Cabin Fever
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
- Location
- Orange, VA
Well, I'm glad to say I finally came across a 22.5" Weber OTG for $40 after checking Craigslist at least once a day for the last 6 months. It was a 4 hour round trip into Northern Virginia, but the grill was worth it. I picked it up from a young couple who had recently had a baby and the guy said they used it maybe three or four times this past year and were just looking to get rid of it. It has a couple small dings, but nothing too noticeable.
The charcoal grate was pretty rusty so I took a grill brush to it and hit it with the water hose. I wasn't too worried about getting it spotless since food will never come into contact with it. The hinged cooking grate was a pain though. It was a little rusty, but what was there took forever to get off and that's even after using half a can of oven cleaner. The rest of the kettle I just took some hot soapy water to and that's about it. With that said, I decided to break her in today with a simple rack of st louis style spares. Fancy isn't my style so I just slathered the ribs with mustard and coated with Zach's sweet bbq rub. I poured about 5 pounds of unlit Kingsford to one side of the kettle and placed an empty water pan next to the pile to catch the drippings.
I then poured 12 lit briquettes over the unlit and placed three fist sized chunks of apple wood on top for smoke. I left the bottom vents just barely cracked and the top vent wide open during the entire 5 hour cook. I never once foiled, turned, mopped or put my left shoe on my right foot and my right shoe on my left foot. An instant read thermometer placed through one of the top vent holes at hour two read 275 so I have no idea what the actual temp was at the grate. I never had results like this on my 22.5" WSM. These were the best ribs I've made so far and I couldn't believe how easy it was to smoke on a kettle. Especially since I've heard so many horror stories about fire tending and whatnot.
I think the charcoal could of even went another 45 minutes or so when I pulled the ribs. To say I'm satisfied with the kettle would be an understatement. :-D Anyway, here are a couple pics taken in front of our storage shed except the first two which are from the seller's Craigslist ad. Oh yeah, and a money shot of the ribs!
Best smoke ring I've ever gotten on ribs!
The charcoal grate was pretty rusty so I took a grill brush to it and hit it with the water hose. I wasn't too worried about getting it spotless since food will never come into contact with it. The hinged cooking grate was a pain though. It was a little rusty, but what was there took forever to get off and that's even after using half a can of oven cleaner. The rest of the kettle I just took some hot soapy water to and that's about it. With that said, I decided to break her in today with a simple rack of st louis style spares. Fancy isn't my style so I just slathered the ribs with mustard and coated with Zach's sweet bbq rub. I poured about 5 pounds of unlit Kingsford to one side of the kettle and placed an empty water pan next to the pile to catch the drippings.
I then poured 12 lit briquettes over the unlit and placed three fist sized chunks of apple wood on top for smoke. I left the bottom vents just barely cracked and the top vent wide open during the entire 5 hour cook. I never once foiled, turned, mopped or put my left shoe on my right foot and my right shoe on my left foot. An instant read thermometer placed through one of the top vent holes at hour two read 275 so I have no idea what the actual temp was at the grate. I never had results like this on my 22.5" WSM. These were the best ribs I've made so far and I couldn't believe how easy it was to smoke on a kettle. Especially since I've heard so many horror stories about fire tending and whatnot.
I think the charcoal could of even went another 45 minutes or so when I pulled the ribs. To say I'm satisfied with the kettle would be an understatement. :-D Anyway, here are a couple pics taken in front of our storage shed except the first two which are from the seller's Craigslist ad. Oh yeah, and a money shot of the ribs!
Best smoke ring I've ever gotten on ribs!