My New 26 Kettle Will be in Today

[Bob R]

I love my 22, but I have found I could use more room fairly often. My local Ace Hardware is the BBQ Headquarters in my area. I gave them a call and put a 26.75 on order. The nice lady told me it should be on the truck around noon today. It looks to come with about everything you would want except the Add-On Utensil Holder.  The Stainless Steel Cooking Grate the 26 comes with will be very nice.  I will probably pick up some Fire Bricks for Low and Slow also. After getting it together, I will need to get an Open Space betwen Charcoal Baskets measurment,and see what size disposable Drip Pans to pick up for it.
I have some Chicken Breasts in the fridge brining that I had planned on cooking last night. They will be my first cook on the new grill this afternoon. The wife has fajitas on the menue.
I got volunteered to cook for the Church group at the river babtism on the Second of August. It will be interesting to see how many Brats the 26 will cook at one time. After that I will again be cooking Brats for the Saddle Club Horse Show on the 15th.  Between my brother and I we have cooked well over 200 Brats so far this Summer. That number will be well over 300 and gaining on 400 by the end of August.
And the wait continues for the phone call from Ace Hardware.

Bob R

[charred]

if i was allowed only one thing to cook on, it would be a 26.75. enjoy!

Pics please...

[Matt_T]

The new 26 is my daily driver. And like you I cook for a lot of people all the time and would continually run out of space on the 22 and have to fire up another grill. Which is always fun and is sometimes the preferred method to my madness but I wanted another option (and another grill). You going to love it and you can do just about anything you want. I bought a BGE XL warming rack and modified it, (saw someone else do it and figured I'd try it out) it's about $45 but it has been the difference maker in some of my recent big cooks. I'll PM you a few photos when I get home so you can see what I'm talking about. I also have a tried (not so true - yet)  method for doing a bunch of brats at once. Maybe you can help me fine tune it and we can crank out brats by the 100s Haha. Have fun and enjoy!

Cheers -

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[1911Ron]

I ordered mine through Ace also, was pleased with their service, it should come with the front handle that has hooks for utensils and so far they work alright for me.

[Bob R]

I got home from the West Plains, Missouri  Ace Hardware about 5 PM with my new grill. Assembly was just like a 22.5 Premium. Nothing much you can mess up if you follow the instructions. I did take it partly back apart and made a change. I figured the Handle on the One Touch Cleaning System was correctly positioned for assembly. It was positioned to the back. I took it back apart, and moved the handle to the Left side when facing the grill. I like my tool rack on the Right hand side. This was no big deal as the new ash catcher assembly is held by 3 tabs.
After getting it assembled and the Charcoal Baskets placed to the sides I did some measuring of the indirect cooking area. The 22.5 has approximately a 9" X 18" area to cook on (162 SQ Inches). The 26.75 has an area approximately 14" X 23" or (322 SQ Inches) roughly double the indirect cooking area on the grate of a 22.5 Kettle.
Back to the Grates. The Charcoal Grate is reinforced underneath, and well made. The cooking grate is made from Stainless Steel, has the Flip Up sides for refilling the charcoal baskets during the cook. It is nice.  With luck it will hold up for a very long time.
I fired off a Weber Chimney full of Kingsford and tryed it out last night. I had some Large Skinless Chicken Breasts to cook. With the Air Intake and Exhaust wide open. I positioned the charcoal baskets to each side, and placed an aluminum Drip Pan in the center. I filled both charcoal baskets, Wiped the Cooking Grate with EVO on a paper towel, and placed the 5 large chicken breasts to the front. Wilma had cut some potatoes in half, and had them foiled with Butter and Onions ready to go. I placed 4 of the 6 foiled potatoes to the rear. Next time I will try stacking the other 2 on top.
The Grill Thermometer went up to 400 deg in a fairly short period of time and then stayed at 400 pretty much all through the cook. I guessed at 25 Minutes per side on the Large Breasts. At 25 Miuntes + 25 Minutes on the second side the Breasts were at approximately 150 deg in the thick parts. Another 10 minutes worked out getting 4 of the 5 done. The 5th and largest Breast was positioned at the front edge in the center (Coolest Position), and still needed a little more cooking time. At 1 Hour I pulled 4 breasts and the foiled potatoes. I left the one Breast on the grill, placed the 2 remaining foiled potatoes, flipped up the grate sides and added 6 briquettes to each basket, and resumed the cook. It took about 15 minutes to come back up to approximately 400 degrees again. I pulled the last breast at approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes total cooking time. I pulled the other foil packets after cooking them for a hair over an hour. The coals were still looking pretty good.
Now I need to cook some Brats to get a handle on the difference in cooking time between a 22.5 and the 26.75. On a 22.5 with my baskets to each side and a drip pan in the center with a full chimney of briquettes divided between them, wide open, I cook them 10 minutes per side, and they are in the 170"s - 180's done. The 22.5 will cook 12 Brats at one time. The 26.75 should do atleast 24 at one time, and possibly a few more. I am guesing the cook time will be extended some as I am using the same amount of coals in a much larget Kettle.

I am a Happy Camper.

Bob R

[Bob R]

Now a couple Pictures.

The 26 assembled and ready to cook.
The Maverick Thermometer is a must have. It will really help your A Game knowing when your meals are really done, not just guessing.


The Charcoal Baskets and a small Drip Pan I normally use with my 22.


View of the Tool Holder. You can see where I crimped it in place with pliers around the Kettle Lip.


A Family Photo of my 22" Kettle, my 22" Drum Smoker, and the new 26" Kettle.


The First Cook, Large Chicken Breasts, and Foiled Potatoes with Onions.

Bob R

[pbe gummi bear]

Looking good. Do you think your 22 will be demoted to second string?

[1911Ron]

Nice cook up!

[GregS]

great pick up.  i love my 26.75. 

[lemisfits]

I bought a 26.75 before I found out about the club.  It's my main cooker 3/4 of the time.  After having a 26er, I don't even look at an 18.5 anymore.  The space is so nice to have different zones to cook.  Congrats, you'll love it.

[ramsfan]

That's a nice pretty grill you have there. I have a 26'er as well. I use it strictly for low and slow smoking, nothing else. I had 3 WSM's and sold them all in favor of a 26" kettle. I found I got much better results smoking on a 26'er than a WSM. I have a Ranch Kettle I use as my everyday cooker. If you think a 26" Kettle has lots of room to cook on, step up to a Ranch Kettle some day. You will love it!

[lemisfits]

Damn @ramsfan .  How much charcoal do you go through if the ranch is your everyday?

[ramsfan]

Damn @ramsfan .  How much charcoal do you go through if the ranch is your everyday?

Last time KBB was on sale at Home Depot, I bought a whole pallet. There was supposed to be a limit I think, but the Mgr. ok'd it. They even loaded it in the back of my F-150 for me. 

[TheDude]

Damn @ramsfan .  How much charcoal do you go through if the ranch is your everyday?

Last time KBB was on sale at Home Depot, I bought a whole pallet. There was supposed to be a limit I think, but the Mgr. ok'd it. They even loaded it in the back of my F-150 for me.

My girls mom is a mgr at Lowes. Not quite that hard core, but I'm stocked pretty well too.