i'm torn on the craycorts.
they're by far, the best cast iron grates you can get for a weber.
however in the performer they're a bit of a hassle unless you change your habits a bit.
if you want to use a chimney AND the gas-assist, you will have to take out the grates completely.
that's 5 pieces of dirty, heavy, cast iron. you can't take it out as once piece either. You have to place it somewhere, and that somewhere is going to get scratched and dirty.
With the performer, you're better off skipping the chimney and ONLY using the baskets. Leave the baskets in all the time. You can fill them by taking out 2 (or even 1) of the grate sections. Move the baskets over the gas-assist to light the charcoal.
This process works great.
If you're NOT using a performer, you'll still have similar dilemmas. Pouring a chimney of light coal through a section opening without getting ash on the grates is pretty much impossible.
The sections in the 22 aren't big enough for a chimney - so you'll need to remove the WHOLE thing or light your chimney elsewhere (and then try not to get ash on the cross bars and grates)
I had the 22's in my performer for a while, at first it was love, then hate, then love again (when i figured out the baskets).
I bought the
STOK cast iron grates for $40 to compare, and i almost immediately sold the craycorts.
The stok grates are nice. They're not as high quality as the craycorts, and they have a weird ceramic finish that keeps them from being seasoned as well as the craycorts - but they're much more convenient for chimneys
Now - on the 26 Weber - craycorts are HEAVEN. HEAVEN!!!!!!!!
The chimney fits in one of the sections and there's rarely a need to remove the crossbeam portion of the grate. I often cook on TWO sections and leave the other 2 out for easy access to the coals.
list of all cast iron grates for the Weber kettle