Weber lid exhaust mods

[jeffrackmo]

When we were in Scouts, we used a stove pipe the same diameter as the Weber Chimney and put that on top of the loaded chimney.  It did decrease the ash over time.  It acted as a draw and moved more air and created the shortened time to get the coals going.    Now, I just stack an empty chimney on top of the loaded lit one and get similar results.  In my opinion, More air + Lit coals = more Heat.

Just my $.02...

TIA!!

Jeff

[Shoestringshop]

Exactly, experimenting is fun.  I have not tried yet; I am waiting on some insulation sheets that I ordered to insulate the lid. Instead I will use them to insulate the vent, which is made of thin aluminum.  I have the lid oriented so the vent is on the opposite of me, it will not get in contact with the Performer lid holder when the lid is stored in it.

I am using my bake time with the lid closed as a reference to measure other methods against it.

I will probably try cracking the lid open this weekend if I don't have the insulation.

I am trying to stay away from wood fire, as I find it harder to control especially the smoke. I will definitely try it.  I only have time time during the week end, so it may take me a while to get to it. Any recommendation on kind of and size of split logs to use?

You'll do just fine. Already thinking out of the box. I would use a couple of 1/2 baseball size to start and add when needed.

[BertVentures]

Thank you all for your inputs.

Last night, I insulated the stack, than I removed it, it wasn't practical; it made the stack heavy and bulky.

I did a quick heat test with and without the uninsulated stack. I used 1.25 of charcoal briquettes on the charcoal grate. I measured the temperature right above the stone (1 to 2"), the stone was 3.5" above the cooking grates using Mighty Pizza Stone heat diffuser.  The temperature reached mid 400sF in few minutes once I closed the lid, the temperature dropped by 20 Deg F once I placed the stack, I guess it created a back draft, than the temperature increased pretty quickly about 50 deg. F. The amber looking charcoal that I started with  started to turn dark, even with the stack on, so I slid the lid about 1" to the back, briquettes amber color started to go back and the temperature above the stone steadily increased to low 600sF. Conclusion:  a crack is better than a stack

Thank I added 3 pieces of oak wood chunks, which increased the temperature to high 800/900's F with the lid offset by 1" to 2". I am pretty sure I tried this with my old grills, I never got these results, I guess a thicker steel grill made a big difference. I added few more chunks once the previous one died, still, I did not have any issues with any smoke, the wood and briquettes continued to burn clean.

I am still going to keep the stack mounted on my Performer lid especially when I am burning wood, to keep exhaust fume up and away from me. I need to find a better looking and heavier gauge can to use as a base for the stack though. It will be nice if I can paint it to match the lid color or maybe silver to match Weber vent disc.

Thanks again

[Firemunkee]

This was an informative read. Thanks for sharing your ideas and results!!

[MINIgrillin]

Sounds like you need to build a pizza oven. Check youtube for "yoga ball pizza oven"

[BertVentures]

This was an informative read. Thanks for sharing your ideas and results!!

I am glad, thank you for your feed back.

Sounds like you need to build a pizza oven. Check youtube for "yoga ball pizza oven"

Thanks for sharing, that's one of the best DIY oven built I have seen, really creative.

[hawgheaven]

I must say, the idea sounded good. Glad you thought out of the box and tried it! Thanks for keeping us up to date!

[MINIgrillin]

I appriciate you sharing your experiment. I'm curious..did you have any smoke coming out of the stack when your hot coals went dark? If so, was it rising quickly or just trickling out? I'm kinda thinking the walls of the stack were cold and not creating a "draw" thru the system. If that's the case then there was a cold cushion of air trying to reverse your draw. Try shortening your stack or decreasing the diameter of the pipe.

[BertVentures]

@MINIgrillin the temperature dropped above the stone once I placed the stack, I guess it was due to the stack being cold,  than the temperature increased pretty quickly once the stack warmed up. Definitely the smoke wasn't trickling out, it was steady stream out.

[BertVentures]

Update: I replaced the tomato can with a 52 oz beans can, it has a bit wider diameter, a 4" aluminum stack fits perfectly in it. I also painted the can with engine glossy black enamel paint.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Oh man, even if it isn't really doing much I like the idea behind it.  Since I moved to Denver I've found that the thinner air definitely affects how my weber's work.  Now I'm going to be thinking about this all weekend!!!!

Tagging to make sure you see this post @Jed.cook

[Jed.cook]

Took me a minute to figure out what the Hell I was doing on this thread, but now I got it. Thanks @MikeRocksTheRed for bringing me in on this.  Looks like I've got a new project, and my family's gonna' be eatin' beans and fartin' up a storm for a while.

[Jules V.]

Oh man, even if it isn't really doing much I like the idea behind it.  Since I moved to Denver I've found that the thinner air definitely affects how my weber's work.  Now I'm going to be thinking about this all weekend!!!!

Tagging to make sure you see this post @Jed.cook

If it's much harder to breathe at 5000 feet, same goes for your weber. You probably have to use more coal or larger air intake to reach a certain temperature that you're accustomed to at much lower elevation.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Oh man, even if it isn't really doing much I like the idea behind it.  Since I moved to Denver I've found that the thinner air definitely affects how my weber's work.  Now I'm going to be thinking about this all weekend!!!!

Tagging to make sure you see this post @Jed.cook

If it's much harder to breathe at 5000 feet, same goes for your weber. You probably have to use more coal or larger air intake to reach a certain temperature that you're accustomed to at much lower elevation.

Both!  Lol.  I've figured out slow n low, but vents wide open are vents wide open for hot cooks.  I definitely crack my lid more now that I'm at higher altitude. 


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[Jules V.]

@MikeRocksTheRed

Also forgot to mention the effect of humidity. One thing going for Denver is the low humidity. Winter and mid spring will be your toughest months in trying to maintain high temperature.