OTS a better cooker than OTG?

[Sean Banks]

Just cooked burgers, ribs and 4 chickens, halved on two 22.5 kettles, a regular black OTS and a Target Copper Kettle converted to OTG. Did ribs on the Silver, burgers on the Gold and 2 chickens on each. Both were set up the same way for indirect cooking with the exception of a water pan on the Silver. Seemed as if the Silver was easier to bring up to temp, control once at temp and keep steady when adding additional coals. I have to tend to the gold much more than I do the silver. does the water pan make that much of a difference.

Pictures of the cook below:

Each step along the way, it the chicken on the Silver were closed to where I wanted them to be....

 

[Robert McGee]

Sean;
I have both a silver and a gold. I MUCH prefer the ash control with the Gold. Here is a tip to mark your Gold so you can set the temperature control. You will have to renew the marks from time to time but it is simple to do:

http://www.hotsmokebbq.com/002gear/weber_bottom_vent_marking.php

Keep on smokin',
Dale53

 

[Dave Russell]

Both grills are great grills, but you're comparing apples to oranges if one of them had a water pan. No difference between how the gold or silvers cook if the vent fins are at the same positions, but LID FIT can be a big factor. My Performer runs a little hotter than my other kettles because the lid doesn't fit as tight and so it gets a bit more air to the coals.

 

[Larry D.]

Sean;
I have both a silver and a gold. I MUCH prefer the ash control with the Gold. Here is a tip to mark your Gold so you can set the temperature control. You will have to renew the marks from time to time but it is simple to do:

http://www.hotsmokebbq.com/002gear/weber_bottom_vent_marking.php

Keep on smokin',
Dale53

Good idea. I'll give you another tip: never try to adjust the vent handle on the Gold by reaching around from the other side. A second degree burn on the inside of your forearm takes many weeks to completely disappear.

 

[Sean Banks]

Same thing happens when I have a pan in both, only to a lesser degree. Perhaps it's because I've been cooking on Silvers for almost 30 years and only converted to Gold two years ago.

Because it's easier to control, I usually set the silver to low and slow and pretty much forget it and run the gold hot and fast for veggies, burgers, chicken breasts and steak. Whenever I have to run them both low and slow, there's always more fiddling with the gold.

I'm going to just have to break down and put in more time with the gold. Also looking to convert an 18.5 to Gold to reduce fuel burn during weeknight cooks and of course, ease of cleanup.

 

[Bob H.]

I still much prefer the old style 3 wheeled 3 hole vents to the silver or gold. Next in pref would be the silvers and gold my least favorite to use.

 

[Craig H]

I'm a Daisy wheel guy first. I pefer the temp control and I also love cooking on the old soldiers. The cleaning argument, I either use a Happy Cooker internal ash pan OR I just pick the kettle up and dump the ashes into the bucket I keep handy. Then occasionally my red One Touch comes out of the mothballs mainly for direct cooks or if it's time to break it out and give my old MBH's a rest. .

 

[Greg Powers]

My attention was diverted on the first picture; is that a double sink installed on an old gasser cart? Genius