I’ve recently been more interested in smoking with the Weber. I have the SnS that makes perfectly good smoked ribs and chicken parts, but the SnS takes a good portion of the cooking grate real estate and I want to prep for the time(s) I need to cook more than just 1 rack of ribs. I am tempted to do something longer like a pork butt or pork belly. Probably no brisket for me, though. Too big.
Here are the options I’ve imagined.
First, to do 2 or maybe 3 racks of ribs, I could get a rib rack and use the SnS still. The issue I have with this is that the one closest to the coals will cook faster. I suppose I could just rotate them 2-3 hours in, but where’s the fun in that?
Another alternative I thought about is getting a half moon raised grate (warming rack) to put the 2nd rack of ribs. Maybe worse than the first option, I’ve read that the temp 3-4” above the cooking grate is 50+ deg hotter than on main grate level.
I’ve recently been intrigued with kamados and have been tempted to get one, but it’s not the right time for it due to cost and lack of sufficient patio space. Instead, I’ve been thinking of ways to mimic the kamado experience with a ceramic heat diffuser. I do have a Kettle Pizza with the ceramic “tombstone” and tried various arrangements to use it, but I haven’t actually fired it up using the stone... yet.
One option I thought of is to elevate the tombstone above the charcoal grate with ~3.5” bricks and pile the coals in the middle of the bricks, then place the cooking grate above the tombstone. I measured the distance between the stone and the cooking grate, it’s only 1/2” or so, which I’m worried will generate too much heat below the meat and char it from below. On the other hand, the BBQ Dragon stone is a similar distance.
To further the distance between stone and meat, I placed my Jumbo Joe grate upside down on top of the main grate; the handles elevate the cooking surface about 1.5” so the meat will be about 2” above the ceramic plate. The main downside is that the cooking grate is only around 3 inches below the top of the dome— which may work for ribs (maybe even advantageous) but not for anything else.
I also have a rotisserie kit for the 22” kettle. It’s not the Weber one, it’s the OnlyFire knockoff. The fit isn’t great, but I can place it on the Weber to add height like the WSM, and cover any holes/gaps with aluminum foil to limit smoke/heat loss. I can place the tombstone on the bricks, place a water pan for moisture and to catch drippings on the original cooking grate, and place a 2nd grate inside the rotisserie apparatus (there are small bolts in there that support a 2nd grill and elevate it maybe 2” above the original grate). The main advantage of this set-up is the added distance between plate and meat, and the addition of the water/drippings pan. Main disadvantage is I would have to buy a 2nd grate. And, of course, adding more coals.
My main concerns revolve around the Kettle Pizza tombstone. It’s a bit small at ~15 x 16”, but it is squarish so it’s a little larger than a 15-16” round plate. The charcoal grate is 17”, so that means the coals can potentially extend beyond the diameter of the heat diffuser, which I understand is not ideal. On the other hand, it would likely only happen at the very end of a cook, if at all (especially in short cooks). I also worry about cracking the tombstone as it is hard to find a replacement without getting the whole set. Maybe I should buy another (larger) stone like the BBQ Dragon? It’s $50 and same cordierite as the Kettle pizza stone, but at least it’s easier to replace. But I don’t like that large opening; it’s meant for refueling, but it doesn’t help in this situation.
What do you guys think of these ideas? They may be a bit overkill but to me that’s part of the fun. Maybe I can just pony up the $100 and get the Aura kettle zone system? Other than cost I still don’t like that the ceramic is so close to the meat.
Topic: Using ceramic heat diffuser plate to mimic kamado as a smoker (Read 1699 times)