Plate-Setter vs. Grill Extender ???

Unknown

Which ONE of the two eggcessories is the most flexible for LARGE BGE: The Plate Setter or the Grill Extender ?[p]Can you add (thin) ceramic mass (pizza stone/fire brick/ceramic tile)to the Grill Extender and get the same effect as the plate setter ?[p]Thanks in advance for your help.

Unknown

T-Bone,[p]If getting one or the other, I'd get a platesetter. In fact, I did. Don't have an extender and haven't needed one. The extender is great if you're cooking more than the surface area allows, but I haven't had occasion to cook that much yet.

chuckls

T-Bone,[p]I only have the grill extender, and so far have been able to cook indirect just fine. There's plenty of room below for a drip pan.[p]What I don't like about the grill extender is that it's pretty wobbly. But so far I've only dumped one ABT off the side onto the mail grill.[p]I do have a pizza stone and use that for additional thermal mass.[p]Chuckls

Gretl

T-Bone,
You could skip both and just get a couple of extra grids. I use thin firebricks to extend the grid and it works just fine for me. Low tech and cheap. Uh, make that user-friendly and economical. [p]Cheers,
Gretl

Buckiquer

T-Bone,
Plate-setters and grill extenders can serve different tasks. When I do Boston Butts I ues a plate-setter and a home grill extender. My grill extender is a smaller grill with 4 stainless eye bolts for legs which let them set on a normal grill. I recently did 4 Boston Butts this way. I feel the best advice is to experiment. You can be very creative and have fun just trying different methods.

WooDoggies

T-Bone,[p]If you want to cook pizza, bread, calzone.... then it's a good idea to get a platesetter combined with a pizza stone. The double mass works well with breads.
To cook everything else, you will not need a platesetter[p]If you want an extender so's to put a little distance between the fire and the food, then you may want to get another 18" grate and attach some 4" legs to it.
It will work as well as the bge grill extender and give you more surface area to cook.[p]I guess it all comes down to want you want to cook on your egg...... what did you have in mind?[p]John

UnConundrum

T-Bone,
FWIW, I bought the grill extender over a month ago, and haven't used it yet..... OTOH, my plate setter, purchased a day earlier, shows heavy use....

WessB

T-Bone,
6 reply`s and basically 6 differnet answers, just goes to show the versatility. I have both and use both on a regular basis, however for different cooks, the grid extender not ONLY gets your meat further from the coals, it also puts it further up into the dome for expopsure to more of the radiant heat of the egg itself. And as many have discussed the difference between grid and dome temp can vary signifigantly, so the extender gets your meat up where the dome therm is located. As far as which one can do more things..the platesetter hands down is more versatile and used for more different types of cooks than the grid extender. Each has its own place but the platesetter has more places where it is the right tool for the job.[p]Wess

Unknown

WooDoggies,
Thanks to ALL for replies...Now I'm really confused :-)[p]In regards to Pizza, do I need BOTH platesetter & pizza stone?[p]Does the thickness of the stone matter?

nikkig

T-Bone,
Yes you need both. The plate setter will lift the stone up to the mouth opening, so you can just slide your pizza in and out. It is really hard to get it out when it is down on the lower grid. You also need the double mass that a stone/setter combination provides. You could probably get away with firebricks under it if you really wanted to.[p]Stone thickness also matters. I would go with the BGE stone. Most of the store bought/pampered chef stones will break in the egg.[p]If you plan on doing alot of pizzas, I would also invest in a pizza peel. If you will be doing multiple pizzas in one night, get two peels.[p]~nikki

nikkig

T-Bone,
As other have said, get both, they are used for different things. FWIW....I only use my platesetter for pizzas (only used it maybe 5 cooks). I use my raised grid for most of my cooking. When I cook indirect, it is usually just a drip pan between the meat and the fire.[p]~nikki