I did a thing. Ranch Kettle content.

[Matthew Turner]

A Ranch Kettle came up on Marketplace (the only reason to have Facebook) about 30 minutes away in the 'burbs. Most I've seen recently have been $600-1,200 and not particularly close. The price was right on this one. I told myself on the drive if the cooking grate was rotted, I was walking. Thankfully it had been very well maintained. The owner is a member of a Ranch Kettle group on Facebook and had several other nice cookers in his back yard. This giant has some battle scars here and there and an odd thermometer mod but with some cleaning and maintenance she'll be cooking. The neighborhood block party is coming in a few weekends so I'll be ready.

 

[Brenda T]

You'll be the star of the block party!
Congrats!

 

[DuaneMac]

They’ll all be calling you Steven Raichlen! They are impressive, you’d better load up on charcoal!

 

[TimA]

Nice! Get her fired up and enjoy!

 

[DanHoo]

Nice.

Now get that bad boy rolling with 20 pounds of lump and the heat signature might show up on satellite !

 

[Darren Lebner]

 

[Dustin Flavell]

Enjoy cooking on it and get used to having a crowd around you when you cook on the ranch. The Ranch can be a little tricky to get used to with the 3 daisy wheel bottom vents and the larger top vent in the Center, but you’ll figure it out after a few cooks.

 

[Colin]

Nice find, congratulations Mathew. That beast is going to be fun to cook on.

 

[Mark Silver]

I used to have one. The best brisket I ever made was on my Ranch kettle at home. It was even better than ones I won competition's with.

 

[Teddy J.]

I support this decision. Any close up pics of the temp probe where it goes in the lid?

 

[JeffG]

Nice way to pull the trigger before the block party.....We all want one.

 

[Jon Tofte]

That’s very cool. Great catch, and the ultimate kettle!

Maybe get some wood handles for a nice upgrade? It deserves it.

 

[Bob H.]

Enjoy your new Ranch! Now you can grill for ALL of TVWBB!

 

[Joe Anshien]

Wow - I hope you have a lot of room. Did it come with a cover;-)

 

[Matthew Turner]

Wow - I hope you have a lot of room. Did it come with a cover;-)

Yes. Came with a very nice cover.

We don't have a ton of room. Maybe my wife doesn't need her garage spot. The WRK is about the size of her car. Need to train our two unaltered male dogs that it is not a "target."

 

[Matthew Turner]

Enjoy cooking on it and get used to having a crowd around you when you cook on the ranch. The Ranch can be a little tricky to get used to with the 3 daisy wheel bottom vents and the larger top vent in the Center, but you’ll figure it out after a few cooks.

A few burger/hot dog/sausage cooks before anything serious should help dial it in. I'm sure the top venting is a lot more useful in temp management than on the WSM or kettle. I might add some extensions for the bottom daisy wheels. I've seen some daisy week mods using generic hardware store file handles.

 

[Jon Tofte]

Wow - I hope you have a lot of room. Did it come with a cover;-)

Yeah, like maybe an extra-large tarp!

 

[Matthew Turner]

So much for breaking it in with an easy burger/dog cook. Bone in ribeye and a grilled salad.

Amazingly held rock steady at 345 and rebounded quickly when the lid was removed.

 

[John K BBQ]

I think Matthew may have exceeded the safe vegetable grilling capacity of that big *ss grill Just kidding of course because like most everyone else I'm a little jealous...have fun with the new grill and post lots of pictures please!

 

[Karl Quist]

Having never seen one in person, what impresses me most about your picture is that you can fit the ENTIRE meal on the grill at once; steak, salad components, all of it. WOW.