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Weber

henapple
henapple Posts: 16,025
edited October 2012 in EggHead Forum
Just saw a Weber kettle grill on the side of the interstate. I figure it blew out of someone's truck or they bought a new egg.
Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 

Comments

  • I sure hope you grabbed it if it was in working condition?  Kettles are great cookers.  While not as versatile as the egg, what they do they do great and that list is very long.  One of the best features is indirect cooking (if you bank your coals in one area on the side & position the exhaust on the opposite end, you have a huge area of indirect cooking to work with & a great convective environment). 
  • EggerinLA
    EggerinLA Posts: 186
    Love my Weber.  Great cookers.  Not insecure here.  Both have their place.
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    Mangled, no lid, opposite side of interstate, have one. I haven't used it or my gasser since I got my egg but I'll keep them. It was really just my attempt at humor.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • xraypat23
    xraypat23 Posts: 421
    I've got 2 weber 26.75's a weber performer, a pro q 3 tier stacker smoker and my large egg. They each have their purpose. Weber's no joke, if you said charbroil it woulda made a lot more sense!
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    We bought a friend a weber kettle this weekend for his birthday since he only had a gasser. I hadn't used one in years and I was really suprised at how well it cooked. Here's some apple, cheddar, sage, onion meatballs made from short ribs I ground mixed with sage sausage. We also made some really good kabobs but no pic.
  • Mike8it
    Mike8it Posts: 468
    Still love my weber kettle and couldn't imagine getting rid of it. I bet someone is upset they lost it.
  • Ragtop99
    Ragtop99 Posts: 1,570
    I haven't used mine in a while, but I cooked a lot of good food on it.  It is very competitive with the egg for short cooks.  The egg is so much easier for cooks over 1 hour.

    I also enjoy that the cooking grid in my XL in the nest is higher up than the Weber.  First time I cooked on the Weber after using the Egg, I felt bent over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. 
    Cooking on an XL and Medium in Bethesda, MD.
  • Ragtop99 said:
    I haven't used mine in a while, but I cooked a lot of good food on it.  It is very competitive with the egg for short cooks.  The egg is so much easier for cooks over 1 hour.

    I also enjoy that the cooking grid in my XL in the nest is higher up than the Weber.  First time I cooked on the Weber after using the Egg, I felt bent over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. 
    agreed on the cooks over an hour are more suited to the egg, as are any cooks that require high heat (for baking), and sustained/long term & dependable low heat (for low & slow).  The way I look at it the egg can do everything the Kettle can do but the Kettle cannot do everything the egg can do.  That said, the Kettle is often easier to work with for the shorter mid-range cooks of which many cooks are (grilling every day food, burgers, chicken, sausage...), is far more easily transported, easier to clean, far cheaper, virtually unbreakable, and the standard 22 has more cooking surface than the standard (large size) egg.  Fuel is also a consideration.  The egg does not do as well with briquettes as lump while the Kettle can handle either type.  Some people don't like the flavor imparted by briquettes, but it seems pound for pound they are cheaper.  Many people start out with Kettles and seek out ceramic cookers to step up to the next level, but in that transition there is no reason to abandon the Kettle unless space is an issue & you can only have one or the other... if that's the case the Weber would have to go.  Having Eggs & Kettles together is a perfect combination, I wouldn't give up either one of them
  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    My neighbor uses a kettle, and I can smell the lighter fluid flavor every time he lights it up.  Reminds me of growing up with that taste/flavor from every 'cookout'.  Whenever I do a pulled pork on the Egg I always send some over and they rave about it and can't wait until I do another.  
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • I used a kettle for years and I always used a chimney to light it.  Lighter fluid is good for lighting the brush pile.  To borrow a line from Alton Brown: lighter fluid is not "Good Eats."
    Flint, Michigan
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I used to like the smell of lighter fluid growing up.  Meant dad started the grill.  Course, I don't like to eat it.  Kitty Dukakis may have felt differently.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • EggerinLA
    EggerinLA Posts: 186
    LOL. You don't have to use lighter fluid to start the Weber anymore than you have to with the Egg. I never use it in either one. Love my Egg, but I'm not stuck up enough to put down other brands to prop my Egg up.
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    As I stated earlier it was a joke...lighten up. I'm not stuck up or insecure. While you enjoy your Weber I don't. The purpose of me purchasing a BGE was to use it in all its ways of cooking but especially indirect and smoking. I've sold my old side box smoker on craigslist.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • EggerinLA said:
    LOL. You don't have to use lighter fluid to start the Weber anymore than you have to with the Egg. I never use it in either one. Love my Egg, but I'm not stuck up enough to put down other brands to prop my Egg up.
    I don't think anyone is putting down Weber's fine kettle, just lighter fluid.  I still like mine.  I don't use it that much, but it's still my trusty old friend.
    Flint, Michigan
  •  

    henapple said:
    As I stated earlier it was a joke...lighten up. I'm not stuck up or insecure. While you enjoy your Weber I don't. The purpose of me purchasing a BGE was to use it in all its ways of cooking but especially indirect and smoking. I've sold my old side box smoker on craigslist.

    henapple, I don't think anyone is suggesting that; the thread did take a turn to w/n a Kettle is worthwhile to keep around and does it remain useful in a world increasingly populated by ceramic grills. 

    It's an interesting debate & one that has played out many, many times on various bbq forums over the years so it is not new - your thread title just kicked it off.

      

    I used a kettle for years and I always used a chimney to light it.  Lighter fluid is good for lighting the brush pile.  To borrow a line from Alton Brown: lighter fluid is not "Good Eats."

    I use a chimney too, sometimes using the paper towel/oil method or if in a hurry the propane cooktop will get the chimney blazing in a couple minutes. 
  • xraypat23
    xraypat23 Posts: 421
    I make a better hot and fast brisket on my kettle than i can on my egg. Also, my pork shoulders, while requiring more attention, come out just as good on my egg. As do my chicken. I compete, I use 2 26.75 weber kettles, and 2 large eggs. There is never a set plan because sometimes meats take longer to cook as others. I've won on eggs, but have placed highest and most consistently with my kettles. I light them just like my egg, with a weed burner or electric starter.  They're a high quality unit. And while not as expensive as an egg, they are just as high quality. I could pay $100 for a similar unit, but mine are $300+. You pay for the warranty, i've got a spare lid, spare base, spare ash catcher and spare bottom damper. Basically a whole new grill. Just from calling up weber and nicely asking for them.
  • gerhardk
    gerhardk Posts: 942
    McNuttly said:
      The egg does not do as well with briquettes as lump while the Kettle can handle either type.  Some people don't like the flavor imparted by briquettes, but it seems pound for pound they are cheaper.  
    I think briquettes may only be cheaper when purchased but don't actually create as much heat as lump.  I guess with a Weber that's o.k. since you aren't likely able snuff out the coal after a cook so you might as well waste the cheaper stuff.  The other thing I hate about briquettes is the mud they leave in the bottom of the BBQ.

    Gerhard
  • xraypat, I discovered hot/fast smoking on the Kettle works great, but I usually stick to smaller pieces of meat.  What I do is put one blazing chimney full of Kingsford blue banked in the smallest area possible on the side, then burry a huge chunk of wood (usually cherry) in it, give it a few minutes, then put sausage, burgers or chicken for example on the rest of the grid, none directly over the coals.  The size of the grid allows a large quantity of food to be done this way, and I frequently use my homemade second rack from the egg to pile even more in if necessary.  It takes no time to cook & the end result is some of the best smoke flavored meat I've ever produced.  Of course this can be done on the egg too, but only with the addition of a setter or other means of blocking the direct heat.  I find hot smoking (450ish) in this fashion to be one of the things that's easier on the kettle, and there's no need for a drip pan or other means of dealing with the grease, just let it drip into the base of the kettle.  Cleaning is easy too, after a cook like this I frequently take the grid off while the coals are still hot & spread them all over the bottom grate, the falling ash works like those bags of puke-be-gone from elementary school, soaks up all the grease for really easy cleanup later on.  I use the ash tool from the egg to scrape the sides down to the base where the petals can move them into the ash collector
  • bettysnephew
    bettysnephew Posts: 1,188
    I am still using my kettle for cold smoking (soldering iron method) as it seems to disipate the heat better and stay cooler for the relatively short periods required.  Haven't done anything hot in it for quite a while.
    A poor widows son.
    See der Rabbits, Iowa
  • xraypat23
    xraypat23 Posts: 421
    Ill defend webers all day long. I own more webers than I do BGE's. The Big green egg is a great cooker, but like any grill. It has it's limitations. There are better smokers, grills, and ovens out there. I can sear just as easily with 9 pieces of charcoal in a charcoal chimney, dump them out and finish offset in my weber way faster than my egg. 6 hours or less, i can set my kettle up for smoking and it'll run without me looking at it too. Pizza? sure, make a ring of charcoal around the base, and dump a chimney full of lit around the whole thing 550-600 easily. 

    with that being said, this is an egg forum. And i do LOVE my egg. Hell, i'm even sponsored for my competitions by a dealer and I work directly for tarantin doing egg demos.(if you own an egg on the east coast there's a 99% chance it came from one of their warehouses.) It does everything. Sometimes a little slower, sometimes a little more accurately, and sometimes I get a lot more sleep than i used to.
  • tdeater
    tdeater Posts: 38
    I have a Large BGE and also a Weber. I use both often and the weber is a fine charcoal grill (NO LIGHTER FLUID!) weber gives that old school grilling feel and taste the Egg does not. When cooking for a large group of people I will be using both at the same time.