Old Dave's Indirect Setup

WooDoggies

Old Dave sent me the basics for this indirect cooking setup a while back and I recently got around to making it after seeing it in use at Nature Boy's.
Nature Boy and I went to Lowe's and picked up a flat 1/8" thick plain 3/4" X 40" (or maybe 36") steel for a couple bucks, cut it into 2 pieces and bent it to fit so that it would hang about 3" below the fire ring.
[p][p]
Old Dave found that a 9" pie pan (generously given to me by Chris)placed on the cross-steel frame, is the perfect-sized heat buffer between the cook and the fire..... allowing just enough airflow without snuffing the fire
[p][p]
This setup allows me to cook on 3 levels at a time..... giving me one extra cooking level that would have otherwise been used by the drip pan.
The first grid rests on the fire ring, the second sets 4" above the fire ring and supported by carriage bolt legs, and the third grid is the 15" bge grid extender.
[p]A couple weeks back, I cooked about 22 lbs of legs and thighs at one time on these 3 levels with a minimal amount of fuss..... only having to turn the chicken 3 times before pulling off and serving to very happy mouths.[p]Dave, thanks for doing all the hard work and figuring out a very efficient indirect setup...... I can't wait to see how much I can pack on this thing for a low and slow. [p]Beers!
John

Brett

WooDoggies,
Hey John! How did you flip the chicken on the bottom level?[p]Also, what would you say was the temperature differential across the three levels?

The setup looks great, and I will be making one of these as soon as I get an egg this Spring. Just printed out the directions for my eggfile.[p]Brett
P.S. Have already ordered a gridlifter from lawn ranger in anticipation of the big day.

ToyCollector

WooDoggies,[p]Very clever setup. I suppose a pizza stone of appropriate diameter could be used as well in lieu of the pie dish--or is their something about the pie dish I have not thought about? I just made a multi level grill extender this weekend per the instructions on GFW's site (thanks GFW). What I like about this is it lowers the whole setup further versus using a BGE platesetter.

WooDoggies

ToyCollector,[p]I think any kind of round barrier would work fine in lieu of the pie plate. Old Dave did point out that anything larger than a 9" diameter at this level would impede airflow and affect the cook.
Give it a try and report your findings![p]john

WooDoggies

Hey Brett,[p]I had to pull off the second grid to flip the chicken on the bottom level.
As far as a temp differential, I didn't check with a thermometer but it seemed the bottom level was the coolest with it getting slightly hotter as you moved up...... but all of chicken pretty much finished at the same time.[p]Awesome you will be an egger soon..... by the way, I know of a place to get pocket protectors cheap![p]John

mad max beyond eggdome

WooDoggies,
i used chris's at thanksgiving so that i could get my turkey roasting pan with 19 pound turkey into the egg. .. i made sure to keep the pie pan full of water through out the cook, and it was fantastic. .. saved my turkey day. .. [p]i too plan to make one of these. . .maybe brett and i will do a joint project. . .[p]great pics and instructions by the way. .

mad max beyond eggdome

ToyCollector,
when i used nature boys, while roasting a large turkey, i kept the pie plate full of water to insure no hot spot right under the bird. . .worked really well. . .and added extra moisture (not that it was needed, but it didn't hurt on a 7+ hour turkey roast). ..

Brett

WooDoggies,
Let's see if we can talk Nufer into some pocket protectors with the BGE logo. How cool would that be?! Snork, snork, snork. [p]Brett

FatDog

Brett,
Hey, I really do need some pocket protectors for my NERDS club (New Engineering Research and Design Students) at school. The guys would really love some cool (or not) plastic "nerd packs". Where can I find some?[p]Doc

WooDoggies

FatDog,[p]Ahhhhhhh, look no further.....

[ul][li]your door to cool[/ul]

ToyCollector

I'm in ;-). You can use it with instant read thermometers as well!! :-D

JSlot

It's accomplishes the same thing as our original setup with the Weber charcoal grate between the fire ring and fire box and the small pizza stone on that. It does have the advantage of adding fuel a little easier if needed.[p]Jim

Unknown

Morning John,[p]I guess I have you cornfused as I have two different contraptions for both the small and large Egg. The one you have put together is the one I use in the small cooker. And you are right in that this cooker can take up to a 9" in diameter drip pan if the two strips of metal hold it right up against the lower standard grid. This is about the largest a fellow can use and still get a good flow thru the cooker. [p]The large cooker can use up to a 13" in diameter drip pan under the lower grid but again, it needs to be up against the grid for best results. [p]While your setup will work just fine, you still lose all the benefits of the contraption for the large Egg which is different from your setup.[p]Sure glad to see folks using setups to increase the capacity of these cookers as they will cook larger loads very well. [p]Dave

WooDoggies

Well Bo Didley, Dave! Thanks for the correction..... I obviously was cornfused between the two. [p]The way the frame sets now in my large, there is about 1-2" gap between the 9" drip pan and the bottom grid........ the two do not touch as my intention was to create an airflow under the meat. [p]Since my drip pan sets lower than your intended design, I would think something slightly smaller in diameter than the recommended 13" would be in order. So for the next cook I will fashion a piece of HD foil in a 11-12" diameter and experiment from there.
The larger diameter I can get away with, the better.[p]Can you post some photos and specs for all to see and help clear up my misinformation? [p]Good to hear from you, pal.[p]John [p]