26” Kettle Charcoal Grate


 
T

TimMiller

New member
Long story short, I need another charcoal grate for my 26” kettle. The OEM Weber one is ~$70, and not really loving how smaller pieces of charcoal, specifically lump, falls through and is wasted.

Anyone have any cost effective options or ideas for something that’ll capture more charcoal in my grill? Obviously I’ll spend the money if the OEM Weber grate is the only option, but would like to explore other avenues first.

I almost exclusively will either be using a vortex or SnS in my kettles, if that matters at all.
 
Is it totally roached? Charcoal grates last a looong time.
You can buy some expanded metal and cut to fit with tin snips.
Place that over the OEM grate and that will stop small pieces of lump falling thru.
Normally we do the double grate mod for lump.
www.virtualweberbullet.com

Charcoal Grate Modifications - The Virtual Weber Bullet

A few charcoal grate modifications that will improve the performance and ease of use of your Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.
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Yeah I don't like wasting good charcoal either! I have a Weber, an SnS, and a vortex. I use briquettes or lump, depending on the cook. Sometimes I use both at once. I read about the double grate idea several years ago for my Weber. Seemed like a good idea. So I tried the double grate thing and found it ended up clogging up and restricting air flow too much for hot and fast cooks. Turns out, some smaller charcoal needs to fall through to keep good air flow going. So I abandoned that plan for fast cooks. However, it does work for slow cooks. But the SnS basket is a different design and doesn't need double grates. Re the Weber, now I just pick out any large pieces of lump I see in the Weber ash tin.


I rarely pour lump straight onto the lower grates. I usually have some charcoal left over from the previous cook, and after moving it around a bit, I'll pour lump on top of that so that it's less inclined to fall through.

With the vortex for a super hot cook, I'd put fresh briquettes on the bottom and lump on top of the briquettes.

Good luck
 
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