Tips for cooking on a 26"


 
R

Ross W

TVWBB Fan
Hey guys looking for some general tips for cooking on a 26" inch kettle. I am the proud new owner of a Glen Blue 26" and all my previous charcoal experience is on an 18" so its a big change for me. Any previous threads or sources you could link me to would be great.

For direct cooking - say I had a party and wanted to fill the whole grill up with burgers how much charcoal would it take? Definitely don't think one chimney would be enough.
It came with charcoal baskets does anyone use these? I could see using them for indirect but I think I would rather bank all the coals to one side vs having a charcoal basket on each side.

Tips for dialing to 225 or 325? How much charcoal do you usually use?

Thanks!
 
Ross W said:
For direct cooking - say I had a party and wanted to fill the whole grill up with burgers how much charcoal would it take?
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Do a dry/cold run to give yourself a baseline. Build a layer of unlit charcoal the same depth as the layer you'd use in your 18, and then see how many chimneys it fills. Use the same process for any other styles of fire you currently use.
 
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The only thought I have is one you're not asking, lol. If I wanted to do a full load of burgers I'd leave a safe zone where I could slide them to if there were a flareup.
 
I have had my 26 for about 10 years now and it has been my go to grill since. For burgers I would do a full chimney of lit and dump over 3/4 of the charcoal grate leaving a small area without direct heat to move burgers to as you pull them or add cheese.

I just started using the baskets that came with but instead of using one for each side I took mine apart and made one large one that better fits the 26” bowl. However, for the last 10 years I have been banking coals to the same side of the kettle and using fire bricks to hold the coals in place and I have seen zero problems with the kettle bowl. Actually the weight of the fire bricks have been a bigger issue on the coal grate them coals on the kettle bowl side.

For dialing in 325-350, I bank a full lite chimney on one side of the kettle, with the top vent 3/4 to full open. Bottom vent between the 2nd and 3rd circle.

for 225 (I am more a 250 guy) I place a full chimney of unlit banked to one side, then pull 10 out of the center light those in a mini chimney and place them back after full light. Top vent is full open and the bottom vent is just barely open not even 1/2 between closed and the first hole. Sometimes during the cook if things get a little too hot fully close the bottom vent but be prepared to crack it again in case the coals start to complete go out. This is a great way to cook spares flat and you can easy get 5-6 hours out of KBB using this method.

if you really want to get things hot for say searing steaks. Full chimney load lit. Bottom and top vents wide open and with the lid on but cracked off to one side. I’ve been close to 600 ;)

have fun!
 
CC97DF5A-0286-4BE4-96D1-D077D8483869.jpegDid some T-bones today on the 26. Coals banked to one side to cook the baked taters. Then open up the top and bottom wide open and cracked the lid. Steaks are on at 600°
 
One full chimney isn’t really enough to cover the bottom of the 26, I usually cook indirect on mine using a couple bricks instead of a pricey slow n sear.

When I did a big cook for a large party I started with a full chimney of unlit spread over the bottom and topped it with a full chimney of lit. This kept it going for burgers and chicken for a long time.

Remember you can always snuff out and save the coals you don’t use.

I also have a 1 1/4” hole drilled in mind for my fan temp control, not sure if I could bring myself to do that to a new glen blue though
 
M Andreyka said:
Side note... I think the 26 would be absolutely perfect for doing a large Turkey using the supplied charcoal baskets on each side
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Your absolutely right. I did Chris A’s dry brine Turkey from the virtual bullet site: https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/whole-turkey-salted-dry-brined/ on the 26 instead using a WSM. I did baskets on each side and was able to hold 325 no problem using a full lit Weber chimney with the chimney coal holder reversed (more capacity)
 
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