Looking for a Grill for Competition

Sawdustguy · Oct 16, 2005

As you can see from my signature our BBQ team has a Lang smoker. We are looking for a charcoal grill to accompany the Lang when going to competitions. We will use the grill to cook chicken thighs and of course feed ourselves. We are looking for a grill that is heavy duty and durable, does not weigh a ton, won't break the bank (<$500) and can cook 24 chicken thighs. Any suggestions?

BBQchef33 · Oct 16, 2005

hate to state the obvious, but why not a 22 inch kettle?

Solidkick · Oct 16, 2005

I bought for the team a 30" Walmart brand kettle. Put a Spicewine Thermometer in the lid, and that's what we use for competition.

I own at home a Kingsford barrel type cooker that was made by, I think, Masterbuilt. It does a very nice job, but would take 2 people to handle, and a truck.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2097515

It has three separate cooking grates, which are removable. I usually offset cook with one grate out and build the fire on that end. The test chicken I fixed this weekend that the pictures are in another thread was fixed in the Kingsford grill.

Sawdustguy · Oct 16, 2005

Yup, I haven't had anthing but a weber kettle grill for a very long time. My present weber is just about ready to be replaced after 15 years so I figured maybe something better came out since. I have found a couple of neet charcoal grills but for the price and convienence, it's tuff to beat the weber kettle grill especially since I will be dragging it to competitions. For $150 the weber 22 1/2" one touch gold is my choice. If I was choosing a new funky grill just for the back yard and wanted to spend more money I would have choosen the Babecook Leader (http://www.barbecook.com/v2/products/bbqdetail.asp?lg=EN&bbq=223875000&aantal=0) which has a build in chimney and extinguisher. Cool grill but too, too expensive.

The_Kapn · Oct 16, 2005

BBQchef33 said:
hate to state the obvious, but why not a 22 inch kettle?

Obvious ditto on the Weber :grin:

TIM

parrothead · Oct 17, 2005

I use a weber kettle at comp. Wouldn't have anything else.

BrooklynQ · Oct 17, 2005

Sawdustguy said:
We are looking for a grill that is heavy duty and durable, and can cook 24 chicken thighs. Any suggestions?

I don't think a Kettle can cook 24 chicken thighs at one time. You'll probably need something bigger or two kettles.

jt · Oct 17, 2005

Kick's is about a 28" inch or something like that so it should handle that many. It's got a flip-up grate to add coals, etc. Uniflame brand or something like that.

BBQchef33 · Oct 17, 2005

ive done almost 2 family packs of thighs on the kettle, and thats alot more than ya need for a competition. Weber also has the Ranch Kettle. Its something like 36 inchs across. With that u can do 2 family packs indirect.! Saw it at Fortunoffs backyard store. Its a thiing of beauty.

http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/grill/2005/charcoal/cg_sg_ktl.aspx

The_Kapn · Oct 17, 2005

The Lang 84 cooks up championship Chicken just fine.
Kevin (HomeBBQ) has pretty well dominated the SE with his 84 and turns out killer chickie on it.
You might want to just use the Lang for chickie and get an kettle for feeding your team, if needed.
Would make life even simpler.:wink:
FWIW

TIM

jt · Oct 17, 2005

BBQchef33 said:
ive done almost 2 family packs of thighs on the kettle, and thats alot more than ya need for a competition. Weber also has the Ranch Kettle. Its something like 36 inchs across. With that u can do 2 family packs indirect.! Saw it at Fortunoffs backyard store. Its a thiing of beauty.

http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/grill/2005/charcoal/cg_sg_ktl.aspx

I've seen this one too. Very nice.

I saw a pickup leaving the football game a couple weeks ago that had something like this - took up quite a bit of the truck bed! I think it would be great for those times you need a lot of capacity. Wish I'd done this instead of the gas grill!

parrothead · Oct 17, 2005

BrooklynQ said:
I don't think a Kettle can cook 24 chicken thighs at one time. You'll probably need something bigger or two kettles.

I start em off in the WSM, then transfer the best ones over to the kettle.

Jeff_in_KC · Oct 17, 2005

parrothead said:
I start em off in the WSM, then transfer the best ones over to the kettle.

I do just the opposite... start 'em off on the kettle (with cherry) then to the smoker (but sealed to steam 'em).

brdbbq · Oct 17, 2005

Jeff_in_KC said:
I do just the opposite... start 'em off on the kettle (with cherry) then to the smoker (but sealed to steam 'em).

How does one SEAL a smoker ?

Sawdustguy · Oct 17, 2005

I think what Jeff is trying to say is, he puts the thighs in an aluminum pan, fills it with BBQ sauce and covers the pan with aluminum foil and then puts it in the smoker. The effect he is looking for is for the chicken to steam in the bbq sauce. I have tried it and it works. while the chicken is steaming in the bbq sauce the skin tenderizes so it is easy to bite through.

Sawdustguy · Oct 17, 2005

Gents,

I pulled the trigger in a Chargriller Super Pro Grill. It has 580 sq" of main grill space which will be plenty of grill space for the thighs. It's light to lift up and throw on the truck, has plenty of grill space and because it will be used for competitions only it should last a long time. Other than the chicken, we will feed ourselves with it by cooking fatties, kielbasa, burgers etc. Lowes had it for $119, so it didn't break the bank. Thanks for the guidance guys.

Jeff_in_KC · Oct 18, 2005

I might just be over-attentive to this but in case you ever find yourself on a tight schedule at comps, I'd buy a second cooking grate for it if you can find one. That way, if need be, you can just slap a clean one onto your grill for contest chicken and clean up your grate you cooked dinner on when you get home. My biggest annoyance so far has been cleaning up stuff from Friday night dinner and get things back clean again for contest cooking. I HATE cleaning cooking grates with a passion. If I had unlimited finances for contest expenses, the first damned thing I'd do would be to buy a supply of cooking grates and treat 'em as disposable! I hate cleaning them that much.

parrothead · Oct 18, 2005

I don't clean them. Just get everything hot and knock the chunks off. A wadded up piece of used foil does wonderful for this.

Kevin · Oct 18, 2005

Yep, what Greg said. The Chargriller has 4 cast iron grates. Keep em oiled and cleanup is a snap.

chad · Oct 18, 2005

Wire brush and a spray bottle works, too. Get it while it's hot! I do this with my gasser before I shut down - the residual heat dries the grates, too.

My WMS grates just go in the wash tub to soak and clean up easily. The Kingfisher, when at home, gets a shot from the hose spray nozzle while still hot - most of the gunk comes right off and then I hit the grates with the wire brush when eveything is heating up for the next cook session.

Looking for a Grill for Competition

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