Mickey, or whoever else has the AR.....

Chubbs · February 2013

Can you send me a pic of a two level indirect cook? On the website, I can see the indirect setup with ceramic stone in the spider, drip pan, and the cooking grid. It looks like a tight squeeze to fit another cooking grid on there, but I am sure I am missing something. If there is a grid that close to the drip pan, does it affect the cook in any way (ie-- steaming the meat since close to the liquid drippings, bad smell in meat, cook faster ,etc).

Basically, I am trying to decide btw the AR or Swing Rack from CGW. What I want is to be able to do multi-level indirect boston butt / rib cooks that I can leave and forget about. In other words, I don't want to have to rotate the meat from top to bottom and vice versa for even cooking if the lower rack cooks faster. Make sense?

Sorry for long post...

Chubbs · February 2013

Bump.... Mickey????

Griffin · February 2013

This is all I can help you with, haven't done many multiple layer cooks yet. Bottom level was the pizza stone, 2nd level chicken thighs, 3rd level empty, original grate sitting on top with thighs and legs and then just ignore the top top level which was a BGE grate extender on top of everything else.

Mickey · February 2013

Not sure this covers it. I can't read over 12 min's in my advanced age w/o going to sleep.

First your pan should never sit directly (w/o being raised for air to pass under it) on the ceramic doing the indirect cook.

I in normal settings using my adj rig place the ceramic for the indirect on the bottom rung of the AR. But in your case of wanting 2 or 3 cooking areas I would place the ceramic on the spider and put my pan raised off that with balled alum or ??? to give it a 1/2 to 1 inch clearance. Then do your first rack of XXX on the bottom rung of the AR, place second on the 2 or 3 level of AR and the last on the top of the Extention to the AR. That would be for 3 cooking levels. But very easy for 2 cooking levels by placing your catch tray on the bottom of the AR and cooking several up for the first level and top for the second. Chubbs did my answer make any more sense than your question )

Mickey · February 2013

Oh, and no to the questions of steaming the meat since close to the liquid drippings, bad smell in meat, cook faster ,etc

Chubbs · February 2013

Mickey said:

Not sure this covers it. I can't read over 12 min's in my advanced age w/o going to sleep.
First your pan should never sit directly (w/o being raised for air to pass under it) on the ceramic doing the indirect cook.
I in normal settings using my adj rig place the ceramic for the indirect on the bottom rung of the AR. But in your case of wanting 2 or 3 cooking areas I would place the ceramic on the spider and put my pan raised off that with balled alum or ??? to give it a 1/2 to 1 inch clearance. Then do your first rack of XXX on the bottom rung of the AR, place second on the 2 or 3 level of AR and the last on the top of the Extention to the AR. That would be for 3 cooking levels. But very easy for 2 cooking levels by placing your catch tray on the bottom of the AR and cooking several up for the first level and top for the second. Chubbs did my answer make any more sense than your question )

< src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/FileUpload/14/03c827a232113487cca17881cb777e.jpg">

There he is. Mickey, which setup is that from the website?

Mickey · February 2013

Chubbs call me: 254.289.1877

Max232 · February 2013

Mine is on the truck for delivery toda i might be able to get a couple photos later. althogh it is the xl, not sure how different they are?

\:D/

Solson005 · February 2013

Since your still deciding which one to get, check out [email protected] post 4 Chuck Roasts On The Swing Grate

Stoater · February 2013

Max232 said:

Mine is on the truck for delivery toda i might be able to get a couple photos later. althogh it is the xl, not sure how different they are?
\:D/

I would like to see some pics Max, I am looking to get the ar for my xl,

Cheers.

Max232 · February 2013

Ok, I got some, I am cooking on it now and drinking beer, so I will post them later.

tjv · February 2013

With the adj. rig customer combo, you can use the spider, 13" stone and 13.5" drip pan to set up indirect. Basically puts the top rim of the drip pan a smidge below the top of the fire ring.

Then, on the rig's lower notches, approx. 1.5" above fire ring, set the lower grid with two butts. Then atop the rig set the bge stock grid. This gives approx. 4.5" of spacing between grids for pork butts. Ribs could go atop Rig on BGE stock grid. In the picture below, just replace top butts with ribs. You could start the butts higher and move down when you put the ribs on. No need to touch the butts, just slip the grid down.

With the R&B combo, you'll need the rig extender and a second oval grid to create a two grid set up for pork butt and ribs. Oval stone goes on Rig's lower notches. I'd start the butts on the upper notches and then move down when you put the ribs on. Move the grid, no need to handle the butts. Ribs go on the rig extender and oval grid, picture below. Oval stone protects the two butts nicely, same with the ribs. Lot's of different set-ups to do with R&B and Extender/Grid......

Feel free to call me if you want more info. Numbers on the site.....tom

Chubbs · February 2013

Tom, I will be calling you pretty soon. - Matt

SteveWPBFL · February 2013

Four pork shoulders on two racks over a stone.

SteveWPBFL · February 2013

Three racks of jerky over a stone.

SteveWPBFL · February 2013

Spatchcock chicken and veggies over a stone.

Chubbs · February 2013

SteveWPBFL said:
Four pork shoulders on two racks over a stone.

Exact setup I want. What all is that?

SteveWPBFL · February 2013

Planked salmon and shrimp on the barbie over a stone

SteveWPBFL · February 2013

Two or three racks of ribs, over a stone.

SteveWPBFL · February 2013

Any questions?

Chubbs · February 2013

SteveWPBFL said:

Any questions?

Yep, I had a question above. What all is the setup for the 4 butts? AR, extender, oval stone, oval grate? Sliders?

CANMAN1976 · February 2013

Ok so I love the AR and I am getting one soon but when you have the small stone and spider and also the oval stone(R&B) when should you use what stone....is the oval stone better for certain cooks than the spider and small stone down low? Other than being able to lay ribs and brisket flat is there any other advantages of the oval stone???

Max232 · February 2013

its going to take me a few cooks to settle into what works best for me. its kinda like going to a restaurant that has too many things on the menu( but in a good way) lots of options

robnybbq · February 2013

ahhh that's how to do the multi teir cooks. I did 4 racks of ribs using the AR only and it was a PITA. I need to get another oval grate to use the rig extender. duh

Will be making another order soon Tom.

caliking · February 2013

Great thread. I'm pondering the same.

I was thinking of an AR setup (the R&B combo + rig extender) with the aim of being able to cook on 3 levels. I seem to do more ribs and chicken, so wanted to be able to do 6 racks of spares at a time. I can do 4 racks currently- laid flat on 2 levels using grates and bricks, and standing using a big rib rack. I called and talked to Tom at CGS and he is really a super swell guy - took time to figure out what I wanted to cook and what would fit my needs best. But he said that realistically, cooking on 3 levels was going to be difficult, and that I should maybe plan for 2 levels)

I priced out the AR stuff I wanted and it was about $280-$300 delivered. I'm pretty impressed with the swing rack though and it looks like it is easier to handle food with a 2nd level that swings away. Added bonus is that it is about $100 cheaper than the AR. Still wrestling with the decision. I guess cooking on 3 levels with the AR was more of a possibility, I would go with that, but otherwise I may be leaning towards the swing rack.

Chubbs · February 2013

caliking said:

Great thread. I'm pondering the same.

I was thinking of an AR setup (the R&B combo + rig extender) with the aim of being able to cook on 3 levels. I seem to do more ribs and chicken, so wanted to be able to do 6 racks of spares at a time. I can do 4 racks currently- laid flat on 2 levels using grates and bricks, and standing using a big rib rack. I called and talked to Tom at CGS and he is really a super swell guy - took time to figure out what I wanted to cook and what would fit my needs best. But he said that realistically, cooking on 3 levels was going to be difficult, and that I should maybe plan for 2 levels)

I priced out the AR stuff I wanted and it was about $280-$300 delivered. I'm pretty impressed with the swing rack though and it looks like it is easier to handle food with a 2nd level that swings away. Added bonus is that it is about $100 cheaper than the AR. Still wrestling with the decision. I guess cooking on 3 levels with the AR was more of a possibility, I would go with that, but otherwise I may be leaning towards the swing rack.

Yeah, both are great products. I must say watching Tom's videos of the AR with sliding racks was impressive. The ease of switching the grates around is nice. Another thing I like about the AR is if you want to do a really high raised direct cook like a spatchcock chicken to achieve crispy skin you can remove all tiers an just go right on top of the extender to get high in the dome. @Mickey had a great pic of this. I guess you could just put it on the top tier of the swing rack, but it looks like it is much lower and you have to (I think) use the lower tier in tandem. Not to mention you cannot add chips or chunks during the cook unless you pull the whole rack out.
I am going to call Tom and see what he suggests for what I typically cook and make a call between the two.

caliking · February 2013

I'm interested to see what you decide on. I don't add wood during the cook. Maybe because it was never feasible before without lifting out racks with food etc on them, and I thought it was a hassle.

The AR is appealing because of the different possibilities, but the swing rack seems kinda simple and elegant. Also the swing rack doesn't have a bunch of different parts that can run around or have to be stored somewhere. You're right though - I'm not sure you can easily cook high in the dome direct with a swing rack since the larger/lower grid would always need to be in place.

CGW1 · February 2013

This is a public service announcement and not intended to sell...so please don't misunderstand the intent.

The upper rack is adjustable for up or down...so raising the upper grate will get you high enough in the dome.

Both of our products...Tom's and ours have their place, we both offer the ability to do different things, its all in how you want to use your cooker. Ours is very simple and straight forward, with minimal effort and parts. I urge all of you interested in the 2 Tier to checkout our videos.

Thanks

brianbala · February 2013

Will the Swing Grate fit onto the Woo? Or would that place the second tier to high up into the dome?

CGW1 · February 2013

@brainbala....the handles on the woo would be the problem, not sure if your woo has handles or not. There is a user that had his 2 tier modified so the handles went through the bottom grate of our system.

CGW1 · February 2013

the upper tier could be lowered if need be

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