Joined the 26 kettle club


 

AlfonzoW

TVWBB Member
Wife suprised me with a 26 kettle today. While browsing youtube videos of the kettle I saw one guy use a 18 inch grate so it sits lower in the bowl. That got me thinking about a kamado style smoking set up with a charcoal basket and deflector plate above the basket. I have close to 3 1/2 inch's to play with a deflector and a baking sheet to catch drippings. I'm sure it's not need to to smoke a lot of food but I love tinkering lol.

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Welcome to the 26er club. You are going to love all the real estate on this beast. I've also done an overnight packer brisket on mine.
 
Welcome to the club. Can’t beat the 26 and you’ll love the extra real estate and cooking options you have with its size. Since you like to tinker you should consider putting a ranch kettle frame underneath her to beef up the only weak point on the 26er...the legs.

Do a search under mini-ranch and you’ll see quite a few builds from the mini ranch pioneers. I was a few years behind but Here is a link to my build. https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?64026-Mini-Ranch-Kettle-build-complete
 
Pulled the trigger today on the 26. HURRY UP SHIPPING! Can't wait to mess around with this thing. My wife thinks we have 10 grill/smokers now. I informed her that we only have 6 and 10 is a great number to shoot for!!!!! Haha.

Was looking at the slow n sear and decided to wait. Have the vortex for the 22 inch kettle for wings/steaks if needed. Will try snake method for brisket on new kettle soon.
 
Congrats on a super-sized addition:maroonkettle:! Hope to see some great results with it.

It sure would be nice to have a charcoal grill that size - lots of room for full length racks of ribs:D. Enjoy!
 
Cook went great. It was my first time cooking on the 26 so did a little temp chasing but overall it was good. Cook time was about 5:40 average temp 260. Lol beef ribs didn't last enough to get a picture.

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Nice looking cool there. Funny I did beef ribs on my 26 last night too. Turned out good but definitely not as meaty as those! Where did you get them? I like your set up therefor smoking. I see your foil is under the cooking grate. Is it resting on the charcoal basket or what? I’ve been doing coals banked with fire bricks, but I really like that setup there.
 
Lol I lucked out getting those beef ribs. Was at Kroger ( they never have decent beef ribs) looking for something to smoke for the super bowl and first cook. I saw them and grabbed them up, last ones too. The ones I got don't hold a candle to some of the beef ribs I see browsing Weber Facebook groups.

The foil was actually sitting in a baking sheet on top of the defelector I made. I posted pictures in my previous post.

Threw a spatchcock chicken on tonight. Hard to see but the foil is in a baking sheet that's sitting on top of the defelector

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Thanks for the info! Chicken is looking good. No Kroger’s in my area so I guess I’ll have to stick to Walmart...at least for beef ribs.

I am going to have to try that set up. I have just about everything I need to give it a whirl. Have an 18” cooking grate off my SJP and the coal ring out of an 18” WSM. Just need a some type of deflector plate and should be in business. Great idea. Thanks for the info
 
Hey that really clears it up! I was thinking the plate was just setting on top of your coal ring. Great idea using the bolts to lift it above the coal ring. Thanks for the extra pictures. I’ll have to cut a thin plate and give it a try. When it is all set up what kind of gap do you have between the plate and the kettle bowl...about an inch all the way around?
 
2nd time using the "vortex". It went much better this time since I cover the grill in foil and cut a hole out for the "vortex"

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I still use the 26 charcoal grate for the vortex and I'll use it eventually with the slow n sear xl. Tried the snake method last night with a 2lb chuck roast. Worked great for a steady efficient smoke.

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