New The Huntsman Kettle Kamado Grill from Spider coming.


 
I found Tom's video very helpful as I had just received my "Next Level" diffuser/grate set. I could see his point that the space between the Spider charcoal grate halves and the diffuser above was pretty limited. Since I was wanting to do a beer can chicken to compensate for yet another Thanksgiving "yellow" oven baked turkey per the high command's decree. I alreay had a brand-new Aura stainless charcoal grate meant for a Weber 22" and did as Tom suggested.

This is the stock Spider charcoal grate set in place. (Very heavy gauge, by the way):
Spider charcoal grate set in place.JPEG

This is substituting the very nice Aura stainless charcoal grate. As Tom Horsman pointed out, it does free up several inches of room.
Aura grate in place of Spider charcoal grate.JPEG

I didn't do like Spider shows in their recent video for doing beer can (actually Cherry Dr. Pepper!) chicken and instead opted to use both halves of the diffuser:
Beer Can Chicken ready to go on Huntsman.JPEG

It was pretty cold, and I was having a little trouble getting my Huntsman all the way up to my set temperature. One bad rap the Huntsman is getting from some is this issue. I conclude that with all that thick metal you will need a fair amount of fuel to get up to temp, especially if it is cold and/or windy outside. Once you get there, I think the hot metal will hold heat pretty well and let you more readily stay there.

One of the coolest attributes of the Huntsman is the side door that allows you to add fuel during a cook. This is the big advantage of the Spider diffuser vs. the SkyFlame or other diffuser that uses a charcoal ring. I used a Skyflame successfully to do ribs when it was warmer, but you pretty much have to live with what charcoal you put in there without a huge interruption of your cook.

With the Huntsman door and Sider diffuser, I was able to add more needed fuel with no impact on the temperature above the diffuser in spite of opening the door:
Adding fuel to Huntsman.JPEG

My chicken standing up on the can holder barely fit, but it worked. I got the results I was hoping for:
Beer Can Chicken done on the Huntsman.JPEG

So far, I really do like my Huntsman a lot, although I haven't yet put it through all the paces that I have wanted to. It is a super well-built grill with an innovative design. Like all first tries at something new, there is of course room for improvement. I think the easiest thing Spider could do is make a new upper lid that is 4 or 5 inches taller. They could call it the XL and offer the lid to existing owners like me as an upgrade.

Finally, this is a Weber board, and my comments wouldn't be complete without commenting that I fully believe Weber could make a grill like this or at least incorporate the side door in a new kettle or upgraded Summit charcoal grill. I think it is a great and very useful feature.
 
Jon Tofte said:
I found Tom's video very helpful as I had just received my "Next Level" diffuser/grate set. I could see his point that the space between the Spider charcoal grate halves and the diffuser above was pretty limited. Since I was wanting to do a beer can chicken to compensate for yet another Thanksgiving "yellow" oven baked turkey per the high command's decree. I alreay had a brand-new Aura stainless charcoal grate meant for a Weber 22" and did as Tom suggested.

This is the stock Spider charcoal grate set in place. (Very heavy gauge, by the way):
View attachment 104629

This is substituting the very nice Aura stainless charcoal grate. As Tom Horsman pointed out, it does free up several inches of room.
View attachment 104630

I didn't do like Spider shows in their recent video for doing beer can (actually Cherry Dr. Pepper!) chicken and instead opted to use both halves of the diffuser:
View attachment 104631

It was pretty cold, and I was having a little trouble getting my Huntsman all the way up to my set temperature. One bad rap the Huntsman is getting from some is this issue. I conclude that with all that thick metal you will need a fair amount of fuel to get up to temp, especially if it is cold and/or windy outside. Once you get there, I think the hot metal will hold heat pretty well and let you more readily stay there.

One of the coolest attributes of the Huntsman is the side door that allows you to add fuel during a cook. This is the big advantage of the Spider diffuser vs. the SkyFlame or other diffuser that uses a charcoal ring. I used a Skyflame successfully to do ribs when it was warmer, but you pretty much have to live with what charcoal you put in there without a huge interruption of your cook.

With the Huntsman door and Sider diffuser, I was able to add more needed fuel with no impact on the temperature above the diffuser in spite of opening the door:
View attachment 104632

My chicken standing up on the can holder barely fit, but it worked. I got the results I was hoping for:
View attachment 104633

So far, I really do like my Huntsman a lot, although I haven't yet put it through all the paces that I have wanted to. It is a super well-built grill with an innovative design. Like all first tries at something new, there is of course room for improvement. I think the easiest thing Spider could do is make a new upper lid that is 4 or 5 inches taller. They could call it the XL and offer the lid to existing owners like me as an upgrade.

Finally, this is a Weber board, and my comments wouldn't be complete without commenting that I fully believe Weber could make a grill like this or at least incorporate the side door in a new kettle or upgraded Summit charcoal grill. I think it is a great and very useful feature.
Click to expand...
Very nice looking cook and great write up. Does the Weber kettle lid fit the Huntsman? If so does it give you more room? I agree that Weber could innovate the kettle more than minor and cosmetic changes. A door would be great. The reason I like my little Char-Griller Patio is the pull out charcoal basket that makes adding wood and charcoal a breeze. I would love to find a used Hasty Bake grill some time to play with.
 
For those taller folks out there using the Huntsman: Today I raised the level of my grill by 2", swapping out the 3" casters for 5" casters. It doesn't sound like much, but it feels more natural to me now. If you're interested in doing the same, the stems are 12mm 1.75 thread. I think the original caster stems were only about 30mm long, whereas the ones I used were 60mm and they still bottomed out flush against the base bolt where it should. I prefer the look of the original black casters, but am pretty confident that I'll appreciate the grill being at a more natural height for me (I'm 6'2").
 
Darren Whitley said:
For those taller folks out there using the Huntsman: Today I raised the level of my grill by 2", swapping out the 3" casters for 5" casters. It doesn't sound like much, but it feels more natural to me now. If you're interested in doing the same, the stems are 12mm 1.75 thread. I think the original caster stems were only about 30mm long, whereas the ones I used were 60mm and they still bottomed out flush against the base bolt where it should. I prefer the look of the original black casters, but am pretty confident that I'll appreciate the grill being at a more natural height for me (I'm 6'2").
Click to expand...
Picks of the new spinners?
 
Darren Whitley said:
For those taller folks out there using the Huntsman: Today I raised the level of my grill by 2", swapping out the 3" casters for 5" casters. It doesn't sound like much, but it feels more natural to me now. If you're interested in doing the same, the stems are 12mm 1.75 thread. I think the original caster stems were only about 30mm long, whereas the ones I used were 60mm and they still bottomed out flush against the base bolt where it should. I prefer the look of the original black casters, but am pretty confident that I'll appreciate the grill being at a more natural height for me (I'm 6'2").
Click to expand...
Where did you get them from? If possible, can you post a link?

I think this is one "short"coming that Spider didn't really see coming. I will bet VER 2.0 incorporates some changes in height. Your fix sounds like a good one. A taller stance and higher hood clearance would be worthwhile improvements for Spider to pursue. On the hood clearance, Tom Horsman posted an interesting video of where he hacksawed his way into getting a pizza or rotisserie insert meant for 22" kettles to raise his Spider lid. He admitted it took several hours of work and hasn't shown any cooks with it that I am aware of. I thought his finished product looked pretty good and not out of place. He did say, though, that the metal was thin. You also would certainly lose some heat retention between the insert and the lid and bottom.
 
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I'm 6'4 (at least used to be 😁 ) and I have not found the Huntsman too difficult to work with. It would be nice if it was a little taller, but it is really no different than a regular kettle. Grate height is a little shorter than my Performer.
The only thing I struggle with is getting down low to do any adjustments to the Venom or to empty the ash catcher.
I haven't experienced any problems with the hood clearance and haven't done any modifications or purchased any of the additional items that have been offered.
I am sure the next version will have some changes and I agree, a little taller would be nice. But for the intro price this has been a great addition to add to my mix, which is all Webers.
 
A good idea on Spider's part. There are few bad raps being thrown around about using the Huntsman in the cold. My last cook at Thanksgiving went fine, but I have been too overextended to try it since this very cold weather has arrived.

I also took note that Jeremiah said he turns the Venom off on high heat cooks of steaks, burgers. An issue of all fan driven charcoal grills, is ash being blown around. Trying to get this thick metal grill up to temp with the Venom is inevitably going the have the fan running hard and probably some ash going where you don't want it to. I will definitely try that.
 
I've done a few cooks in sub-freezing temps. I just open my vents all the way to get it going and it heats up much faster than if you set the Venom and close the upper vent to the recommended spot.
It's fast and then once it gets up to temp, I close the bottom vent, turn on the Vemon and I am off and running.
 
This appears to be an admission of sorts that the original design was not tall enough. It's on their website, but they are charging $29 for the kit and $15 for shipping. I don't think it is necessary but would probably do it if not for the shipping costs.
 
Finally, a high heat (sort of) grill session on my Huntsman. This afternoon was chilly and damp, not the best for charcoal grilling. I filled my Huntsman with what I considered to be a generous amount of charcoal. I lt the charcoal with a propane torch, augmented at the end with the Venom helping with forced air flow.

First, I will admit I was in a hurry. I never was able to get lid thermometer or Venom pit readings up much above 450 degrees. Time was up, though, so I coaxed my Huntsman to grill 4 prime top sirloins from Sam’s anyway.

IMG_7155.jpeg

To speed things up, I finished up in the hottest center.

IMG_7156.jpeg

I was doing a little second guessing along the way, wondering if I wouldn’t have been happier with a Recteq Bullseye Deluxe Black Edition. But then I brought the steaks in to a very positive reception:

IMG_7157.jpeg

So results were still good.

My initial observation, similar to others, is that the heavy mass of carbon steel on the Huntsman requires time and plenty of fuel to get up to high temperatures when outside temps are cold. That means planning ahead! I will keep that in mind as I wait for warmer weather to arrive here in west central Indiana.
 
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Jon Tofte said:
Finally, a high heat (sort of) grill session on my Huntsman. This afternoon was chilly and damp, not the best for charcoal grilling. I filled my Huntsman with what I considered to be a generous amount of charcoal. I lt the charcoal with a propane torch, augmented at the end with the Venom helping with forced air flow.

First, I will admit I was in a hurry. I never was able to get lid thermometer or Venom pit readings up much above 450 degrees. Time was up, though, so I coaxed my Huntsman to grill 4 prime top sirloins from Sam’s anyway.

View attachment 107378

To speed things up, I finished up in the hottest center.

View attachment 107379

I was doing a little second guessing along the way, wondering if I wouldn’t have been happier with a Recteq Bullseye Deluxe Black Edition. But then I brought the steaks in to a very positive reception:

View attachment 107380

So results were still good.

My initial observation, similar to others, is that the heavy mass of carbon steel on the Huntsman requires time and plenty of fuel to get up to high temperatures when outside temps are cold. That means planning ahead! I will keep that in mind as I wait for warmer weather to arrive here in west central Indiana.
Click to expand...
Anytime I want hot and fast I go with a chimney. It's the quickest way to get the coals where you need them.
 
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