I will just leave this here


 
This sounds interesting, but I cannot see this being very feasible for most people. How much pizza does a guy have to eat to make something like this worth while?

Last week I spent $30 on a middle of the road large pizza, take away, not eat in. That's about 24 pizzas? Course, you'd need to add in the needed ingredients etc.

Couple of months ago I snagged a Kettle Pizza Serious Eats Edition off of Craigslist for $50. Haven't had the opportunity to fire it up as yet.

 
Hey Mark, can you give more details on the cracked lid method ? which weber are you mentioning? a gas weber? a kettle? a smoker?
Certainly! I first heard of this here:


As you can see, he's using a classic charcoal 22" Weber kettle. He's also using an older model SnS charcoal basket and also the SnS half moon stainless steel griddle on the bottom rack under the pizza stone (one could us HD foil instead). This is to help guide the cold air coming up from the lower vent over to the fire and keep any of it from drifting up and mixing with the hot air over the cooking grate which results in a hotter cooking temp. His top vent is over the pizza and appears to be wide open, but the main exhaust appears to be the crack on the fire side and there is obviously another smaller crack on the pizza side. The flaming wood also provides a hotter temp. He claims he wants to cook the pizza at 600 F.

This guy, Steve Cusato, has used this technique at least two other times but I can't find those videos right now. But I haven't seen anybody else use this method, and nobody ever talks about it anywhere either.

So anyway, about a month ago, I tried this with chicken wings, except I loaded the charcoal on one side, and laid the chicken wings on the other side, and then cracked the lid on the chicken wing side. This also left a crack on the fire side, but it was very small. I kept the top vent closed to force the hot air through the chicken wing parts and out the crack. I did use the half moon griddle down below, but didn't use the SnS basket, I just piled the charcoal on one side with help of the two smaller Weber baskets.

This forces all the hot convective heat to pass right by the wings.

The kettle was crazy hot! I had a little rubber probe input grommet installed on that food side and it didn't survive the cook. I also had a Tel-Tru dial thermometer installed on the food side lid down low with a max of 700 F and that blew out too! But the wings were done in like five minutes. Perfect all around crispy wings and I didn't even need to flip them!

I've replaced the rubber grommet with a stainless steel smoker probe port I found on udsparts.com and replaced the thermometer with an 800 F deal. I also have a 1,000 F bi-metalic dial thermometer on hand.

So, I do need to fine-tune this, but this is my new method for cooking wings. ;-)

EDIT: I apparently posted this in the wrong thread/forum. Maybe a mod could move it somewhere? *sorry*
 
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Certainly! I first heard of this here:


As you can see, he's using a classic charcoal 22" Weber kettle. He's also using an older model SnS charcoal basket and also the SnS half moon stainless steel griddle on the bottom rack under the pizza stone (one could us HD foil instead). This is to help guide the cold air coming up from the lower vent over to the fire and keep any of it from drifting up and mixing with the hot air over the cooking grate which results in a hotter cooking temp. His top vent is over the pizza and appears to be wide open, but the main exhaust appears to be the crack on the fire side and there is obviously another smaller crack on the pizza side. The flaming wood also provides a hotter temp. He claims he wants to cook the pizza at 600 F.

This guy, Steve Cusato, has used this technique at least two other times but I can't find those videos right now. But I haven't seen anybody else use this method, and nobody ever talks about it anywhere either.

So anyway, about a month ago, I tried this with chicken wings, except I loaded the charcoal on one side, and laid the chicken wings on the other side, and then cracked the lid on the chicken wing side. This also left a crack on the fire side, but it was very small. I kept the top vent closed to force the hot air through the chicken wing parts and out the crack. I did use the half moon griddle down below, but didn't use the SnS basket, I just piled the charcoal on one side with help of the two smaller Weber baskets.

This forces all the hot convective heat to pass right by the wings.

The kettle was crazy hot! I had a little rubber probe input grommet installed on that food side and it didn't survive the cook. I also had a Tel-Tru dial thermometer installed on the food side lid down low with a max of 700 F and that blew out too! But the wings were done in like five minutes. Perfect all around crispy wings and I didn't even need to flip them!

I've replaced the rubber grommet with a stainless steel smoker probe port I found on udsparts.com and replaced the thermometer with an 800 F deal. I also have a 1,000 F bi-metalic dial thermometer on hand.

So, I do need to fine-tune this, but this is my new method for cooking wings. ;-)

EDIT: I apparently posted this in the wrong thread/forum. Maybe a mod could move it somewhere? *sorry*
Thanks for posting that Mark- very interesting.
 
I went out there on Sunday and got a quick look at it, she was waiting for some one coming to look.
It appears to be a Summit Gold D4
It looked to be basically good, not hopeless, good small drip pan was loose in bottom, stamped ss grates, wasn't able to dismantle anything.
She took the listing down and won't be back for a couple of months, and phoned me to say still available
It is free, she'd like to have her Father' favorite grill have new life.
Better pix attached.
I have talked a friend near me to be the recipient of this Summit D4 near us, and we plan to go pick it up.
I have heard that "you can almost fit anything into a Volvo wagon" and indeed my 1996 850 wagon has easily brought home both a Genesis 2 and a Genesis 3000.
Any thoughts on making this one fit?
 

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Maybe remove the lid and possibly wheels and slide it in end to end on it's back. Bring a good plastic tarp to lay under it.
 

There's not too many of these around where I am. The Performer Deluxe is now $689 in stores, and charcoal isnt that popular in dense urban areas. Judging by the photo of it being in a garage, and no rust stains on the wire shelf, I bet this will clean up nicely. I'd be tempted to go see this one and make the guy an offer, but I already picked up a Gen 2 Performer last month.
 
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There's not too many of these around where I am. The Performer Deluxe is now $689 in stores, and charcoal isnt that popular in dense urban areas. Judging by the photo of it being in a garage, and no rust stains on the wire shelf, I bet this will clean up nicely. I'd be tempted to go see this one and make the guy an offer, but I already picked up a Gen 2 Performer last month.
It looks pretty nice.
 
If you are looking for one, I would say that is a good deal from what I can see of it.
That's the problem. I'm not officially looking for one. That one looks to be in good condition, but it's not an upgrade over my Gen 2. If that was a Gen 4 with GBS grates, I'd definitely be knocking on his door.

Looking at the location it's located, I know it's an industrial area without many homes. The background items in the photo also shows warehouse items and a commercial roll up door. I have a feeling this one was only used occasionally and stored indoors. Pretty good candidate for someone looking for a grill that just needs a clean up.
 
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I have talked a friend near me to be the recipient of this Summit D4 near us, and we plan to go pick it up.
I have heard that "you can almost fit anything into a Volvo wagon" and indeed my 1996 850 wagon has easily brought home both a Genesis 2 and a Genesis 3000.
Any thoughts on making this one fit?
It is in his back yard now. Good internals, fires up, complete.
Fit well in car as described above by Bruce above.
Very complete except for the loss of one knob in transit.
It sat for many years in sand, so the castered legs will need repair. New leg frame or tube in tube reinforcement.
My friend (also named Bruce) will use it as a daily and not do a restoration.
Successful rescue, it will see good use, and the prior owners are delighted.
 

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Hmmm, with a little clean up, that grill looks pretty good in the cook box area. The reall problem area is the front of the cook box where the burners come through from the outside. If that panel is all corroded around the burner holes, it could be a dangerous grill to use.
 
Hmmm, with a little clean up, that grill looks pretty good in the cook box area. The reall problem area is the front of the cook box where the burners come through from the outside. If that panel is all corroded around the burner holes, it could be a dangerous grill to use.
I looked at that area closely before we moved it, and the gaps at burner entry are about the same or less than in an E-W Genesis of similar age.
With a better frame it would make a good candidate for restoration. If a platinum turns up…,
Small knob found in driveway 😅
 
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