Swap out my traditional smoker for a Ranch

[Ashcan Ted]

I’m considering selling my Oklahoma Joe smoker I have in my pit and replace it with a Ranch mothership.  Any thoughts on using a Ranch instead of a traditional smoker?  I am a Weber lover and am really looking for a reason to get a Ranch.  Any thoughts on long smoking on the Ranch?  Thanks

[Lemans]

I’m considering selling my Oklahoma Joe smoker I have in my pit and replace it with a Ranch mothership.  Any thoughts on using a Ranch instead of a traditional smoker?  I am a Weber lover and am really looking for a reason to get a Ranch.  Any thoughts on long smoking on the Ranch?  Thanks

I paid a lot of money for my Death Star.$100...



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[Ashcan Ted]

The handles are fantastic.  How do you keep it covered/protected?

[Lemans]

Covered and oiled


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[Ashcan Ted]

I’ve been looking at some Death Stars online tonight and yours is flippin’ gorgeous.  $100?  Seriously?  Congrats I really like the old wheels with the white rims, I can’t stand the grayed-out plastic.  If I do land a Ranch I’m going to change the wheels out and of course get some wooden hamdles from Brian. 

[Mike in Roseville]

So I had a Ranch. I bought it used, cooked on it for a while, and eventually sold it to another grill fella.

Why did I sell it? I personally didn’t enjoy cooking on it as much as my 26.75 kettles.

Don’t get me wrong, a Ranch Kettle is cool. But I once told someone it was like owning a 12” lifted four door long bed 4x4. There is a “whoa...badass” factor to it that is impressive but parking it at the store is a pain, you can’t take it through the drive through, and you can’t make a u-turn with it.

My cousin still has one and cooks on it...maybe once per year. He normally chooses his 22 kettle or his gas grill for most applications.

Now if you cater, host big cooks, want to impress people, or just want all the room in the world then it’s great.

Your mileage may vary with this. Let me ask you out of curiosity ...why do you want to smoke on a Ranch Kettle as opposed to a 22WSM or a 26.75” with a SNSXL?

Below is my 24” paella pan ...on my 26.75” and on my old Ranch Kettle. You won’t run out of room, that’s for sure.






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[Ashcan Ted]

The paella pan is very cool.  I do use my other kettles to smoke but I often run out of room.  Thats why I had to buy the largest Oklahoma Joe available last year.  But I dont like that its not a Weber.  I host big parties 2x month in grilling season for parties of 10-20.  I need to fit a brisket, 4 racks of ribs and a shoulder roast at one time.  And porkbelly, too.  Sometimes I throw some birds on there also.  So I’m looking for space.

[JEBIV]

There is a nice mothership for sale in Atlanta on ebay @Ashcan Ted

[Mike in Roseville]

Thanks! And it does sound like you need quite a bit more cooking room! I’m not here to discourage, but offer another perspective to consider.

I also found myself needing more room at times. While the Ranch provided more grate area, it did have some limitations that I didn’t care for; which was easily remedied by having two 26.75’s instead.

The guy I bought my Ranch from was a professional caterer. When I asked him why he was selling it, he said he had a dozen grills he used/enjoyed more.






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[MikeRocksTheRed]

@Ashcan Ted  - It sounds like you do enough large cooks to warrant a Ranch Kettle.  I have not used mine much, but that is mainly because it lived at a friends house when I was in AZ due to not having enough space on my patio for it.  Now that I have it on my patio in Denver I've only used it once when I did a 20# Turkey for Thanksgiving.  I am sure I will use it a lot more once Spring has sprung and I am cooking for larger groups of people.

I would suggest finding something that you can draw a 37" circle on so you can better visualize how you would use the cooking space, setup coals under it, etc..  I think you should be able to put coals on one side then have room for your Brisket, 4 racks of ribs (in a rib rack) and a shoulder....not sure if you could squeeze a pork belly in there though.  If you are doing hotter cooks like burgers or chicken, there is definitely an upside to the Ranch for that type of cook for a lot of people.  You can set it up with a snake which will give you a long burn time or just go with minion method on one side which will probably give you a little more real estate for food.  The hinged grates on the newer ones are bigger making it easy to add more coals if you are going with the minion method.  The older "motherships" do have hinged grates but the hinged section is a lot smaller.

I'm wondering if maybe a 26er with a stacker on it might be just as effective or more effective than a Ranch?
http://smoke-ez.com/product/smoke-ez-xl-26-75in/

[Ashcan Ted]

Geat suggestions guy. 2x 26ers is very interesting.  I am going to draw out the 34” circle, thats an excellent suggestion.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Geat suggestions guy. 2x 26ers is very interesting.  I am going to draw out the 34” circle, thats an excellent suggestion.

Correction- It's a 37" circle!

[northernQ]

I started with a Ranch Kettle and worked my way down to 22’sfor smaller cooks.. Still great for a big crowd- holds lots of ribs...15 racks easy, 8 beer can chickens, four large Boston butts.

My buddy has an Oklahoma Joe and they are fun too. Both will get the job done....I’d keep the Joe and buy it a friend to play with


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[MDiBar]

I love my Ranch Kettle.  It’s fun and practical to use for big groups.  Lots of fun to bring to a tailgate.  However, I don’t use it as much as other grills.  I bought it years ago new, on clearance.  At this point in my life, I would not buy one, but I will not get rid of it. 

[swamprb]

Most of the guys I know that cater on them use the ranch for the wow factor and the real estate. But the one thing I hear them complain about is transporting them because they take up so much space.
If you’re just gonna cook in the yard it’s not a deal


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