliminating the spider like drop. Now the Woo’s lower ring (stone height) is very near the top of the fire ring.

We find the EGG's XL full/half stones too big for indirect cooks on the XL Woo or EGGspander. The inside diameter of the fire ring is 21.5" wide. With EGG’s xl stone diameters at 20.5" half pair or 21" full round stone, you have, at best, 0.75" open space between fire ring and stone edge. Do the math for area of circles and 0.75" yields at best 9% open area for an airflow path out of the fire ring/box. And it's all at the edge where the lump rarely burns, except maybe late in cooks. By comparison, an 18" stone, provides approximately 30% open area, again along the edge.

Using EGG’s xl Stones, small opening for airflow, can cause two issues. First, early and mid-stages of the cook, there is a very good chance most of your heat is radiating through the stone/pan and not rolling out to the edges. To reach desired cook temps, your fire will be bigger, hotter, burning faster, and probably adding unnecessary stresses through the stone, shortening its life expectancy.

Second, at least for me, the xl egg has a habit of burning back on long cooks, so a bigger indirect stone with a faster burning fire can exacerbate burn back, making the airflow and temperature swings more lopsided, as heat moves from center stone radiating to edge stone rolling.

There are two simple ways to max indirect coverage and control fire on big cooks. First, go vertical, use two grids to create a smaller footprint to protect with the indirect piece. Smaller indirect = bigger open pathway for heat to move out the fire box/ring and yield more consistent temperatures.

Second is use a tapered drip pan. There are several important points to this: First, the bottom of the pan needs to be near the same size as the indirect stone. Ideally, the same size is best. Second the pan's bottom needs to be at or above the top of the fire ring. Being tapered the bigger diameter top is higher above the fire ring and can aid in expanding indirect coverage. The tapered side edge will gently push the heat out as it rolls off the smaller stone. With the pan above the fire ring, we now switch from moving heat through a 21.5" diameter fire ring to moving heat around the inside diameter of the egg (24.25").

So, for an example, I am guessing the tapered 21" drip pan mentioned earlier has a bottom radius around 18”- 19". Put that on an 18" stone and the respective open areas become 30% stone and minimum 25% drip pan. So, smaller stone, same drip pan provides nearly 3 times wider pathway for heat to roll out of the fire ring than EGG's 20.5" halves or 21" full indirect stone(s).

At CGS, we picked 18" for an indirect size as it protects the vast majority of what folks typically smoke: one brisket, couple racks of ribs or pork butts. It can fit inside or above  the fire ring and get the job done. And another advantage, the 18 stone fits our xl adjustable rig creating the best single grid bbq set-up going.

Hope this helps, just one way of looking at it.

T

MasterC

My bad the pizza pan 20 inch diameter no flare, straight sided 1 inch tall. 
I haven't had any problems with maintaining a steady temperature. It's just as good at holding temp as my bgl's with their conveggtor.
This picture was taken 2hrs into the cook. The xl had 4 butts, about 39lbs, and the lg had 2 butts, about 18 lbs.

This picture 4hrs. later still pretty dang close 
The product seems similar between both, except the large you need to manage the scallops in the conveggtor. 

The food coming off is delicious and I don't get many complaints.  This setup works great for me but maybe not for someone else.  

Just my 2 cents no skin in this game

4TheGrillOfIt

CGS said:

Slkegger said:

This will depend on if you have a newer XL with the flat fire ring. I have all CGS stuff for my medium but think the BGE convegtor basket is better than the woo for the XL and newer fire ring. With the BGE basket you can use 2 half moons for indirect cooking  with a around 21 inch  diameter vs 18 with normal stone or 19 with CGS stone. The large vs xl is 15inch vs 18inch so gaining another 2-3 inches indirect to 21inches on the xl is like going almost one egg size larger again for the same price. Also the higher placement of the stone gives more room for lump. Flush with the fire ring if you want for lump. If I only did smaller indirect cooks the AR with 18-19 inch stone and access to the lump for more smoke like their video shows would be the way to go, but... I didn't buy the xl to only cook 1 thing at a time.   

I remember asking here if CGS was going to change the woo design and never got an answer. I would change to a new style woo as the CGS stuff is a heavier wire and I find the BGE basket flexes when hot and moving around. This requires the half moons to be adjusted sometimes if adding more chunks or at high heat once up to temp. Minor problems though i only cook larger batches every couple days now vs every day ease or use is still important.

Sorry for the long post.

When EGG eliminated the fire ring notches and dropped the fire ring down approx. 0.75", we reworked our XL woo ring, eliminating the spider like drop. Now the Woo’s lower ring (stone height) is very near the top of the fire ring.

We find the EGG's XL full/half stones too big for indirect cooks on the XL Woo or EGGspander. The inside diameter of the fire ring is 21.5" wide. With EGG’s xl stone diameters at 20.5" half pair or 21" full round stone, you have, at best, 0.75" open space between fire ring and stone edge. Do the math for area of circles and 0.75" yields at best 9% open area for an airflow path out of the fire ring/box. And it's all at the edge where the lump rarely burns, except maybe late in cooks. By comparison, an 18" stone, provides approximately 30% open area, again along the edge.

Using EGG’s xl Stones, small opening for airflow, can cause two issues. First, early and mid-stages of the cook, there is a very good chance most of your heat is radiating through the stone/pan and not rolling out to the edges. To reach desired cook temps, your fire will be bigger, hotter, burning faster, and probably adding unnecessary stresses through the stone, shortening its life expectancy.

Second, at least for me, the xl egg has a habit of burning back on long cooks, so a bigger indirect stone with a faster burning fire can exacerbate burn back, making the airflow and temperature swings more lopsided, as heat moves from center stone radiating to edge stone rolling.

There are two simple ways to max indirect coverage and control fire on big cooks. First, go vertical, use two grids to create a smaller footprint to protect with the indirect piece. Smaller indirect = bigger open pathway for heat to move out the fire box/ring and yield more consistent temperatures.

Second is use a tapered drip pan. There are several important points to this: First, the bottom of the pan needs to be near the same size as the indirect stone. Ideally, the same size is best. Second the pan's bottom needs to be at or above the top of the fire ring. Being tapered the bigger diameter top is higher above the fire ring and can aid in expanding indirect coverage. The tapered side edge will gently push the heat out as it rolls off the smaller stone. With the pan above the fire ring, we now switch from moving heat through a 21.5" diameter fire ring to moving heat around the inside diameter of the egg (24.25").

So, for an example, I am guessing the tapered 21" drip pan mentioned earlier has a bottom radius around 18”- 19". Put that on an 18" stone and the respective open areas become 30% stone and minimum 25% drip pan. So, smaller stone, same drip pan provides nearly 3 times wider pathway for heat to roll out of the fire ring than EGG's 20.5" halves or 21" full indirect stone(s).

At CGS, we picked 18" for an indirect size as it protects the vast majority of what folks typically smoke: one brisket, couple racks of ribs or pork butts. It can fit inside or above  the fire ring and get the job done. And another advantage, the 18 stone fits our xl adjustable rig creating the best single grid bbq set-up going.

Hope this helps, just one way of looking at it.

T

I went with the Eggspander system in my XL because it seemed most like the CGS gear I was already using in my large and small Eggs.  I love it.  

A couple of points about the BGE stones: I agree the BGE stones are huge!  As a result the Egg takes quite a while to get up to temp. This discourages me from firing up the XL more often for indirect cooks.  Basically if there’s any chance I can fit whatever I’m cooking on my large I use it instead.  However, the BGE stones do give you almost full use of the cooking grid when in place with very little overhang.  I have appreciated this fact on many occasions.  

I think the solution to this dilemma is two sets of stones!  😝 Guess I’ll be placing a CGS order.

Edit: the 18 inch stones are currently on sale.  Order placed!

Slkegger

CGS said:

Slkegger said:

This will depend on if you have a newer XL with the flat fire ring. I have all CGS stuff for my medium but think the BGE convegtor basket is better than the woo for the XL and newer fire ring. With the BGE basket you can use 2 half moons for indirect cooking  with a around 21 inch  diameter vs 18 with normal stone or 19 with CGS stone. The large vs xl is 15inch vs 18inch so gaining another 2-3 inches indirect to 21inches on the xl is like going almost one egg size larger again for the same price. Also the higher placement of the stone gives more room for lump. Flush with the fire ring if you want for lump. If I only did smaller indirect cooks the AR with 18-19 inch stone and access to the lump for more smoke like their video shows would be the way to go, but... I didn't buy the xl to only cook 1 thing at a time.   

I remember asking here if CGS was going to change the woo design and never got an answer. I would change to a new style woo as the CGS stuff is a heavier wire and I find the BGE basket flexes when hot and moving around. This requires the half moons to be adjusted sometimes if adding more chunks or at high heat once up to temp. Minor problems though i only cook larger batches every couple days now vs every day ease or use is still important.

Sorry for the long post.

When EGG eliminated the fire ring notches and dropped the fire ring down approx. 0.75", we reworked our XL woo ring, eliminating the spider like drop. Now the Woo’s lower ring (stone height) is very near the top of the fire ring.

We find the EGG's XL full/half stones too big for indirect cooks on the XL Woo or EGGspander. The inside diameter of the fire ring is 21.5" wide. With EGG’s xl stone diameters at 20.5" half pair or 21" full round stone, you have, at best, 0.75" open space between fire ring and stone edge. Do the math for area of circles and 0.75" yields at best 9% open area for an airflow path out of the fire ring/box. And it's all at the edge where the lump rarely burns, except maybe late in cooks. By comparison, an 18" stone, provides approximately 30% open area, again along the edge.

Using EGG’s xl Stones, small opening for airflow, can cause two issues. First, early and mid-stages of the cook, there is a very good chance most of your heat is radiating through the stone/pan and not rolling out to the edges. To reach desired cook temps, your fire will be bigger, hotter, burning faster, and probably adding unnecessary stresses through the stone, shortening its life expectancy.

Second, at least for me, the xl egg has a habit of burning back on long cooks, so a bigger indirect stone with a faster burning fire can exacerbate burn back, making the airflow and temperature swings more lopsided, as heat moves from center stone radiating to edge stone rolling.

There are two simple ways to max indirect coverage and control fire on big cooks. First, go vertical, use two grids to create a smaller footprint to protect with the indirect piece. Smaller indirect = bigger open pathway for heat to move out the fire box/ring and yield more consistent temperatures.

Second is use a tapered drip pan. There are several important points to this: First, the bottom of the pan needs to be near the same size as the indirect stone. Ideally, the same size is best. Second the pan's bottom needs to be at or above the top of the fire ring. Being tapered the bigger diameter top is higher above the fire ring and can aid in expanding indirect coverage. The tapered side edge will gently push the heat out as it rolls off the smaller stone. With the pan above the fire ring, we now switch from moving heat through a 21.5" diameter fire ring to moving heat around the inside diameter of the egg (24.25").

So, for an example, I am guessing the tapered 21" drip pan mentioned earlier has a bottom radius around 18”- 19". Put that on an 18" stone and the respective open areas become 30% stone and minimum 25% drip pan. So, smaller stone, same drip pan provides nearly 3 times wider pathway for heat to roll out of the fire ring than EGG's 20.5" halves or 21" full indirect stone(s).

At CGS, we picked 18" for an indirect size as it protects the vast majority of what folks typically smoke: one brisket, couple racks of ribs or pork butts. It can fit inside or above  the fire ring and get the job done. And another advantage, the 18 stone fits our xl adjustable rig creating the best single grid bbq set-up going.

Hope this helps, just one way of looking at it.

T

Thanks for the response T. This stuff fascinates me and calls to my OCD. Not arguing or anything, just learnig and voicing what I do and see.  I do support you when I can but getting your stuff in canada is a little harder.

Yes when using the bigger stone you could get more  heat from the stone than dome but I have found this with all setups, I even tried down to using  the large Kab on the sewer grate and 15 inch large stone with both upper and lower rack in the xl for max flow. I have found vent settings make more difference on where you get radiant heat from ie: bottom more open than top and top more open than bottom. You see many a post where grill level temp doesn't match dome. This is one reason and not waiting till the dome is hot is another.  Between this and being cheap, using cheap charcoal I always wait 1 hour at least before cooking so the dome is at grill temp normally. This also gives people false dome temp readings when the radiant stone is heating the thermo and then the food blocks it dropping dome temp 50f or more. It is very noticeable on the medium and I spent a half year chasing temps before learning this. 

I also use this as another form of cooking now, ie: I do alot of farmed salmon and trout. They are very fatty and can't be cooked direct as the fat smoke ruins flavor but I like crispy skin. Running the dome vent more open keeps the heat low and a 450F indirect I can crisp the skin side down and not burn the top. I use the opposite for turkey thighs to get the top skin crispy without burning the bottom. 

I turbo cook locally raised brisket flats in small sizes, 2-5lbs regularly that are very lean. Even heat top and bottom is very important at higher cook temps for this to give another example of understanding heat distribution.

Using an elevated drip pan is also how some probably get around the higher stone heat. 

I have never really viewed the egg as a convection cooker so the small gap between fire ring and stone didn't bother me. Also I run 450F for turkey thighs with the bottom vent 1/3 open and the top about 1/4 open, (conveggtor or 21inch pizza stone).  3/4 of an inch gap all the way around the pizza stone has got to be a higher area then the top vent. I will try with the conveggtor and see if it cooks faster as convection plus radiant should be faster at the same temp. 
I also use less lump at higher temp cooks as you get hot spots if all the lump isn't lit. More noticeable on the xl with multiple fish fillets or 8+ chicken breasts all cooking at different speeds, 

After filling the egg with charcoal turn your cab 180deg and see if it still burns to the back. It may be the way you pour the charcoal out of the bag.

Lol. Sorry again for the long response. I may just be rambling now and should be paying more attention to the fish on the bbq.