Chimney Mod for use with Gas Assist

[CharliefromLI]

I posted this as a reply to a post on TVWBB but i thought i'd share hear as i was pretty happy with the results:
I have been using a 2nd hand weber chimney with my gas assist performer but i had two issues:

The grate of the chimney itself is very high in the chamber as it was designed to allow space for news print in the bottom of the chimney.

The Flames on the gas assist burner are at their hottest just above the charcoal grate of the grill itself as they were designed to be used for charcoal baskets.

When the chimney is used on a performer there is a gap between the hottest point of the flames and the coals. The coals would light faster if they were closer to the bottom of the chimney where the flame is.

My Second wish is that the chimney would fit in the kettle with a cooking grate for storage once both are cool. It would be the easiest place to store and prep the next cook. If you place the chimney the grate the lid will leave a 1-2 inch gap, which is clearly not ideal.

Since the grate in the chimney is convex (cone pointing up), i tried taking out and flipping upside down to get coals closer to flame, Since this is an older chimney with a rusty grate i wasnt able to remove it, but i was able to bend it down a bit in the desired direction. Not pretty but effective.

As i saw how easy the grate bent i had a brain storm. If i squished the chimney itself it would be an oval instead of a circle which would allow storage in the kettle with the lid on and grate in and the oval shape actually gets better coverage of the gas assist flame as the GA burner puts out two side by side flames.

Chimney can fit under or over cooking grate during storage.
The results have been great. I am seeing my coal lighting almost 5 minutes faster now that the coals are closer to the flame, and now my already easy set up is even easier:

Take of cover
Lift lid
Lift cooking grate
Stand up chimney
Dump old coals from baskets back into chimney
hit gas assist button to light

If its a quick cook ( last night i did some quick grilled chicken cutlets for chicken Caesar salad) i can get away with a half a chimney of reused coals and i don't even have to open the charcoal bin! Easiest charcoal cook ever.

[jcnaz]

Looks like a workable option to me!
I have reversed the conical grates in my chimney, and I think that it improved it's performance with the gas assist and with starter cubes.

[1buckie]

That's pretty ingenious Charlie...not sure everyone will want to squash their chimney, but it works !!!!


Did you happen to try angling the charcoal grate to accommodate the chimney?

I've used the smaller, cheap chimneys for years & they will fit under the cook grate if the char grate is angled off to one side.....the Weber ones are bigger by quite a bit, so that may not work.....

Figured that out by loading four~six kettles at a time for travel & the best way I figured was upside down, with the grate & chimney inside the bell & the lids stacked separately.....

[CharliefromLI]

Looks like a workable option to me!
I have reversed the conical grates in my chimney, and I think that it improved it's performance with the gas assist and with starter cubes.

That was my first thought but it was fairly rusty and wasn't budging. Since cosmetics weren't an issue here i didn't feel like getting too crazy with it.

...not sure everyone will want to squash their chimney, but it works !!!!

I would have been apprehensive too but this is an older chimney i snagged with a craigslist find a while back.

Did you happen to try angling the charcoal grate to accommodate the chimney?

That might have worked but I prefer not to mess with the coal grate as i usually leave left over coals in basket for next use and by the time i'm covering up for the night, i don't feel like messing with coals a second time.

Figured that out by loading four~six kettles at a time for travel & the best way I figured was upside down, with the grate & chimney inside the bell & the lids stacked separately.....
[/quote]
I have an 18" grill that lives un-assembled on a shelf the garage ready to transport for tailgate purposes. I keep it stored with the lid upside down on top of the bowl with cooking grate in the upside down lid. Good Space saver as the handle and raised lid face into the bowl and take up significantly less space.

[ClubChapin]

I have reversed the conical grates in my chimney, and I think that it improved it's performance with the gas assist and with starter cubes.

I've done the same with a chimney for my SSP.  Works great. 


Hadn't thought to try this with the chimney for my daisy wheeler, which I start with cubes.  Will give it a try.


In addition to lowering the coals closer to the flame, it also slightly increases the capacity of the chimney.

[CharliefromLI]

I have reversed the conical grates in my chimney, and I think that it improved it's performance with the gas assist and with starter cubes.

I've done the same with a chimney for my SSP.  Works great. 


Hadn't thought to try this with the chimney for my daisy wheeler, which I start with cubes.  Will give it a try.


In addition to lowering the coals closer to the flame, it also slightly increases the capacity of the chimney.

At first i thought of the capacity bonus too, but i feel like when I do a full chimney, the time it takes to ignite the top coals nearly uses up the bottom coals. Lately i have been lighting a 1/2 to 3/4 of a chimey using the gas assist. Once lit, dump in kettle or baskets and then add unlit if additional coals on top of lit if needed. Once you have that much flaming coal already going, the new unlit coal lights very fast, and this allows the kettle and cooking grate to preheat while the new coals light saving time.

[1buckie]

I have reversed the conical grates in my chimney, and I think that it improved it's performance with the gas assist and with starter cubes.

I've done the same with a chimney for my SSP.  Works great. 


Hadn't thought to try this with the chimney for my daisy wheeler, which I start with cubes.  Will give it a try.


In addition to lowering the coals closer to the flame, it also slightly increases the capacity of the chimney.

At first i thought of the capacity bonus too, but i feel like when I do a full chimney, the time it takes to ignite the top coals nearly uses up the bottom coals. Lately i have been lighting a 1/2 to 3/4 of a chimey using the gas assist. Once lit, dump in kettle or baskets and then add unlit if additional coals on top of lit if needed. Once you have that much flaming coal already going, the new unlit coal lights very fast, and this allows the kettle and cooking grate to preheat while the new coals light saving time.

"Lately i have been lighting a 1/2 to 3/4 of a chimey using the gas assist. Once lit, dump in kettle or baskets and then add unlit if additional coals on top of lit if needed. Once you have that much flaming coal already going, the new unlit coal lights very fast, and this allows the kettle and cooking grate to preheat while the new coals light saving time.'

This is the way I've lit about half of the setups for years.....a lot of the rest of the lite-ups are for slow burn, but for any length grilling, this affords a lot of flexibility.....
(No large Weber chimney or gas assist though)
Quite often I'll leave a few lit in the chimney & add unlit part of the way thru the cook so there's more lit later on too.....

A lot of BBQ is about thinking slightly out ahead of yourself & seeing how the actions match up...

[CharliefromLI]

/quote]

I've been thinking of trying something like that lately too. Iv'e been working on Pizza a lot lately and have found the need for more then one lit chimney and thought that leaving a few lit left overs would get a second chimney going quick if i need to reload after a few pies.

Really any cook that would need a reload of lit coals would benefit from that. Aside from minion/snake cooks i'm not a fan of reloading with unlit coals while food is already cooking and the main drawback to the gas assist performer is that you cant use the gas assist with food on the grate.

I have two SJ's (one silver, one gold) that sit in the garage unused and i wrestle with the idea of selling them but they do come in handy for little projects like this. They would be perfect for holding a few lit coals to light a new chimney during a cook. ive already use them for lighting chimneys for larger grills while tailgating and this is very similar.

[Uncle Al]

At first i thought of the capacity bonus too, but i feel like when I do a full chimney, the time it takes to ignite the top coals nearly uses up the bottom coals. Lately i have been lighting a 1/2 to 3/4 of a chimey using the gas assist. Once lit, dump in kettle or baskets and then add unlit if additional coals on top of lit if needed. Once you have that much flaming coal already going, the new unlit coal lights very fast, and this allows the kettle and cooking grate to preheat while the new coals light saving time.

This is a great idea!  I've been thinking it takes too long to light a full chimney.  I will certainly give this a spin on the next cook.  Thanks!