has anyone smoked direct on a kettle?

el luchador said:
Because if it's possible then you have a fully built cooker that can cook direct over the coals (imo the best flavor) for $100 and requires no work on your part
Click to expand...
Think about how few coals would be required to keep the temp low enough so as not to be grilling. They would then need to be replaced, a few at a time, over the length of the cook.
Maybe something like a 22.5" di water pan under the cooking grate?
 
el luchador said:
Because if it's possible then you have a fully built cooker that can cook direct over the coals (imo the best flavor) for $100 and requires no work on your part
Click to expand...

I thought that was the UDS?

If you want your temperature at the meat to be 250 and the coals directly under the meat, why wouldnt you use your UDS?

I'm not trying to be a smart a$$ (it just comes naturally), but why all the effort to make equipment do something it isnt meant to do rather than just use the right equipment for what you are trying to do?
 
dadsr4 said:
Think about how few coals would be required to keep the temp low enough so as not to be grilling. They would then need to be replaced, a few at a time, over the length of the cook.
Maybe something like a 22.5" di water pan under the cooking grate?
Click to expand...

^ This is why I typically only use my kettle for short cooks. Even with the hinged grates its a pain in the butt to load more fuel, and do it at the right time, than it is to load up the WSM once and be done with it.
 
el luchador said:
I was thinking of raising the cooking grate 2 or so inches and dropping the charcoal grate about an inch.
Click to expand...

Kettles are way hotter up high so keep that in mind.

Also raising up the grate significantly decreases grate space on all but flat food.

Dads point about the limited fuel is valid, you be constantly refueling.

You seem to care a lot about price or how cheap things are. Just spend a few bucks, get a raiser ring, you can't take the $ with you.
 
Ok guys thanks so much for the input. I know this is going way outside the box but nothing ventured nothing gained right?

I will put this to the test tomorrow on a whole chicken cook to see if it will maintain low temps and figure out how much burn time I can get from a 3/4 chimney .

I'll post results good or bad
 
el luchador said:
Ok guys thanks so much for the input. I know this is going way outside the box but nothing ventured nothing gained right?

I will put this to the test tomorrow on a whole chicken cook to see if it will maintain low temps and figure out how much burn time I can get from a 3/4 chimney .

I'll post results good or bad
Click to expand...

Wish you well. Just remember to use a small fire or else you will smother the coals and wood too much causing bad flavor. If after you fail I’d highly recommend:
1. Setting your uds up to where you can grill on it if you choose.
2. Purchase a slow and sear for the kettle or just use a water pan under the grate on the indirect side.
3. Purchase a gabby’s grill attachment for the kettle.
 
One of these days you are going to listen to me... raised direct to lowered direct in a matter of seconds mid cook. Drippings onto coals just like you like.
 
Last edited:
smoke ninja said:
Kettles are way hotter up high so keep that in mind.

Also raising up the grate significantly decreases grate space on all but flat food.

Dads point about the limited fuel is valid, you be constantly refueling.

You seem to care a lot about price or how cheap things are. Just spend a few bucks, get a raiser ring, you can't take the $ with you.
Click to expand...

good points.

I didnt realize the kettle is hotter up high. Im just stack two grates with the top one upside down so it rests on the handles of the bottom one. It comes up almost flush with the top of the kettle. I think it should be fine for pork shoulder, brisket etc.

this is just an idea I have. if it doesnt work, I still have my trusty UDS, thats why I plan to spend as little as possible on this.
 
BKING! said:
One of these days you are going to listen to me... raised direct to lowered direct in a matter of seconds mid cook. Drippings onto coals just like you like.
Click to expand...


that would be a nice unit to have but its cost prohibitive and I wonder how people store them when not in use.
 
Put a coal grate w/o legs on/at any level you want below your cooking grate. I used 3" sides to allow easy lifting in/out and keep the coals on a 17" Weber coal grate. Sit just fine on a 22.5" Weber cooking grate. 3 bolts/nuts etc. 3 holes. You can get what ever dimension/height you want.


Turn your drum into a Stubby UDS. I believe you'd be happier. Much easier to clean, move. Does alot of what you are always talking about with ease.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3949741#post3949741
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3965356&posted=1#post3965356
 
el luchador said:
good points.

I didnt realize the kettle is hotter up high. Im just stack two grates with the top one upside down so it rests on the handles of the bottom one. It comes up almost flush with the top of the kettle. I think it should be fine for pork shoulder, brisket etc.

this is just an idea I have. if it doesnt work, I still have my trusty UDS, thats why I plan to spend as little as possible on this.
Click to expand...

That's what some do to to get the higher temps for pizza cooking on a kettle. I have used bricks on the cooking grate to raise a smaller cooking grate up into the lid area for higher pizza cooking temps.
The higher temps up in the lid are why lid mounted thermometers always read higher than the temp at grate level.
 
dadsr4 said:
That's what some do to to get the higher temps for pizza cooking on a kettle. I have used bricks on the cooking grate to raise a smaller cooking grate up into the lid area for higher pizza cooking temps.
The higher temps up in the lid are why lid mounted thermometers always read higher than the temp at grate level.
Click to expand...

that's so interesting. on my uds the higher grate is always a lower temp.

I wonder what's at work in the kettle to make this opposite.
 
I've been smoking on a kettle for a long time, sometime in the 70's. Outside of using the snake method, this is how all my indirect cooks are done.
picture.php

You can work quite a bit harder and fit more meat on, but that was the reason I added a second kettle in the 90's, plus it allows you to cook at two different temps.
Weber came out with a solution to what you are talking about, the WSM. Maybe you could get a WSM water pan and try it, up to you.
 
dadsr4 said:
I've been smoking on a kettle for a long time, sometime in the 70's. Outside of using the snake method, this is how all my indirect cooks are done.
picture.php

You can work quite a bit harder and fit more meat on, but that was the reason I added a second kettle in the 90's, plus it allows you to cook at two different temps.
Weber came out with a solution to what you are talking about, the WSM. Maybe you could get a WSM water pan and try it, up to you.
Click to expand...

thanks for posting that pic. its good to know the kettle will last even with hot coals touching the porcelain.

Im planning to just dump my coals on the bottom of the bowl.
 
el luchador said:
thanks for posting that pic. its good to know the kettle will last even with hot coals touching the porcelain.

Im planning to just dump my coals on the bottom of the bowl.
Click to expand...
I've been doing it that way for decades.
picture.php

For chicken, I use a full lit chimney. No effect on the coating.
I just looked at the manual for the 26" kettle, and that's how they instruct to do an indirect cook.
"After the charcoal is fully lit, with long tongs,
arrange the charcoal so that they will be set
on either side of the food (B). Position the
charcoal on the sides of the bowls opposite the
handles (C). A drip pan may be placed between
the charcoal to collect drippings."

"Im planning to just dump my coals on the bottom of the bowl."
You might have a problem with air flow without using a grate on top of the one touch system.
 
dadsr4 said:
I've been doing it that way for decades.

For chicken, I use a full lit chimney. No effect on the coating.
I just looked at the manual for the 26" kettle, and that's how they instruct to do an indirect cook.
"After the charcoal is fully lit, with long tongs,
arrange the charcoal so that they will be set
on either side of the food (B). Position the
charcoal on the sides of the bowls opposite the
handles (C). A drip pan may be placed between
the charcoal to collect drippings."

"Im planning to just dump my coals on the bottom of the bowl."
You might have a problem with air flow without using a grate on top of the one touch system.
Click to expand...


I am using the uds system for this. I drilled a hole for a 1" npt pipe on the side of the bowl and will attach my heater meter damper to that :rockon:

I also blocked the bottom vent holes with aluminum foil so my heater meter has full control of the "pit".
 
so far so good. my problem so far on this first test has been getting the pit hot enough. it was struggling to get to my 250 target temp. I had to make some adjustments.

oh, I put a probe on the bottom grate and top grate with no food on and the bottom grate is hotter than the top by about 20 degrees.
 
First test was a resounding success. The juiciest chicken I've ever tasted. It was kinda ridiculous how juicy the meat was. My theory is that being that close to the coals creates a very humid environment, and the meat juices dripping on the hot coals and coming back up as steam works to further tenderize the meat. I can't wait to try this on a brisket. I'll be doing a pork butt this weekend for test two.
Thanks again guys for your input

Grate pic is coals before the cook and pic without the grate is after the cook
 

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last image. it cooked for almost 3 hours and used about a quarter of the fuel.
I put one chimney of coals in and added a nice helping of oak chips.

I need to tweak the heatermeter and airflow to exercise much better control over the pit.
 

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