I've done a couple burgers and steaks on the kettle, but haven't had the time to do a real bbq until yesterday: nothing else to do, no crisises, no projects, no chores, no errands. So I finally took the time to learn some about this thing. And, my favorite starting point is RIBS.
Two slabs of baby backs. I love standard racks, but I REALLY love baby backs.
Coming to kettles by way of Amazing Ribs, I had already decided to get the Slow & Sear, and I used it for this cook. Lit the fire using the instructions. That's probably
waaaaaaay too much apple wood, but to quote Fred Bernardo, The Smokin' Guitar Player from Fred's Music and BBQ Supply (aka Tasty Licks BBQ), "More is better and too much is just right."
And of course it is a beautiful day for cooking out.
About 6 hours later, I think I got this one handled. These ribs were just utterly awesome. That back rack is so fat, it is almost like a set of pork chops.
The BGE was put on chicken duty for the day. Folks get all up about using this or that special extra something-or-other for their BGE. Jeez. It's a grill, people. Toss the chicken on and cook it. Don't forget to turn frequently. this is what we call Dinosaur chicken: marinate with 1 part bottled Italian dressing to 2 parts Dinosaur BBQ sauce, and grill. Serve with any leftover sauce. It is really great. The iPad camera was playing havoc with the white balance in the second photo, it wasn't that strange looking.
Observations:
Holding temp is easier with the BGE, but it wasn't exactly hard with the kettle. Target temp was 250, it took me about 90 minutes to zero in on that, due to inexperience. Afterward, it varied from 225ish to 262, but for most of the cook it stayed in the 240-255 range. Yeah, I got up and nicked the vents by this little amount and that little amount all afternoon, it made me feel like I was doing something. Probably didn't have to do that, but, you know.
Total time over heat was about 5 hours. Ribs on at 12:30, off at 5:45. At that point, the fuel was pretty much spent and grate temp was down to 220. Weather was 72* with a strong wind, steady 20mph with gusts higher. The umbrellas stayed down and tied all day.
The texture on these ribs was perfect. I mean, utterly perfect. You have the tug crowd, and the fall-off-the-bone crowd; these were right in the middle. They tugged off the bone. The smoke was a little bit milder than I get off the BGE, and that is probably because the lump coal in the BGE has its own smokiness that KBB doesn't have.
I made a couple procedural errors. I guarantee this was the first and last time I forget to put drip pans under the cook; the bottom of the kettle is a mess. Either drip pans, or cover the charcoal grate with foil. Also, I should have oriented the cooking grate front-back rather than left-right; the probe from the 733 would have gone perpendicular to the racks, and would have fit nicely on the right side, and if I'd have had to add coals the flap would have been right in front of me.
All in all, Weber makes it really easy. the simpler, the better, I think. Do it right, and the answers become obvious.