Charcoal Jump?!


 
A

Andy V

TVWBB Member
So i have the genesis 3 burner i purchased a year ago. Just purchased the 18.5" WSM and have a guru on the way for it possibly. Now i am contemplating on if we should purchase a kettle. What are your guys views. I did spend about $800 on the genesis, but do not want to retire it. I would just want to have another option for cooking. Any one think its work getting? Is grilled charcoal food better, vs gas?
 
For quick cooks I always use the Genesis. I can not tell the difference. That said I started with the 22.5 one touch gold which is an awesome grill. I have had mine for 13 years and it is still kicking. It can be be bought now for $150 and they have added a dome thermo. I highly recommend that grill if you just want more real estate and achange of pace.
 
I highly recommend the kettle. The size and features are a personal preference. I love my 26 for the cooking zones I can set up. If I could only have one charcoal cooker it would be the 26" kettle.
 
I've always been a charcoal man. I think you just get better flavor than gas. Gas may be easier and faster, but you just have to plan a little bit different for charcoal i.e. when to start your coals, having to add more fuel, etc. I just got a 22.5" performer w/gas ignition and I love it! Love the 22" size, love the work table, and I have really grown to like the little charcoal baskets for cooking indirect. Anyways, if you get a charcoal grill no reason to hang up your gas grill. You'll end up with the best of both worlds. The more options you have, the better.
 
For burgers,hot dogs, steaks, fish and anything quick i use the gas. If I want indirect higher heat cooking(350 to 450) there is a definite advantage to having the charcoal. This is for whole chickens, chicken wings or anything I want to cook indirect but at a higher heat. I don't use the gold often now that I have the WSM but it is a nice tool in the arsenal when I don't want the mess and fuss of the Smoker. You can cook anything you want on there but with less real estate. I recommend the char coal baskets and the hinged grates which make indirect that much easier.
 
As another fan of the gas, I've also gotten into charcoal & picked up a handful of kettles off Craigslist. It's a bit of a learning curve but your taste buds will thank you for it.
 
Thanks guys. I think the 22" range will be good for the two of us. Probally will go kettle and not performer due to I have a nice table setup already and I have the chimney for the smoker. Getting excited about the new purchase. Is the gold that much better than the silver?
 
Gold vs Silver...

If you're grilling on a gravel/dirt surface, the silver is probably fine. But I'm still a HUGE gold fan simply because of the ash bucket. No falling/blowing ash or embers to contend with. WIth the Gold, you use the one-touch cleaning sweepers and everything falls into the bucket which makes emptying super easy. With the Silver, it's the same one-touch sweepers but everything falls into the pie-pan ash catcher.
 
if yer not sure, just get a cheap one from craigs list. then you can see how it goes. you will have to put some effort into the learning process. and yes, i can tell the differance between gas and charcoal with charcoal being the better way.
 
The ash catcher is worth the difference for sure, the hinged grate, and the thermometer are also added benefits.
 
If you like your gas grill, you should seriously consider the Performer even if you don't need the table.

Gas assist lighting makes charcoal as easy as propane, and the charcoal storage bin under the table is really convenient.
 
Once you get used to cooking on charcoal I doubt you will use the gasser much. I wouldn't get rid of it for the real estate on large cooks. My uncle got a performer a couple years ago. He ran out of propane and did not get it refilled for over a year on his gasser.

For me cooking on gas is never faster than charcoal. Before I prep anything I fire a chimney of charcoal and go inside. Either finish prep or come out and dump the chimney in the middle. Having the performer does make that slightly easier with the gas assist for the chimney. I can't think of anything I regularly cook on the grill that doesn't take 10 minutes of prep work. If it did I guess I could just crack a beer.

Also 2 of my favorite benefits of charcoal is I always know when I am going to run out and it doesn't blow up. If you stock up during a charcoal sale then you will have more than enough to last a long while. You never see 20# propane bottles on sale during the holidays.

As for gold vs silver, the ash bucket is very helpful. Should you not want to drop the money on a new Gold you could pickup a silver for cheap on craiglist and spend $45 on the ash bucket & ash ring from here:

http://www.bar-b-que.com/genuine-weber-charcoal-grill-parts/?DEPARTMENT_ID=81&F_All=Y

I believe weber has the slits cut in all kettles for the ring to snap into. This changed in the mid 2000s, so anything older you might have to break out something to cut the slits into the leg holes.
 
Andy V said:
Is the gold that much better than the silver?
Click to expand...

In a word "Yes." I have both an 18" OTS and a 22" OTG and more often than not I end up using the OTG because of how much easier the cleanup is w/out having to worry about ash (or worse embers) falling and blowing everywhere, despite the fact that I'm only cooking something small like steak or pork chops for two. If I had to do it all over again, I'd opt for the 18" gold over the silver.
 
I have a 22" WSM, OTG 22 1/2, and a Summit 670. I use all 3 depending on what I'm cooking and how many I am cooking for. Pick a used kettle up on CL for cheap and it will save you some money. :cool:
 
I started with the OTS and had only that for 9 years and learned a lot using the thing. When it came time to upgrade the grates I got the hinged ones which are very useful. I recently bought the ash catcher bowl off Amazon and it fits my 2000 model perfectly. It is also a nice upgrade. The new OTG's have a dome thermo which is nice as well.
 
Have some amazon reward pints on the way. Got enough to get the otg. Should have the grill in a week or two!
 
Despite it sounding like you've made your purchase, I thought I'd chime in and agree with those singing the praises of the ash bucket. I have a Performer that has one and it's a life-saver. Get those ashes out nice, easy and clean. Then it's quite easy to remove the bucket, head over to my designated metal trash can, dump 'em out, and let them cool safely.
 
I used to be a devotee of the gas but now I don't even own a gasser. Once I tasted the difference charcoal makes I never went back. Once my el cheapo gasser finally rusted away I got rid of it and havn't even looked at getting a gasser to replace it. If I did though it will be a weber gasser for the quality and square footage for large cookouts.
 
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