Fuel baskets, charcoal rails or just a couple of bricks?


 
S

StanSulli

TVWBB Fan
I want to expand the use of indirect cooking in my Jumbo Joe. Did a chicken last week by shoving coals to both sides of the Joe and had to finish the chicken off in the oven to bring it up the last six degrees.

Cost aside, I'd like to hear your opinions on the charcoal baskets, charcoal rails and finally just using a couple of bricks to keep coals consolidated on both sides.

Thanks
 
I have a set of charcoal rails that I like using Stan. I set an aluminum drip pan in the center of the charcoal grill for spacing purposes and put the rails on either side. At that point, pan comes out, chimney goes in between the rails, dump the coals behind the rails, then put the pan back in. Occasionally, smaller briquets sneak through the rails, but a set of tongs takes care of those!
 
Mike Willis said:
I have a set of charcoal rails that I like using Stan. I set an aluminum drip pan in the center of the charcoal grill for spacing purposes and put the rails on either side. At that point, pan comes out, chimney goes in between the rails, dump the coals behind the rails, then put the pan back in. Occasionally, smaller briquets sneak through the rails, but a set of tongs takes care of those!
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I think the idea is good. It appears the coals can breathe better when held in by rails as opposed to those baskets.

My only concern, and it may be needless, is the rails hold coals up against the sides of the grill bowl where the baskets do not.

Could coals in direct contact with the bowl's finish harm the bowl in any way?

Thanks
 
StanSulli said:
I think the idea is good. It appears the coals can breathe better when held in by rails as opposed to those baskets.

My only concern, and it may be needless, is the rails hold coals up against the sides of the grill bowl where the baskets do not.

Could coals in direct contact with the bowl's finish harm the bowl in any way?

Thanks
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I've personally had great luck with the weber charcoal baskets. Seem to breath very well in my experience and I've noticed much better/consistent indirect cooks while using them. I would definitely recommend them to someone on the fence.
 
StanSulli said:
Could coals in direct contact with the bowl's finish harm the bowl in any way?

Thanks
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I try and keep the coals away from the sides as much as possible because I think about that too. If there are a few briquets that rest against the side that's OK...I don't like a whole bank of briquets against the side. That's why I dump the chimney towards the rails and taper the stack towards the sides.

When I'm not going indirect with a drip pan, I put the rails against the side of the Weber to keep the coals away from the porcelain.
 
Mike Willis said:
I try and keep the coals away from the sides as much as possible because I think about that too. If there are a few briquets that rest against the side that's OK...I don't like a whole bank of briquets against the side. That's why I dump the chimney towards the rails and taper the stack towards the sides.

When I'm not going indirect with a drip pan, I put the rails against the side of the Weber to keep the coals away from the porcelain.
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Mike, I talked to Weber about this today. The woman said they have a 10 year warranty against "burn through" and as mine is a 2015 model with serial number to match I'll be good until 2025.

She said burn through is not a literal description. She said it is used to describe heat causing the interior or exterior finish to crack, flake or burn away.
 
I've used both rails and baskets and prefer the baskets. The baskets seem more consistent then the rails. The perform the same every time.
 
Baskets all the way.
You can move 'em.
You can shake the ashes out.
You can use one, two, three, or four of them.
They make it easy to light used coals, since the coals aren't scattered about on the charcoal grate.
An aluminum half size steam table type pan fits perfectly between them.
They keep the coals/heat off the sides of the bowl.
They breathe well.
You can flip one (or more) and put another, with lit coals, on top to get a screaming hot sear.
And you can flip them to make a fast and loose snake.

IMGP0956.JPG
 
Bob Correll said:
Baskets all the way.
You can move 'em.
You can shake the ashes out.
You can use one, two, three, or four of them.
They make it easy to light used coals, since the coals aren't scattered about on the charcoal grate.
An aluminum half size steam table type pan fits perfectly between them.
They keep the coals/heat off the sides of the bowl.
They breathe well.
You can flip one (or more) and put another, with lit coals, on top to get a screaming hot sear.
And you can flip them to make a fast and loose snake.

IMGP0956.JPG
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There are no baskets available, at least that I can find, made for 18.5" grills. The ones made for the 22"s live virtually no room for a drip pan.

Looks like I'm going with the rails.
 
StanSulli said:
I want to expand the use of indirect cooking in my Jumbo Joe. Did a chicken last week by shoving coals to both sides of the Joe and had to finish the chicken off in the oven to bring it up the last six degrees.

Cost aside, I'd like to hear your opinions on the charcoal baskets, charcoal rails and finally just using a couple of bricks to keep coals consolidated on both sides.

Thanks
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Stan, The great part about the jumbo joe is its compact size and compact bowl which makes its portable. the tough part about the compact bowl is they cut down the space that would typically be used for indirect cooking. I think the Jumbo joe was designed for quick direct cooks at a camp site tailgate etc.

Depending on your space limitations, perhaps picking up a Craigslist 22" for indirect cooks would be an easy solution. Ive found 5-6 in the last year and paid as little as $8 and never more then $30 (for a one touch gold). A quick clean up and they're often as good as new.

If you are set on only doing the jumbo joe you might want to just put all your coals on one side and meat on the other instead of coals on two sides and meat in the middle. You can either place dark meat side towards the coals or rotate as you cook. This will give you a larger concentration of coals to keep heat longer and give you a decent size indirect cooking area.
 
StanSulli said:
There are no baskets available, at least that I can find, made for 18.5" grills. The ones made for the 22"s live virtually no room for a drip pan.

Looks like I'm going with the rails.
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I have used metal lath shaped into a basket before worked well. Couple $$ at Home Depot for a sheet.
 
New member here. I have been a Weber grill owner/user since the early 80's and have had good results with the rails. I recently upgraded to a Master Touch grill which came with fuel baskets. Since the upgrade my indirect grilling results have been dismal. My original thought is that it had to do with the fuel baskets as they seem to keep the coals higher and my Thanksgiving turkey was just fine on the breasts and legs, but the parts of the bird sitting on the grill (thighs & such) were pretty much uncooked. I read somewhere else that one should "tap" the ash out of the baskets every hour or so. This I had not done and seems to me to be the only thing I have done differently from previous years. Thoughts on what I may be doing wrong?
 
I too have fashioned baskets, but used some round Weber grids (I think they were designed for veggies) with the sides bent up in my 18.5" grill. I also used a set of rails with folded alum foil drip pans (admitted, other than grilling whole chickens, I do not do any serious indirect grilling on the smaller grill). Both methods worked quite well.
 
Chris Arnold said:
FYI - the baskets don;t fit UNDER the Jumbo Joe grate - the grate rests on them slightly
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I don't have that issue. I mean, the top of the baskets practically touch the grate, but I wouldn't say it's resting on it.

Since getting my JJ in August, I've only done a few indirect cooks, but results have been good using one basket situated toward the "back" (the lid holder/handle) with food on the front. With half of a compact chimney, fully lit, I can get ~350 for 45 minutes or so; by the hour mark, it'll still be between 275-300. So, not the best rig for a reverse sear unless you had a fresh load of lit charcoal to throw in, but for wings, chicken thighs or brats, it works great.

I've also found that with two baskets, the Weber cedar planks just fit in between. I did some salmon that way a couple weeks ago. I split a fully compact chimney between the two baskets and it held 400+ for the whole cook (about 45 minutes?). Great crisp edges and tender flaky meat....man, I'm making myself hungry! The edges of the plank got a bit singed, but it didn't burst into flames, so I'm sure it's good for another cook, maybe two.
 
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