Weber Summit Kamado - new owner questions / help needed


 
DanHoo said:
Welcome Todd ! Glad to see another WSK owner in the ranks. You've made a fantastic choice.

I'll offer some of my opinions/suggestions. I'm sure some others will be along with theirs

1. I cover the deflector with foil and / or set a SS drip pan on top of it. I have a 14 inch and 16 inch SS pan I use in my BGE and will use the 16 in the WSK as well. When I use the SS drip pan I cover it with HD foil.

here is a link to some https://ceramicgrillstore.com/collections/drip-pans-for-kamado-grills

2. I don't' really clean my grates. I will spin the upper grate around when I have coals off to one side to burn them off, otherwise I find I do enough higher temp cooks that the grates sort of take care of themselves. The grates are SS and when they are fully coated, they are what they are. My WSK is about a year old so there are still a few shiny spots here and there but otherwise fully covered with carbonized grease. FWIW, I also have a large BGE since 2011 and I've never cleaned those grates either. Some high heat and a brushing or scraping now and then is all.

3. I use a beach towel in summer to keep the dust, tree droppings and bird droppings off the grill. Last year I bought four that match on sale at costco for 11 or 12 dollars each.

I guess my tendencies are more like "cook a little more, clean a little less" <------ wait, is that a song???


edit: The Genesis 1000 has a bikini, and the others get a beach towel.

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Nice @DanHoo Thats a hell of a line up #ImReallyJealous
 
Richard Garcia said:
IMO, making and learning from your mistakes makes the better "BBQ'er.
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Yep, that is true. I know my first port butt on the WSK wasn't up to my liking and all the ideas on more smoking wood are what I am going to do to try and improve it. I also liked her double wall water pan and may try that.
 
Attempt #2 at low and slow went much better. Here was my setup with B&B. Lined the bottom with oak and cherry pieces. Started it with a few Kingsford Professional:

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I got like 17 hours out of that load which is amazing. Started at 9:45 pm Saturday night, a few adjustments early on had it at in the 230's all night and I never adjusted the vents all night. My alarm was 200 on low end and 275 on high end. I woke up a couple of times and it was locked in in the 230's. End pork butt was fantastic after 13 hours before wrapping to finish it off:

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I then cleaned out the WSK and made a chicken for my wife so we had both for supper:

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I then roasted some veggies with the chicken setup above. Overall success. Smoke flavor was better this time on the butt and letting it in the fridge for a couple days will be the tell tale sign (as the flavor seems to build after a day or two in the fridge).

Note: the versatility is amazing with this unit. I am liking it more and more.
 
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Appears to be a large learning-curve to be had on the WSK for those grillers-smokers that have used.the other types of Weber kettles for many years?
 
Richard Garcia said:
Appears to be a large learning-curve to be had on the WSK for those grillers-smokers that have used.the other types of Weber kettles for many years?
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I am not a long time weber kettle user. I find the WSK is very easy to use and modulate temps. Easier for certain than a kettle in controlling temps. My background: I was always a gasser and wanted to start smoking. So I bought a used 18.5 WSM and she threw on a 22" kettle and I got both for like $130. I loved the charcoal cooking so much I traded my weber genesis gasser to my brother in law for woodwork projects. I used the WSM a ton and the kettle a little. But I never had a vortex or did long smokes on the kettle (the WSM was so easy to use for low and slow). I made a bro-and-sear for the kettle and used that for steaks, chicken pieces, etc. as well as regular grilling, but now I am using the WSK the most and haven't used the WSM at all and only use the kettle for overflow. I hope that helps. I have done maybe 10 cooks total (2 low and slow) on the WSK now and it gets easier and easier each time.
 
So, my daughter knows I love tinkering with the smoker, so she gets me 4 flavors of wood chips for father's day. I thanked her for being so thoughtful and I would like to use them if at all possible just for her. I don't want her to feel bad about it.

Could I layer the bottom of my arbor fab charcoal basket with the wood chips on a low and slow cook in the WSK? The holes are small enough it should hold them up and not let them fall thru. Or mix them in the charcoal? Have any of you tried doing that?

Or should they just disappear.
 
Todd K Wisc said:
So, my daughter knows I love tinkering with the smoker, so she gets me 4 flavors of wood chips for father's day. I thanked her for being so thoughtful and I would like to use them if at all possible just for her. I don't want her to feel bad about it.

Could I layer the bottom of my arbor fab charcoal basket with the wood chips on a low and slow cook in the WSK? The holes are small enough it should hold them up and not let them fall thru. Or mix them in the charcoal? Have any of you tried doing that?

Or should they just disappear.
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I often sprinkle mesquite chips across the top of my coals when doing a brisket. And a generous amount. I see no reason why you cannot add them as you desire. I just prefer atop and near the upper layer than at the bottommost layer as I don’t want mesquite as the first smoke I taste. It’s too powerful.

Chips won’t produce a lot of long smoke, just a bump of smoke.

Enjoy and kudos to your child be being thoughtful. My kids just showed up for dinner. Not even a 4 or 6 pack of some fine beer.
 
Richard Garcia said:
Appears to be a large learning-curve to be had on the WSK for those grillers-smokers that have used.the other types of Weber kettles for many years?
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There is a bit of a learning curve to be sure, but it's really not that bad. Most difficulties come from assuming that because it's a Weber, it will act like a kettle (it won't), or because it's shaped like a BGE it operates in the same way (it doesn't). If you start with the attitude that it's a different product from anything you've already used, and adapt appropriately, the learning curve is flattened substantially. I know this because it's precisely what I didn't do!

The biggest stumbling block for me (and something I'm still amazed at) was how responsive the WSK is. Temperature control is very precise compared to a Kettle, and it responds very quickly; sort of like the difference between a gas stovetop and an electric one. At first I found myself making adjustments that were way too coarse, and seeing the temperature swing wildly as a result. Once I got it into my head that it handled more like a sports car than a pickup truck, cooking with it became much easier.

(Keep in mind that I'm like the Forest Gump of BBQ, so if I can figure it out anyone can!)
 
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Grant Cunningham said:
Most difficulties come from assuming that because it's a Weber, it will act like a kettle (it won't), or because it's shaped like a BGE it operates in the same way (it doesn't).
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I think this is the best piece of advice for new WSK owners! I had a similar experience, thinking it would behave more like a BGE because of the shape and insulated portion.

Grant Cunningham said:
Temperature control is very precise compared to a Kettle, and it responds very quickly; sort of like the difference between a gas stovetop and an electric one. At first I found myself making adjustments that were way too coarse, and seeing the temperature swing wildly as a result.
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Quoted for emphasis. It is incredible how quickly the WSK responds to changes.
 
Andy Erickson said:
Not at all. Took me no time at all. It really does cook like a kettle in grill mode and cooks like a WSM in low n slow mode.
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I’d say better than a WSM in LAS. My brisket cook times are around 20% less on the WSK. And now that I rarely pop the lid and peek at it, it’s even more efficient. The Signals remote sensor was a game changer for me.
 
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