I Love my Q220. I am thinking, however, of getting a Weber kettle as well. Sometimes I run short of space on the Q and wish I had a little more room. Plus I'd experiment a little with charcoal. I'd like to try more low and slow cooking.

My question is about kettle size. I mostly cook only for two. But if I slice an eggplant it takes up my whole Q. I cook fish, all kinds of vegetables, pizza, and chicken. I don't do steaks, ribs, or other beef / pork items.

The 22 kettle seems like a monster for my needs. But does the actual useable area mean it is not as much of a monster as it seems? Would you suggest a 22 or 18?

Thanks
Harry

If you run short of space on the Q220 then you definately need the 22 1/2" kettle as a minimum.

Cheers

Do the Double Deuce! 22" gives you plenty of room to do a lot of burgers or steaks if you cover the charcoal grate with coals and cook everything indirect, but where the 22" really excels is when you build a modified two layer fire where you cover half the grate with coals, giving you a direct and indirect cooking zone.

Check out the Cooks Illustrated grilling recipes - many will call for a modified two layer fire which will allow you to sear meat over the coals on the hot side of the grill and then finish the cooking on the cooler side, giving the meat a chance to cook consistently and evenly throughout the meat.

Look on Craigslist for a good buy in your area. I've bought One Touch Silver models for as little as $20, and my next door neighbor at our cottage picked up an older Weber Bar-B-Kettle in very good condition for $5!

For prices like that, you can do a lot of experimenting with charcoal!

Pat

The Q 220s basicly the = to the 18 inch kettle so if you need more space now and then the 22 would be great . But you could also buy the 18 save a few bucks and use both cookers when u need the space . Me I always go for bigger than I need so I have the space when needed .

But from what you are saying you cook you need a 22 for pizza and things like egge plant that take up lots a space .

I genraly only cook for 2 here but at times even our meals requir a lot of space if Iam doing meat vegies and other things all at once .

Tonight I was to lazy to fire up my charcoal grill so I did the whole thing on a Q 100 I did peaches for a cobbler first then baked our potatoes and did 3 nice NY strips and 2 skewers of shrimp and 4 corn on the cobs . Did all this in stages mostly but it worked out fine . IF you carefully plan your cooks you certainly can get by with smaller cooking space but its nice to have more space when u need or just want it even just cooking for 1 or 2 folks IMHO .

The little Q 100 is amazing what you can do with it but I am buying a Q 320 just for the sopace . Thou most a the time I will be using my 22 kettle and the Q 100 .

But I really like the idea of the Bigger surface area most of the time makes life easier as we have to cook everyday . Thou all of us don"t grill every night we do most everyday weather permiting here .

Harry, If you do decide to go with a 22.5 inch kettle,try if you can to get the OTG.Might be a bit more expensive but with the ashcan under the kettle catching the ashes when cleaning on a windy day will make you appreciate the pan..let me tell ya!!
Better still, keep the eyes peeled for a Performer,it's an OTG built into a cart....very useful.

Cheers

Davo