Indirect cooking techniques

[Hogsy]

Overkill ..... Yeah probably
But it's always fun to experiment, nothing ventured nothing gained
I'll probably foil the shield like I do in my WSM and use a tray
You know what they say, Always Play With Your Food

[glrasmussen]

Overkill ..... Yeah probably
But it's always fun to experiment, nothing ventured nothing gained
I'll probably foil the shield like I do in my WSM and use a tray
You know what they say, Always Play With Your Food

Run a test tonight! Looking forward to your feed back.

Greg

[bob hope]

Guys, are you not concerned that dripping food will muss that shield on the coal grate?

Overkill IMO.

Thats why you put a aluminum pan under the meat! 

[Hogsy]

Run a test tonight! Looking forward to your feed back.
Greg

I'm heading off camping with the family today so won't be able to try it out till I get back
But will be giving it a test run as soon as I get home
Cheers
Joel

[glrasmussen]

Ok you something like this

That's the next part. It will have to be in 2 pieces - the bottom plate and the piece I've already made otherwise I won't be able to get it to work with the grate

Looking again at this picture, this just becomes a large flaverizer bar?...Just like a gasser.

[Duke]

I'm heading off camping with the family today so won't be able to try it out till I get back
But will be giving it a test run as soon as I get home
Cheers
Joel

Hey Joel, which grill are you taking? Please take some pictures for us. 

[Hogsy]

Australia Day today and time to kick over the kettle and try out my new mods

A mate brought over a couple of marinated butterflied lamb legs and some chicken wings to test it out

Kettle came up to temp very quickly and I had to play with the vents to get the the temp to drop
First thing I noticed was how high the temp was . I usually setup with a basket on either side of the kettle and the meat in the middle and the temp sits around the 350- 400f mark with all vents open
But with this setup the temp maxed out within minutes of putting the lid on and stayed there until I started closing down the vents
Here's a pic when the lamb and wings are done

Three  positives I noticed with this method were the extra space I had on the grill ( I would of struggled to get the 4lbs of wings and the lamb on with my usual setup)
Secondly the high temps, I usually just leave all the vents open but this time I had to close down the vents considerably to control the high temps
And thirdly maybe it was the half a dozen beers i drank but the meat seemed to be more evenly cooked , I normally switch the wings that are furthest away from the heat , closer to the heat half way through the cook but they all seemed to cook more evenly using this method
Here's a couple more shots of the food plated

Brother in law made a curry and salad to go with it
Although not cooked on the kettle, it still turned out pretty good

Here's my plate

And finally it wouldn't be Australia Day without breaking out the slip n slide( sorry about the modest nudity in the next shot but it was hot and boys will be boys

So in summary and still in trial, I'm pretty happy with how this mod turned out and will definitely be using this technique from now on

[DoppelBock]

Australia Day today and time to kick over the kettle and try out my new mods

Is this aluminum or ss? This sort of picks up and improves on where the Smokenator leaves off; no cumbersome top that interferes with charcoal control, and easier removal/installing(the entire grate doesn't have to be removed just to remove the shield). I could also see the bottom air flow shield becoming one with the vertical shield, but I suppose the convenience of easy removal would be sacrificed. Either way, I'm making one! Thanks Hogsy 

[1buckie]

Good Deal !!!!


I've noodled with enough different wacky coal setups to see this one comin'......
Just Knew it would work good & in an interesting fashion ......


Pinching down the vents & nice even cooking, as in the control of airflow is very key a lot of the time to good kettle management !!!!

After a time, it's about the fine tuning.....

The sliced pic is inviting & the plateup seals the deal !!!

Very well Done....
......the mods
.......the cook
......the test report
.....AND the meal !!!!

[mike.stavlund]

Joel, you are a genius! 

I'm guessing that is aluminum, correct?  I have some scraps of galvanized metal, but I think I heard somewhere that galvo gives off bad fumes at high temps.  Can anyone confirm that? 

[DoppelBock]

Joel, you are a genius! 

I'm guessing that is aluminum, correct?  I have some scraps of galvanized metal, but I think I heard somewhere that galvo gives off bad fumes at high temps.  Can anyone confirm that?

Yep, galvanized is bad, zinc fumes. Stainless steel would be great for this application, but I would think aluminum would work too, it's melting point is about 1200.

[Hogsy]

Thanks guys.... It's pretty fun playing around with different setups on the kettle especially when it works . Both shields are aluminum( bottom shield is covered with foil for easy clean up). SS would probably be better but that's all I had lying around
I used the same aluminum when I made a smokenator and a deflector for my roti both of which are still going strong
It only took an hour or two to make the templates and cut them out
Heres a couple of tips if your thinking of making one.
The side shield sits 2 bars back from the hinge on the grate so you can still open the grate and the flap stays up while you loading it
For the bottom grate I just traced the charcoal grate onto some cardboard but traced it an inch wider and then cut it down till it fit snuggly. If you just trace the charcoal grate it will be too small and let too much air through
The one piece 'L' shape would definitely work but i didn't have a piece of metal with a bend
I'll probably make another out of SS I just need to find an old dishwasher and rip the SS shell out of it . That way it already has the bend in it and you just have to trace and cut plus its free and I am a tightass
The other idea I had was to put a 1inch lip around the bottom shield so it becomes a drip tray as well
Cheers
Hogsy
P.S Mike , I think you've just coined my new signature

[mike.stavlund]

Damn, Hogsy, it's bad enough that my poor kids have to sit in the car while I rubberneck at every curbside trash pile, looking for kettles.  Now they need to suffer the further indignity of me looking for trashed dishwashers?  You are killing me (and embarrassing my kids)!

[Duke]

Great job again Joel and a Happy Australia Day to you and your clan! Please share the dimensions one day.

[G$]

Cool stuff.  I bet there was a lot of radiant heat happening in there. 

For the guys cooking pizzas, i will bet that putting an elevated grate like we have been discussing on the shilded side would work quite well.  Then put your stone, cast iron or nothing on the elevated grate.