Smoking with Firebricks Question

[Mike Purnell]

For those who have used their kettles to smoke while using firebricks: have you ever used the remaining charcoal grate space to add more meat? If so, what is the temp difference on the lower level?

 

[TroyRedington]

I haven't. I had thought about it, but i didn't want to foil, or clean the ashy bowl.

I only use my kettle to smoke ribs though.
I suppose if i were doing a butt I could just use a disposable foil pan.

 

[Ryan B]

I haven't set up my kettle with firebricks; I use the Smokenator, which, while unpopular on this forum, works in essentially the same fashion, restricting the charcoal to just one third of the grate and using a water tray as a heat sink. The Smokenator was in fact designed to allow a relatively large turkey to be smoked on the remaining portion of the charcoal grate; a firebrick setup might reduce that available space somewhat, but I don't see why a smaller bird or even a rather large butt couldn't be cooked there.

I once smoke-roasted five whole chickens in my kettle, two directly on the charcoal grate (I bought a replacement charcoal grate just for this purpose) and three on the cooking grate. If you're worried about it, a roasting rack in a roasting pan or disposable foil pan should be enough to keep the food mostly ash-free.

Of course, some allowance may need to be made for a difference in cooking temperatures between the charcoal and cooking grates. A great use for this space is baked beans, which can then catch the drippings from whatever you're smoking above.

 

[Mark Evenson]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike Purnell:
For those who have used their kettles to smoke while using firebricks: have you ever used the remaining charcoal grate space to add more meat? If so, what is the temp difference on the lower level? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nope, haven't done that. But it seems like a good idea. Since I foil the coal grate on the smoke side I would assume that the temps would be close to the cooking grate. If you have a bi probe therm, measure the two at both grate levels.

 

[Mac]

When I smoke Spares or a Brisket in the the kettle, I like to place my BBQ beans on the grate below the meat. It works as a temp control (think water pan on a WSM) and it catches all those yummy meat juices.

 

[Mike Purnell]

Good idea with the beans guys, I'll have to try that. I was thinking about having ribs on the top level, pork butt on the bottom level. Or even having 3-4 racks of ribs on each level using a rib rack.

I too think the smokenator is a great idea, too bad I'm cheap though. Figured 2 firebricks ($5.00) and a few pieces of foil on the charcoal grate would do the trick just as well.