Weber Kettle Club Forums
Grill Talk => Weber Grill Forum (Grills, Accessories) => Topic started by: ChargersSB on November 10, 2014, 09:26:21 AM
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Hi everyone,
For years I have used a cheap Sears knockoff of the WSM (link below). It has worked pretty good for me over the years, but it is finally starting to fall apart. Unfortunately I don't have the funds to purchase a WSM (although I would love one). I have a weber kettle (just the standard one) and have seen some conversion kits that are stackers making it more like a WSM. Cajun bandit and Smoke EZ are two that I have seen.
Does anyone have any experience with these? Are they worth it? Instead of buying a new smoker I was thinking of using one of these and then I could still use my kettle as normal. Any opinions on which setup is better? Also, it looks like you can really only use the top grate as the bottom one appears to be too close to the coals. What do you do if you need to do a bigger turkey? If I could only use the top grate, wouldn't the lid hit? (Instead of being able to use the 2nd grate like in the WSM)
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/allmodrev...=seeAllReviews
http://www.smoke-ez.com/
http://cajunbandit.com/
Thanks
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I think @Troy has a Cajun Bandit & others have the other style.....
If you need to do a bigger turkey, just set it down in.....I've done up to 24# like this.....
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/1st%202013%20chicken/Cowboy%20%20Steak%20%206-8-13/JuicysampTurkey11-11-2013058.jpg)
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I think @Troy has a Cajun Bandit & others have the other style.....
If you need to do a bigger turkey, just set it down in.....I've done up to 24# like this.....
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/1st%202013%20chicken/Cowboy%20%20Steak%20%206-8-13/JuicysampTurkey11-11-2013058.jpg)
This is off topic for the post, but 1buckie, can you elaborate on this set up a bit? Ive seen your turkey posts and i want to try a bird for thanks giving.
How much charcoal? How much do you start with? All Lit or some lit some unlit? Do you reload during cook?
Is coal under the roasting pan or is pan right on the charcoal grate with charcoal around it?
Kettle Temperature?
Cook Time?
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Another route to take is a mini wsm conversion. For less than the price of a cajun bandit, you can have a dedicated smoker with a grill configuration that you desire. Although it will not likely do a full size Turkey, and is not the best option for ribs, it will easily do full size chickens, 2 pork butts, etc.
Winz
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Here's that cookup, charlie.....
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/favorites-part-two-turkey/msg81474/#msg81474
Old steel pan I've had for 25~30 years.....works grate, right on the grate....
This, as all BBQ cookups, is "Play the ball where it lies"......couldn't tell you exact numbers.....around 3 hours, around 275~300+ at points & more coals were added about 3/4 of the way thru the cook......
I tend to add either toward the neck end or as you can see in that pic, toward the leg end, alternating a few each side at a time to kinda keep the temp even.......
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Thanks 1buckie, I always learn a ton from your posts.
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I don't have the answers to your direct questions. But just wanted to suggest that since cost is a factor, you can smoke on your kettle using a snake and not have to buy anything.
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Chargers, sorry for hijacking the post, but like you I'm learning to do Q on a budget. I had a couple of ECB's then made a mini wsm and now I've been using a kettle. Honestly I like the kettle the best as it can literally cook anything!
Truthfully though, I wish I would have started listening to the 1buckie's of the world sooner and learned to light the fire and leave it. I spent much too much time fighting temperature fluctuations and buying building and modifying cookers to attain "perfect" temp control only to realize that perfect temp is a myth and this bbq not rocket science.
I might be little more of stickler since a thanksgiving turkey is an important meal but lately im trying to "let the cooker cook" and since then my chicken, ribs, and butts have been much more enjoyable.
I think with the kettle you have, you can pull of what you are shooting for.
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Charlie, there is some time info & such in that link......
As to the O P......that Smoke-eze rig might be kinda nice as you can hang things.....a lot like the PBC (Pit Barrel Cookers) that are all the rage currently.......seethis.....about 1/2 way thru the video shows how the stuff fits together to hang....
http://pitbarrelcooker.com/watch
For added rack space, either that or the Cajun Bandit are a good choice.....they look to be approximately the same price if you get the same general configuration.......
The preliminary question you may want to ask is "How Much?"
how much of a load of food would you need to do at any one time....there's really easy, inexpensive fixes to way increase what you can do just with one kettle.....here's JoCool's upper rack to add cooking area
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/Cookers%202012/Mods/hatu5una-1.jpg)
You can load a lot extra on things like this.....I often use the "MacGyver Upper Deck Smoking Rack" (w/ flip-up feature) to add area..................
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/Last%20Sun%20Aug%202012%20015/LastSunAug2012071.jpg)
Here is how it fits together & in full load activity.....
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/Ken%20BBQ%204242011/KenBBQ4242011025.jpg)
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/BBQ%20%205%201%207%208%20%20%20%202011/KenBBQ5782011012.jpg)
This kind of additional space fixup is cheap, even free if you have a few spare parts laying around.....
.....or, just get more Webers.....
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/Jan29%20Danae%20%20dad%20002/Jan29Danaedad063.jpg)
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Thanks everyone for the replies. I have never tried smoking anything on my kettle. I could give that a shot using the snake method sometime. My current WSM knockoff still works, but it is definitely falling apart. I love the setup of the WSM type bullet smokers. I have used an offset and didn't like it at all. I keep checking craigslist in my area but all I see are cheap offsets or santa maria type grills. I guess the prices for the cajun bandit and smoke ez are kind of up there and for a bit more I could get an 18 in. wsm.
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Here's a guide on how to smoke on a weber - http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2013/11/05/smoking-on-a-weber-kettle/
I own both the cajun bandit conversion and the cajun bandit stacker.
I opted for the conversion instead of the smoke-ez because, well, the smoke-ez is fugly with that big logo. Plus the conversion has a door.
From what I hear, Cajun Bandit isn't selling the conversion kit anymore - but you should still inquire and let them know you're interested.
I love the cajun bandit stacker too. I strongly prefer it over an 18" WSM, as I can lay full slabs of ribs flat on it. I've done 9 full racks of ribs on the cajun bandit stacker - all lying flat.
I wish they'd make one for the 26"
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Thanks everyone for the replies. I have never tried smoking anything on my kettle. I could give that a shot using the snake method sometime. My current WSM knockoff still works, but it is definitely falling apart. I love the setup of the WSM type bullet smokers. I have used an offset and didn't like it at all. I keep checking craigslist in my area but all I see are cheap offsets or santa maria type grills. I guess the prices for the cajun bandit and smoke ez are kind of up there and for a bit more I could get an 18 in. wsm.
I've got the Cajun Bandit Conversion kit and Stackers for the 22", and will say that they are definitely worth the investment, but if you are on a budget, consider building a drum smoker. I build no weld UDS's using repurposed Weber and knockoff parts. I cook direct with them - hot n fast, but you can add a waterpan or heat diverter and produce WSM quality results and enjoy the satisfaction of cooking on something you produced. Take a look at my Left Hand Smoke FB https://www.facebook.com/pages/Left-Hand-Smoke/116187658462391?ref=hl Albums, this weekend I threw together a Mini Drum using Smokey Joe parts, and there is a BPS Drum build there as well.
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What about the smokenator? Does anyone have experience with that? How well does that work? I mainly do ribs and chickens, but also do butts, turkeys etc. sometimes.
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I believe that the Smokenator is mentioned in the Kettle Smoking Tips section of the homepage. It works. It doesn't do anything that you can't do yourself with a couple of bricks and some aluminum foil.
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Here's a guide on how to smoke on a weber - http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2013/11/05/smoking-on-a-weber-kettle/
I own both the cajun bandit conversion and the cajun bandit stacker.
I opted for the conversion instead of the smoke-ez because, well, the smoke-ez is fugly with that big logo. Plus the conversion has a door.
From what I hear, Cajun Bandit isn't selling the conversion kit anymore - but you should still inquire and let them know you're interested.
I love the cajun bandit stacker too. I strongly prefer it over an 18" WSM, as I can lay full slabs of ribs flat on it. I've done 9 full racks of ribs on the cajun bandit stacker - all lying flat.
I wish they'd make one for the 26"
For the amount I normally smoke, the cajun bandit stacker might be enough. How easy is it to hold steady temps, how long do you get before having to reload charcoal? Seems like it would be a pain to have to take the entire stacker off to reload. Also, can you put something on the lower rack if need be (original kettle grill rack) or is that too close to the coals?
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" Also, can you put something on the lower rack if need be (original kettle grill rack) or is that too close to the coals?"
Probably not too close, but it will depend on how you set your coals.......if all over the charcoal grate, sort of like a WSM or the like, then it might be too much.....if a snake or some type of Minion setup off to one or both sides, then I think you could easily use the lower (regular) cooking grate.....
Look back at the various methods in the link Troy put up.....
Also, if some kind of diffuser were used, to then block direct heat from the food, it would work OK.............
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I had a diffuser made from 3/16 steel that I use in the Stacker. I take the pizza pan that comes with the kit and cover it with foil for easy cleanup.
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/Ugly%20Drum%20Smoker/CajunBandit/IMG_5595.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/Ugly%20Drum%20Smoker/CajunBandit/IMG_5594.jpg)
Use a ring of expando with briqs inside for short cooks, outside the ring for a snake feed.
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/Ugly%20Drum%20Smoker/CajunBandit/IMG_5596.jpg)
For added grate space, a Big Green Egg raised grate
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/IMG_0565.jpg)
Or inexpensive bakers cooling racks
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/IMG_0564.jpg)
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" Also, can you put something on the lower rack if need be (original kettle grill rack) or is that too close to the coals?"
Probably not too close, but it will depend on how you set your coals.......if all over the charcoal grate, sort of like a WSM or the like, then it might be too much.....if a snake or some type of Minion setup off to one or both sides, then I think you could easily use the lower (regular) cooking grate.....
Look back at the various methods in the link Troy put up.....
Also, if some kind of diffuser were used, to then block direct heat from the food, it would work OK.............
Thanks. I don't really foresee me ever needing that much more capacity too often using the lower grate. You never know though. I am sure I could make it work if I had to.
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Looks like there are a lot of ways to add more space if needed. I contacted Chris and with shipping etc. (added charcoal ring, heat diffuser) it would be around $195 or so. That is getting up there. Another $100 or so and it would be the cost of a new WSM 18.5". So the Cajun Bandit is still more affordable for the larger size (it would be nice to be able to lay ribs flat across). For those of you who have the stacker, overall how satisfied are you with it? I have been reading it can be hard to control the temp to 225-250 due to the kettles vent design at the bottom not being very airtight. How long of a cook can you get before having to load up more charcoal?
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You can cold smoke with a kettle.....they will do almost anything.....
In just letting it run where it wants, within reason, and not trying to force 225 or something, you'll find they work great !!!
The vents can get bent & not work as good, but it's an easy fix to bend them back enough to sit tight.....I have numerous kettles that will shut down tight & begin to cool in minutes.....saves quite a bit on charcoal, if re-used................
not sure if you're asking about "How long of a cook?" using the Stacker, or just for kettles in general, but a set like this gets 11~12 hours @240~260 managed gently:
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/Jan29%20Danae%20%20dad%20002/Jan29Danaedad020.jpg)
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Yeah, it was how long if using the stacker. I would imagine I can do the snake method using the stacker too and get a long cook like you said.
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I've gotten 20 hours of 225 out of the stacker. (full minion, no snake)
it fits a kettle with the same precision that the lid fits. it's an EXTREMELY well made product.
If anyone can't hold 225-250 with the stacker, it means that they cannot hold 225-250 with their kettle.
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... How easy is it to hold steady temps, how long do you get before having to reload charcoal? Seems like it would be a pain to have to take the entire stacker off to reload. Also, can you put something on the lower rack if need be (original kettle grill rack) or is that too close to the coals?
Troy will have more experienced answers but lemme "butt" in for a sec.
How easy is it to hold steady temps
In my experience, anything with charcoal benefits from an initial setup and "stabilizing" period and then it's steady. Patience, small changes, wait for effect to take hold etc. This could very well mean to not put food on right when coals are hot or get dumped from the chimney etc.
how long do you get before having to reload charcoal?
Heat reduction is influenced by ambient temperature, wind, amount and type of food, length of time and type of charcoal etc.
Seems like it would be a pain to have to take the entire stacker off to reload
If there's no door, I concur. That said, a 22.5" kettle that doesn't have to worry about an indirect cook can hold a LOT of charcoal and that means one of two things: either you're scorching it, or smoking it ... in which case closing down vents closes down heat and therefore, fuel consumption. Also, consider that removing the stacker to dump in a chimney of lit coals would be faster than feeding them in through a door under a water pan or lower grate AND over the course of a cook, having the stacker removed doesn't lose as much heat as you may think; the machine recovers from heat loss quickly.
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Holy crap I just responded after half a dozen others somehow. Sorry!
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I give up.
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I give up.
No wait.......there's more !!!!
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Ha ha, sorry for all the questions. I think this is the route I am going to go, getting the Cajun Bandit Stacker. Now just to save up a bit! Thanks for all the advice and answers. Hopefully I can purchase it soon!!