Charcoal grate mod for 18.5. Really good if using briquettes?


 
J

Jim C in Denver

TVWBB All-Star
I've done the typical charcoal grate mod by adding the 7440 grate at 90 degrees.

Is that really just a thing for lump users?

I usually use briquettes and sometimes it seems like the ash from the briquettes is building up and perhaps smothering my fire a bit.

Is it better to just let the briquettes fall through the wider grid of the single stock grate?
 
I've been thinking about this too. I'm still just using a single grate in my 22. The extra grate is supposed to help you burn more of the charcoal before it drops below the grate, which is appealing. Some briquettes are more ashy than others. I bought members mark brand from Sam's club in a pinch several weeks ago and noticed A TON of ash. Kingsford competition, Weber brand, and Humphrey's are all examples of lower ash briquettes. Lump is lower ash, but I think it's a little harder to control temperatures with lump. Try the 2nd grate and let everyone know if what difference it makes, I'll be interested to see what happens.
 
the second grate does help to retain coals as they burn down, a significant amount of small pieces fall through the regular grate, but then you get more ash build up, I usually bump/kick the base to encourage the ashes to fall through, but then I had to do that with just the one grate also.
So..., depends on your level of frugality, lol
 
I don't see a good reason to do it with briquettes. You might get longer burns if that's a problem for you. I haven't found it to be in general and I'd rather make it easier for the ash to fall though. I've had more trouble with ash smothering my fire than anything but only if it's really humid. For lump I think it's a good idea just because pieces are smaller.
 
I did added the extra grate on mine, mostly because I had read about it beforehand, and it sounded good. It seems like it has helped.

I've been trying to use up my particulary ashy Embers briquettes, so I don't know if they are a good test of the extra grate or not. I'm still a new-ish WSM owner, so time will tell when I resume normal operations with some better briquettes.

I mostly wanted to wire the charcoal ring and grate together, so threw the extra grate in there as a 'why not?'.
 
I mostly wanted to wire the charcoal ring and grate together, so threw the extra grate in there as a 'why not?'.

Me too. I find it very handy to have the grate and ring be one piece rather than two.

I added the second 90 degree grate and some square u-bolts (as handles) for kicks.

TBD if I keep the second 90 degree grate or the handles.
 
Havent done it
See no need for it

Cooked pork butt last night
From time i lit it.....coals burned 17.5 hrs at 265F
My ring is extended a bit, but i didnt fill it all way
Never shook it, knocked ashdown, etc.
Just let the heater meter do its thing.
There was basically nothing on grate when done, but ash was full on bottom.

I used kingsford...which i dont normally use. It burned well, even, but made more ash than weber9
It seems. I cleaned it out before I started and I've never seen it that full of Ash, even after a 20+-hour cook with more Weber charcoal
 
I haven't done it yet. I've been looking for the expanded metal mesh but haven't found it locally. If/when I do, I'll make a minion basket as well. Haven't had a large enough coffee can around here in a long time. If I can find a large enough piece I'll make an extended charcoal basket and weld it all together... a DIY CB charcoal ring if you will.

I am less bothered by the ash (I've been remedying it a tap) than I am but having raw coals drop through when setting up. The coal grate has long and wide open sections on each side and the charcoal ring is sized such that these openings in the grate allows full coals to drop through to the bottom of the charcoal chamber.
 
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