New SS grate for my Summit smoker box burner


 
Lance-DjL

Lance-DjL

TVWBB Member
Hello again,

I just got my SS grate and flavorizer bar from David Santana and was wondering if anyone has used their smoker box burner as a cooking burner and what (if any) precautions I should take while using it.

My 2nd gen Summit C4 (4 burners + smoker burner) has 44,000 BTUs for cooking. I'm guessing that mean each burner has 11,000 BTUs. The smoker burner has 8,000 BTUs.

If I wanted an evenly heated cooking surface across the grill, should I lower the 4 cooking burners knobs, or adjust the manifold (if possible) and raise the BTUs for the smoker box burner or just leave it as is.

Thanks.

BTW David did a great job on the grates!
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20230516_221917010.jpg
    PXL_20230516_221917010.jpg
    183.8 KB · Views: 19
First off, I don't know of anyone always using full output from all the burners. So, if you think about it the smoke burner is about 70% of the others. And if you wanted to run say at half heat, you would need to run the smoker about 3/4 to be around 1/2 on the mains. Just a guess. So sure if even across the board is what you want. You make adjustments accordingly
 
Thanks for the good advice. I'm not sure where you got the ideal I was wanting to use "full output on all burners". I'm just wanting to achieve even heat across the grill.
 
By the way the question was worded. In the end though, more likely to use that end of the grill as your "safe" or "warm only" zone.
 
Is it possible to adjust the manifold (raise the smoker burner) to match the BTUs across all burners?
 
Lance-DjL said:
Is it possible to adjust the manifold (raise the smoker burner) to match the BTUs across all burners?
Click to expand...
It would not be an adjustment. You would need an orifice sized the same as the mains. IIRC that is a different burner in there all together though. If so it might not be a good idea to do it. The last time I looked into one of those grills was a VERY long time ago so I honestly don't recall. Honestly I would simply "deal with what you have".
 
My guess is that even if your smoker burner has a lower btu rating, the fact that it is closer in proximity to your other burners would remove the need to enlarge your orifice to achieve higher btu output. I am with Larry in that I would give it a try or two before thinking about making adjustments. I am not certain, either, but other than having a special heat shield, I am believe the smoker burner is otherwise the same as the "regular" burners. But it is possible the orifice is narrower to "throttle down" the output a little bit.
 
I don't think the smoker box burner was designed to provide cooking heat to the grill per se. It is basically a dedicated burner for the smoker box. If you want even heating (or at least even heating as the grill was designed to provide), you should only be using the 4 regular burners. The sear burner and smoker box burner are not intended to be utilized if the desire is even heating across the grill.
 
Bruce, I think you are correct in what Weber was trying to accomplish. Dave, however, sells a special grate to expand the regular cooking area by giving up the smoker box. I would think Lance can cook on that added space using the smoker box burner as a "regular" burner. Might take some adjusting to get it neither too hot nor too cold.
 
If you want even temperatures across the grill, all you need to do is not use the smoker burner. The four main burners are all evenly spaced and have the same output. You replaced the smoker box section with a grate to reclaim cooking space, which I think was a good idea. That's it, you're done. I guess you could light that extra burner at start up to pre heat the grill a little faster.
 
Thanks to all for the great advice.

I will be cooking on the grill tomorrow and will play around with the new set-up. I agree that the only adjustments needed will be using just the knobs.

Even though it's only 5 inches more to the cooking surface, It should be a great addition for the neighborhood cookouts this summer.
 
Just wondering why you put the smoker box back in the grill instead of the new grate section. Do you still use it?
 
Steve Hoch said:
Just wondering why you put the smoker box back in the grill instead of the new grate section. Do you still use it?
Click to expand...
Hi Steve,
My grill has been designated for an upcoming block party. I will be using the new grate then. The grate came with an oily residue and I want to do a burn off before I cook with it. I'll post how well it worked after the party.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top