Over the years Weber has produced several unique grilling accessories. Although not new, the Kettle Warming Rack remains their current “half rack” elevated design that takes any 22.5” model and increases the available cooking area by adding a second grill surface on top of the main grill grate. It adds 76 sq. inches. It won't fit on the 18.5" kettle.
Several years ago it sold for about $15; taking into account inflation it’s probably valued at about twice that if you can find a new one from a retailer’s back stock such as Bourlier’s in Michigan. http://bourlierbbq.com
Bourlier’s is specifically mentioned because they’ve been selling a few of these racks through Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Weber-203200-Kettle-Warming-Rack/dp/B0007IMTFE
That said, the Warming Rack was reintroduced to the North American market with the
2015 MasterTouch,
as an included accessory. Is it useful? Definitely. Should it sway you towards a new MasterTouch? Probably not for that reason
alone, but it does come in handy and we'll take a look at what to expect with it.
It's important to understand that this accessory as a standalone purchase remains a "discontinued" item from Weber.
Here’s a stock image:
Are you a history buff? Before we take a closer look at the Warming Rack let’s revisit a previous Weber “half-rack” designs, another elevated grate, what’s often referred to as the “Half Moon” grate, produced in the 1960s and 1970s. In this ’72 Weber catalog, it is warming what appears to be a bread loaf and a jar of honey.
If it seems the Half Moon grate was bigger than the Warming Rack under consideration here that’s because it is, at about half the size of a cooking grate on a standard 22.5” kettle. Here’s one sitting on
@harris92’s yellow kettle:
Numerous similarly elevated racks have been built since, by enterprising kettle owners who might use a small rectangular grate or even cut a donor grate and use bolts, washers, nuts to act as the necessary standoffs.
Here’s one of the more unique solutions. Made by
@Craig, who also took a standard grate but
bent some of the cut rods to support it. A handle strap from a Weber Fireplace turned upside down supplies the rear support.
One of the biggest features of the Weber kettle is its flexibility for cooking indirectly, but this requires sacrificing a large portion of the available cooking surface. Enter the elevated grate; it permits more food to be placed on the “cooking side” of your indirect cook setup.
Although all 9 of these chicken legs would fit on the grill without the Warming Rack, this image illustrates a basic indirect setup, including one firebrick to better shield the closest meat from cooking too fast.
The relatively small size of the Warming Rack means only smaller foods fit comfortably on it.
@BBcue-Z shows us how a pack of wings are all done indirectly with the Warming Rack.
An elevated "half rack" is a fine "utility player" and could save you from having to fire up a second kettle. Search WKC's forums for more examples of the Warming Rack, how it's used and other designs.
Topic: Weber #3200 Kettle Warming Rack (Read 18786 times)