Is the Santa Maria Attachment Worthwhile?


 

PMillen

New member
I just noticed that there are Santa Maria attachments available for my 22-inch kettle. What benefits does one offer?

What will we gain and lose if we grill on the Santa Maria rather than the kettle with the lid on?
 
I bought one from Gabby's a few months ago. It is FUN to use! Maybe that's because it's something new, and I realize I can get along with out it, but it's enjoyable being able to adjust the grate temp by changing the height. In my opinion it also means being able to use the entire grate surface when grilling since I can raise it to recover from a flareup. Otherwise, I use a two-zone configuration in my Kettle. You might enjoy watching some of T-ROY Cooks vids on YouTube.

If I'm right, Cliff Bartlett has one; you might be able to search the Photos section and at least see some pics. And I've seen some pics from ChuckO in the same forum with a different Santa Maria. Here are a couple of his posts: https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?70478-Happy-Birthday-to-me&highlight=santa+maria and https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?70590-Pizzas-on-the-Santa-Maria&highlight=santa+maria

Here's another thread: https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?68450-Santa-Maria-Grill-for-Kettles&highlight=santa+maria
 
Thanks for the prompt reply and the links, BF. I'm sure that I'm missing something, but I don't see that a SMG offers much in the way of benefits and I worry that we'll miss the trapped heat and smokey charcoal flavor the lid ensures.

Where am I going wrong?
 
I simply look at it as an option for open-flame cooking, which interests some and maybe not others. On Friday when I slapped a Tri-Tip on it, and pork chops the prior week, I could easily detect that they were done over charcoal and wood chunks. I haven't done so yet, but it is on my list to try it with wood as its sole source of fuel. I wouldn't do a meatloaf on it but for meats that need to be turned I enjoy using it. I did not need justification. I saw it, I wanted it, and eventually I got one, lol.
 
“I saw, I wanted, I bought”
Makes perfect sense to me, you only have to justify it to yourself!
I see it’s value, I am still trying to see the back wall of my garage too. When I can see the latter maybe I’ll see the way to justify the former.
 
Santa Maria is just a different style of open flame grilling. It's like grilling over a campfire and most Santa Maria grills are fueled by wood.. However, you can adjust the height to reduce, or increase, charring. Because the juices are hitting the charcoal or wood fire you get flavor and aroma from the burning fat. I think they're interesting but I'm not tempted by one. That said I sure can understand why others put them on their kettle.
 
I absolutely love mine. It's a lot of fun and when company comes over they love to stand around assisting. Do you need it, nope. But, it's a blast.
 
Face it, a lot of the things we accumulate do not necessarily fall under the “Worthwhile” flag but they are fun so, if you want one, you should have one!
 

 

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