Want!

[MartyG]

High on my wish-list is one of these babies:



I had dinner in Chicago last night, and sat right at the end of the kitchen where 8 of these masterpieces were cranking out the Weber Grille goodness. Amazing dance to watch the experts throw down all kinds of meat. They had these things screaming hot - I watched them dump an entire bag of charcoal along the backside of the kettle more than once - then wait until it was shooting flames out the top vent before loading it up with various cuts of beef, chicken, fish - whatever. The grate would not even rest evenly until the charcoal had settled in. They would start most of the beef/lamb/pork at the back of the grill for an amazing sear - flames licking all around - then bring it forward to the desired temp. No thermometers - only tongs to check doneness. Charcoal was not Kingsford as in past visits. I know they've been working on a new source, and they must have found one. Not a bag I recognized, and I didn't get a good pic.

Like I said, owning one of these would be a dream. I'll even take a used one. Wonder how often they swap them out for new?

[addicted-to-smoke]

They must have a heck of a ventilation setup in the kitchen, to avoid dying every day.

[Tuberoller]

I've always lusted after one of those stainless masterpieces myself. They look amazing.

[austin87]

Is that basically a stainless steel ranch kettle with a hinged lid?

[Troy]

I'd love to have one too!

I'm glad they've moved away from kingsford. Now they can probably add fresh unlit without getting the plume of kingsford chemical smoke.

@austin87 they're essentially a stainless ranch. They're made by a manufacturer other than Weber, but certainly inspired by the Ranch and made to Weber Restaurant's specs.
From what I remember, the lid isn't hinged. The bottom is cut out in the center.

[MartyG]

Is that basically a stainless steel ranch kettle with a hinged lid?

Nothing like a ranch, but around the same diameter. The bottom is cone-shaped with a large single opening for airflow and ash management. Below the opening is an ash bucket on wheels - probably holds a couple bags-worth of ash before it is emptied.

There is a vent up top, but it is left wide open. I presume they shut it down at the end of the shift. The hinged grate is split about 60/40. they flip it up, add a full bag of charcoal, and when they flip it down it's actually resting on the pile of charcoal while it heats up again. Once it's laying flat again it's time to cook. The lid is not hinged, but it sort of rolls back like a performer lid from front to back. They control how wide open they want the lid, and it's only open for a few seconds while they flip meat and add burgers etc. The flames at the back are continuous.

If they start to die down they add coal. Not sure if the charcoal grate has a barrier to allow them to add coal the way they do, but it wouldn't surprise me. Seems like they use a two-zone setup; the closer to the back you go, the hotter it gets. The chefs had a towel in one hand for the lid-lifting, and a pair of tongs in the other for everything. I rarely saw them do anything without tongs unless they had a moment to clean up or re-stock the meat bins. This is one place where the phrase "if you can't stand the heat - stay out of the kitchen!" truly applies.

[MrHoss]

I'd bloody love to work one of those babies.

[MartyG]

After a little digging, I found the source for their charcoal. It's  a Texas company called Barbecue Wood Flavors. No indication on their site where it can be purchased, or whether Weber's version is somehow special, but here's the link:

http://www.bbqwf.com/briquets-2/

Notable is this bit of history from the site:

Barbeque Wood Flavors was started in 1984, under the name of Bloomfield Farms and was the first fully integrated, high speed chip and chunk processing system in the U.S. with a year around uniform product capability. It was sold to George Wartsbaugh in 1986 and then to Weber-Stephen Products that same year. The name was changed to Barbeque Wood Flavors after the Weber-Stephen purchase. In 1992, the company was sold back to George Wartsbaugh and in 1994, Barbeque Wood Flavors acquired Flying W Wood Products, which was also one of the three original wood producers in the United States.

The bag on the right is what they had at the restaurant, NOT the instant light crap!

[addicted-to-smoke]

Thanks MartyG! I thought that logo looked familiar ... down here in GA we have this, in some of the grocery stores (Public and Kroger's, but it's not shown on either's site) :



It's a small bag, 8.3lbs (same weight as what you have pictured, only not tall/skinny) that I think sells for $6 if I recall correctly. I really like using it. Less ash than Coshell, lights easier and of course, far less ash than K blue.

The plasticized (shiny) bag might not be as easily recyclable as basic paper bags surely are, but these things can be closed up! They have a ziploc kind of thing going on.

[austin87]

I would love to cook on one of those bad boys... @MartyG and @Troy great pics and info!

[MartyG]

It's a small bag, 8.3lbs (same weight as what you have pictured, only not tall/skinny)

The ones they use at the Weber Grille are bigger - 18lbs as I recollect. They had a big stack ready to go at the end of the parade of grills.

[jcnaz]

@MartyG , Thanks for the look inside this place!

[Uncle JJ]

So cool - maybe if you find the manufacturer of those grills, you could figure out how to snag one.  It would be amazing for an outdoor kitchen.