Let's fill up the kettle and then keep it low.

[Michael Richards]

Went for a second cook with my new Aura Kettle Zone Cooking System and wanted to see if I could keep it low and slow and see how dumping a big pile of charcoal and using a minion method would work.
Lit 10 RO Chefs Select briquettes and placed it on top and centerish. Two pecan and one Hickory chunk of wood.
Put two sets of beef ribs and one rack of baby back ribs on when the temps hit 200 and shut down the bottom vent intensity.
One set of beef ribs are the "sinners" that I got with another set of Select beef ribs for cheap at Walmart a while back. The second set of beef ribs I got yesterday on clearance and thought let just do it! The baby backs are Smithfield natural extra meaty baby backs, they weight in at 3.3 lbs.
Seasoned up.

And on the kettle/the smoker.
Temps quickly climbed to 250 (goal was between 225 and 235) so I closed the top vent half way and after a few minutes it settles in between 235 and 245 and stayed there all day, a few times drop to 230 and a few times climbed to 250, but extremely steady once it got set.
After three hours I opened the lid for the first time.
Wrapped all the ribs, back on the kettle and added some chicken breast.
The shiners where done after an hour of being wrapped and the other set an hour and half after wrapping in the cooler they went.
Here are the pork ribs after wrap and before glazed to go back on to set.

And glaze.

And everything is done.

And ready for service.

And plated.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Looks very tasty. Did you maintain the low cook you wanted?

 

[Rich G]

I'm convinced, Michael! That Aura set up is going to work out real nice for you and your kettle. I'm impressed that you were able to dial in your temps so well, and the ribs (both types) look super tasty!!

So, what's your take away on the new set up?? I'm guessing you are either busy napping after that meal, or planning your next cook!

Nice job!

R

 

[Michael Richards]

Looks very tasty. Did you maintain the low cook you wanted?

Yeah, around 240 all day still have it going right now with no food on it to see how long the charcoal will last. 237 as of right now just under 8 hours in.

 

[CaseT]

Looks like it did the job. Nice cook!

 

[Michael Richards]

I'm convinced, Michael! That Aura set up is going to work out real nice for you and your kettle. I'm impressed that you were able to dial in your temps so well, and the ribs (both types) look super tasty!!

So, what's your take away on the new set up?? I'm guessing you are either busy napping after that meal, or planning your next cook!

Nice job!

R

I was totally falling asleep on the couch, just got up and made myself a cup of coffee. I am almost embarrassed to say how much food we ate tonight!

I am usually really slow to make purchases, pulling the trigger on this so fast got me really worried I was going to regret it, but after the two cooks, no regrets here. It is super easy to use and compare to the my low sitting WSM 14 and using 3 or 4 racks to make a lot of food this is so much easier, and it is fun to have something else to cook on. I loved not having to cut the ribs. I am worried I am neglected my WSM 14. I will have to make sure I use them both, but this set up is a game changer for my ability to cook with my small Weber Arsenal.

 

[JimK]

Looks like a great accessory for a kettle and definitely some nice grub!

 

[Michael Richards]

Looks like a great accessory for a kettle and definitely some nice grub!

I would so yes to both those statements!

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

Coolio!

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

Those ribs look amazing!

How often did you have to tweak the vents to maintain those temps through 8 hours?
Sounds like it's an excellent setup.

 

[Michael Richards]

Those ribs look amazing!

How often did you have to tweak the vents to maintain those temps through 8 hours?
Sounds like it's an excellent setup.

Short answer, I didn't...

Long answer, I let top and bottom vents wide open until temps hit 200. At 200 I put the meat on and turned the bottom vent down to just open a touch. Then about 15 mins later I shut down the top vent to 50%. For the next 5 hours I did not touch the vents at all and it stayed between 230 and 250 mostly between 235 and 245 the whole time. It was windy today also. After hour 5 right after I pulled the ribs to get glazed I noticed a temp drop (low 220's) so I went out moved half the system out and saw the problem. The charcoal burned from the center to back/right of the kettle but the front half and left side of the charcoal was untouched. So I moved the hot coals forward and put all the coals together and closed it back up. I debated opening the vents more but decided against it and within 15 mins it was back cruising at 237 and I put the ribs back on for setting. Once I took off all the food it rose to 280 so I shut down the top vent to 25% or less open and it settled back in to 240. That was 5 hours ago and I have not touched it and it is 231 right now.

Kyle,
I am beyond impressed. Thanks, because I would not have got this if it wasn't for your recommendation! If you can score an open box option with the discount I think it is well worth it.

 

[Kevin L (NKY)]

Micheal your cook came out great love that you cooked 3 different items of 2 food groups at one time,one time,.
I like that your setup is like cooking on a green egg without paying the high price.

 

[Michael Richards]

I shut down the vents last night/this morning at 1 am, the temps were dropping and at 210 at that time. But still, started at 10:30 am, and stayed above 200 from 11 am Monday until 1 am Tuesday, pretty impressive!

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Darned fine looking cook Michael. Thanks for the review and excellent commentary. That plate shot at the end is gorgeous!!

 

[Rich Dahl]

That is really amazing, what a great cook for the first time Michael.

 

[Michael Richards]

Darned fine looking cook Michael. Thanks for the review and excellent commentary. That plate shot at the end is gorgeous

Thanks Cliff. Those extra meaty pork ribs stole the show for me, there was so much meat on them!!! If I can find them again I will pick them up again.

 

[Peter Gallagher]

awesome - nice tray of meat!

 

[Michael Richards]

I shut down the vents last night/this morning at 1 am, the temps were dropping and at 210 at that time. But still, started at 10:30 am, and stayed above 200 from 11 am Monday until 1 am Tuesday, pretty impressive!

I brought the grates in after those first two cooks and got them cleaned up real nice yesterday afternoon. The SS is a so much nicer then the standard plated grates. After they were cleaned I went out to scrap off the diffuser plates and put them away for safe keeping.
When I moved the diffuser plates I was really surprised to see about 1/5 to max 1/4 the charcoal left untouched. I pushed it 14 plus hours and it had a little more time in it, and I could have/should have put a little more charcoal it there. I think this could really get some long cooks done!
Twice during this first long burn, the fire went directional and ran out of coals in one direction, but wasn't close enough to light the other areas of untouched coals. This started to happened at around 5/6 hours in and I think it happened again around hour 14 (I just thought it was completely burning out). I have never experienced this in the WSM 14, but I really think I could have put more coals in and it would have packed the whole thing in a little tighter and maybe burned more evenly. Even so, I now know if I see a dip in temps that this maybe the reason and just something I have to watch out for.