Daisy vents VS One Touch

[Craig]

I'm wanting to get everyone's feedback on the 2 major lower venting styles from those of you that have both kinds. Advantages, disadvantages, pros and cons. Do you guys tend to gravitate towards your one touch kettles or do you prefer the daisy wheel vent style when cooking? Do you like the OT because of ease of cleaning or daisy vents for temp control etc? Do some of you wish Weber still made the Bar-B-Kettles? Don't care? Hate One Touch? Love it? Are your B-B-K's just the lookers and your OT's the cookers?


Craig

[Eastex]

I'm gonna pull up a chair and watch this one, I've got it in my mind that a daisy wheel 26 would be a rib machine but maybe theres not that big of a difference.

[Craig]

I like the One Touch for easy clean up but have always been told that the daisy vent kettles are better for smoking and temp control (some say they're better all together than a One Touch on everything) When I use my 18.5 that has daisy vents I usually have all 3 open when I'm grilling. So ive never tried smoking with it. I'm waiting on a pre 1981 22.5 B-BQ-K to add to the collection next week.

Craig

[Troy]

i strongly prefer the one touch.

i can't stand ash and embers falling from the grill. one touch gold ash pans all around!

While the daisy wheels do provide easier air control, the one-touch system provides adequate air control as well

[zavod44]

I find the three wheels hard to deal with.  It's hard for me to see the vents and where the positions are, then I need to stick my head under the grill and it's hot and it's sometimes hard to deal with. I really have no issues with the one touch and the ash buckets are way easier to clean and dump,

Brian

[Duke]

I like the gold buckets and the ease of opening and closing from the OT, but for smoking I prefer the daisy wheel. I just use the front one and that's it. I think weber could come up with a better system than the OT sweepers. They need to just hire me and I will revolutionize the vent controls.

[Craig]

They need to just hire me and I will revolutionize the vent controls.

What kind of venting design do you have in mind?

Craig

[G]

Another vote for the OT system.  You cant beat the ease and convenience.

[Craig]

This commercial from 1983 says it all!

http://youtu.be/LfMZPMSA2As

Craig

[mike.stavlund]

I've never done any smoking or low-temp stuff on a 3-wheeler.  When I've smoked stuff on a one-touch, I cover over two of the vents with that adhesive tape for metal ductwork (not the 'duct tape', but the silver stuff with the adhesive backing that you peel off).  It gives a good measure of air control, and comes right off without leaving any residue.  I set it up so the fire is right above the open vent, so that I can sweep ashes as I go. 

I used to dream of getting a 3-wheeler as a dedicated smoker, but then I found a sweet used WSM and now I think I'll stick with the one-touch for my kettles.  It is just so much easier to clean and control.

I also like to mark out some index marks on the one-touch housing to designate full-open, closed, and half-open of the vent.  This makes it much easier to choke down the fire after lifting the lid, or to stoke up the fire before leveling it off to the previous level of air.

Photos here:  http://mikestavlund.com/2012/01/grill-hacks/

[Hogsy]

Love the one touch with ash catcher