Ribs on 26" Weber Kettle

Smoking two racks of ribs with indirect heat on the new 26" Weber Kettle.

Here's the racks ready to go. Already trimmed and rubbed with world famous Simply Marvelous Sweet and Spicy Rub.


Close up of Big Brother Smokes fantastic rub:


The ribs are on in-direct. I only used one side of the kettle for heat and it seems to be okay. The thermo in the kettle reads 275 while the digital on the grate reads 235. We shall see how hard it is to keep the temp up.


Using some avocado wood from C Rocke in So Cal.


I have already figured my first mod for this large kettle. The lid needs another handle on the front of the lid. I've already burned by arm twice lifting the with one hand.

More coming...

About half way...

Ribs are done...
(and eaten for that matter)

The 26" Weber Kettle performed as an indirect smoker just fine. Tending the fire wasn't that hard. I used what was left of my Lazzari lump and it went through it pretty good. I'd like to give it a try with some briquets to see what that's like.

What was interesting is that the thermometer in the lid never got above 300 degrees but the digital thermometer I had on the grate varied in temp at times by 25 degrees. I'm going to pop the thermo out of the lid and test it to see if there's some wrong there.

Over all this 26" Kettle rocks. It's big enough that I don't think I'll need a Ranch Kettle any time soon and because of the size you can do an adequate indirect smoke.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread the lid of the kettle needs another handle. It's to big to move with one hand and when trying to hold a thermo or tongs it would be easier to lift the lid with the top handle and then slide it on the guide with the front handle.

I would have liked to see the charcoal baskets (char-baskets in Weber terms) a little larger, maybe about 50% bigger. It would have got the kettle up to temp faster and would have been easier to maintain with a little more charcoal. I'm probably going to use some expanded steel and try to make a little bigger basket.

Now that we have a 26" kettle could the new 26" WSM be all that far behind? :twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted:

Here's the ribs all done and ready to cut:


Close up:


They look pretty good. Don't they?



All plated and ready to eat:


This rib dinner is in honor of my friend Big Brother Smoke. My wife and I had planned to take off for a few days off this weekend and BBS had offered to open his home to us. My wife selected a nice hotel instead. (For some reason she didn't buy the "it's just a coincidence that a BBQ Brethern member lives there.")

Any way we were planning to have a nice dinner at Steph's house tonight and were actually planning to break in the kettle. However, my daughter's sudden wedding plans put a halt to the weekend get-a-way.

So, I salute you Big Brother Smoke with ribs rubbed with your rub and sauced with your sauce. Thanks for the offer and after the first of the year we will be down.

BobBrisket said:

Nice looking dinner there! So tell us what that avocado wood was like!

Click to expand...

The avocado wood was really nice. It's not very strong, yet it has a very distinctive flavor profile. I think I liked it better on chicken, but I'm sure going to use the rest of the stuff I have.

It's a pretty hard wood and burns very well and the smoke smells a lot stronger than the end result.