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Orsi

Thinking of buying the Kick Ash Basket for my LBGE. Do you remove the original cast iron grid and replace it with the basket or is the basket simply a handy way to remove and sort the unburnt coals?...

alaskanassasin

In my personal opinion/experience I would leave the cast iron grate in if you are going to do hot cooks like pizza or hot burn clean outs. The cast seems to help insulate the base from radiant heat.  If you just do low and slows and burn out at 550-600 I don’t think it would matter, fwiw after I cracked a base running the basket solo now I just leave my cast iron in.

DoubleEgger

Yes, you take the cast iron out and use the basket instead. The dog bowl type ash catcher is nice too. Makes cleanout a breeze. Take a look at it as well. 

Orsi

Never thought of the heat transfer.  Good point about heat transfer.  Think I will continue to di what I do with the charcoal and put the money towards something more pleasurable.  Lol.. thanks for the input.

GrateEggspectations

I have a KAB but don’t use it. When I did, I liked to keep the stock grate in, because I found removing it modified the temp controls. 

(Just a suggestion - You will get better input if you put some specificity in the post title. Lots of Kick Ash Basket users here; but many who probably haven’t opened your thread. Also, lots of past threads on the KAB if you search. I suspect you will find more info than you need!)

RRP

Like lots of after market BGE eggcessories there are different opinions about their use and precautions. I happen to have and ONLY use KAB in my large and small. I don't keep the other grates in - in fact am clueless where they even are! My experience, practice and opinion is that the amount of lump which fills the basket itself provides adequate protection from the intense heat. Even after long burns at lower temperatures there is always lump left in the basket and in high heat cooks I have already shut my eggs down so again there is lump left. Even with that said when I do high temp burn outs and let the lump completely burn up so that the baskets are empty I have no issues. But in the end it's your egg, your basket so it's your decision!

SmokinJazz

I leave my cast iron grate in with my KAB. IDK, seems to work OK that way for me. 

StillH2OEgger

I think you'll find plenty of folks on both sides of leaving in vs. taking out the cast iron grid. I leave mine in, but if I had the newer KAB with ash catcher I might take it out. In other words, I don't think it really matters. I'm also not doing many high heat pizzas or searing so it also probably depends on what you're doing.

WeberWho

I leave mine in but I don't use the DFMT for any cooks above 250 degrees. So my only temp adjustment is from the lower vent. The basket has better air flow without the fire grate and it changed my previous known vent settings. Since I didn't want to figure out new lower vent settings I left the fire grate in with the basket. 

The KAB I feel is well with the investment. Especially paired with the Kick Ash Can it makes everything a breeze to  clean up. 

dbCooper

The NakedWhiz wrote a paper about "Cooker Bottom and Firebox Temperatures Using An Ash Basket and Can".  For those interested it is here: https://www.nakedwhiz.com/kabt/kabt.htm

The TL;DR . . .

Conclusions
The Kick Ash Basket does not result in significantly higher temperatures on the bottom surface of the cooker than when using the Big Green Egg charcoal grate; in fact, in some locations it is cooler. We conclude that essentially the two methods of holding the charcoal are roughly equivalent in this regard.

What does make a significant difference is adding a Kick Ash Can to the equation. Using a Kick Ash can resulted in significantly lower temperatures across the bottom surface of the cooker as well as smaller temperature gradients across the bottom surface.

As far as the temperature of the firebox is concerned, the Kick Ash Basket and Kick Ash Can do not cause higher firebox temperatures either.

If you want to use a wire charcoal basket such as the Kick Ash Basket, you need not be concerned that this will expose the bottom of your cooker to higher temperatures. Nor do you need to worry that the basket will damage your firebox due to higher temperatures. Furthermore, if you are concerned about the temperature of the bottom of your cooker and its possible effect on the surface on which the cooker rests, the addition of a Kick Ash Can is a quick and easy way to lower the temperature of the bottom of your cooker.

Botch

Nice find, @dbCooper!  

Orsi

Thanks for all your responses. I was thinking that the KAB would make cleaning etc easier. Hadn’t heard of the KAC. However, the LBGE was a whim my wife bought me as a Christmas gift. I like bbq she not so much. Don’t use it as much as I would like and just bought the MM as there is only the two of us now. So will probably use the large even less. Probably just use the dedicated kitty litter scoop for both when necessary. Thanks again. 

kl8ton

I run without the cast iron great.  I bought a KAB when My cast iron grate split and twisted. I really like it.