Turning My 26" Kettle into a Smoker

[leeharvey418]

Inspired by VetteDoc's handiwork, but lacking his fabrication tools and skills, I set out to make my own effort to turn my 26" Kettle into something resembling a proper smoker. 

The key piece was the Cajun Bandit upgrade charcoal ring for the 18" WSM.  I could have used the Weber OE charcoal ring, but the CB part was a few dollars cheaper, larger in volume, and has standoff feet that will open up the gap between the ring and my diffuser.  It turns out that either ring would have been a tradeoff in the design of the setup - the taller height of the CB ring means I can't fit a cheap aluminum drip/water pan from Costco into the gap between my diffuser and my cooking grate.  The Weber pan fits fine, but they're about $1 apiece instead of the 23 cent cost of the Costco pans, and they don't hold as much water.

The first step is to remove the regular charcoal grate from the 26" and drop in a stock Weber grate for a 22" Kettle.  It fits below the lower nut for the lid bale, and clears the ash sweeps by about half an inch.  Place the charcoal ring on the grate, upside down from the way CB intended it to be used - you're not using the inside tabs to hold the charcoal grate as intended, so you're better off having a decent air gap almost all the way around the perimeter of the ring. 

For a diffuser, I used a Kamado Joe BJ-PS24 pizza stone.  Reading the reviews on Amazon, and comparing the dimensions stated there versus what I got, I get the impression that Kamado Joe isn't real picky about supplier quality.  Mine is 19-1/2" across, and a shade over half an inch thick, whereas the stated dimensions on Amazon are both smaller.  BGE sells an even bigger pizza stone, but I'd be concerned about running out of headroom if it's any thicker than the KJ piece.

Beyond that, it's just a Weber 9 x 13" pan (or two), the standard cooking grate, and I'm off to the races. 

[RedWeberWanabe]

excellent job! Thanks for sharing hey.  Way to inspire change, how many times have you used this to smoke?  Any action shots?

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[JEBIV]

cool

[Andyinlz]

How do you add additional fuel during the smoke?

[leeharvey418]

how many times have you used this to smoke?  Any action shots?

Not yet.  I'll likely do a burn-off in the next day or so, then my first actual cook with the new setup on Saturday or Sunday.

How do you add additional fuel during the smoke?

If worse comes to worse, I can always lift the cooking grate off and set it aside, then lift off the diffuser and pan in one shot. I'm counting on not ever having to do that, though - the interior volume of a 26" Kettle is pretty comparable to an 18" WSM, so a full load of charcoal should be good for at least 12 hours, and probably a decent while longer.