Weber #3200 Kettle Warming Rack

[addicted-to-smoke]

Over the years Weber has produced several unique grilling accessories. Although not new, the Kettle Warming Rack remains their current "half rack" elevated design that takes any 22.5" model and increases the available cooking area by adding a second grill surface on top of the main grill grate. It adds 76 sq. inches. It won't fit on the 18.5" kettle.

Several years ago it sold for about $15; taking into account inflation it's probably valued at about twice that if you can find a new one from a retailer's back stock such as Bourlier's in Michigan. http://bourlierbbq.com

Bourlier's is specifically mentioned because they've been selling a few of these racks through Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Weber-203200-Kettle-Warming-Rack/dp/B0007IMTFE

That said, the Warming Rack was reintroduced to the North American market with the 2015 MasterTouch, as an included accessory. Is it useful? Definitely. Should it sway you towards a new MasterTouch? Probably not for that reason alone, but it does come in handy and we'll take a look at what to expect with it. It's important to understand that this accessory as a standalone purchase remains a "discontinued" item from Weber.

Here's a stock image:





Are you a history buff? Before we take a closer look at the Warming Rack let's revisit a previous Weber "half-rack" designs, another elevated grate, what's often referred to as the "Half Moon" grate, produced in the 1960s and 1970s. In this '72 Weber catalog, it is warming what appears to be a bread loaf and a jar of honey.





If it seems the Half Moon grate was bigger than the Warming Rack under consideration here that's because it is, at about half the size of a cooking grate on a standard 22.5" kettle. Here's one sitting on @harris92's yellow kettle:





Numerous similarly elevated racks have been built since, by enterprising kettle owners who might use a small rectangular grate or even cut a donor grate and use bolts, washers, nuts to act as the necessary standoffs.

Here's one of the more unique solutions. Made by @Craig, who also took a standard grate but bent some of the cut rods to support it. A handle strap from a Weber Fireplace turned upside down supplies the rear support.











One of the biggest features of the Weber kettle is its flexibility for cooking indirectly, but this requires sacrificing a large portion of the available cooking surface. Enter the elevated grate; it permits more food to be placed on the "cooking side" of your indirect cook setup.

Although all 9 of these chicken legs would fit on the grill without the Warming Rack, this image illustrates a basic indirect setup, including one firebrick to better shield the closest meat from cooking too fast.




The relatively small size of the Warming Rack means only smaller foods fit comfortably on it. @BBcue-Z shows us how a pack of wings are all done indirectly with the Warming Rack.




An elevated "half rack" is a fine "utility player" and could save you from having to fire up a second kettle. Search WKC's forums for more examples of the Warming Rack, how it's used and other designs.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Here we take a break and question the name "Warming Rack." As anyone who has ever compared a lid thermometer with the reading from a grate thermometer knows, heat does rise and for that reason the Warming Rack is really a Cooking Rack.

With the aid of @chuck s, some temperature readings were taken from my SS Performer. The test numbers below were all taken with no food present over the course of a few hours.

The kettle initially ran wide open on 2 baskets full of standard Kingsford charcoal. The lid vent was positioned over a Maverick 732's probes on the "indirect" side. This did two things. First, it simulated a typical cook scenario where the exhaust is over the food for better heat convection and second, it placed the lid thermometer's tip pointing also at that area.

A few readings were taken but this shows the typical numbers spread:

Lid 440
Warming Rack 490
Grate 415

Out of curiosity we rotated the lid 180 degrees so that the lid thermometer was now reading directly over the coals:

Lid 500
Warming Rack 490
Grate 415

What this tells us is that the temp on the Warming Rack is about the same as placing food right on top of the charcoal section, insofar as heat is concerned. It's still however considered an "indirect" cook since there's no danger of flareup. But being raised 4" elevates more than just food. This is why the rack is so good at toasting bread or giving other foods a solid heat boost.

Next we wanted to observe what happens at lower overall temperatures and closed both the intake and the lid vent down to 1/4 open to quickly get it there.

We took several readings as things settled down but this represents the typical, observed spread:

Lid 360
Warming Rack 400
Grate 355

At the lower temperature the lid thermometer and regular cooking grate were now consistently within 5 degrees of each other. The Warming Rack is always about 50 degrees hotter. The last set of readings were taken as the kettle cooled down even further,

Lid 320
Grate 290
Wr 330

The lid thermometer and Warming Rack temp still read higher than the regular cooking grate but at this point the spread has narrowed, and should continue to diminish as temperatures fall to room temp, where any heat inside can more easily mix and won't be as pressurized. This is also why at low "smoking" temperatures, given some time the lid and grate readings should be similar unless a snake or some other method highlights a seeming hot spot.


What does all of this mean? It means the Warming Rack, or any elevated rack, will cook faster than the regular grate (indirect) assuming you keep the lid on. Although no tests were performed with the lid off, an elevated rack should run cooler then the regular grate, as it's sticking out into the neighborhood farther, away from heat.

[Craig]

Awesome write up!

[Troy]

holy balls. this could have been frontpage material duder!

[addicted-to-smoke]

Thanks again Craig, for the "exclusive" photos of your grate. By the way, how did you bend the bars?

holy balls. this could have been frontpage material duder!

If you write something super in depth, we may feature it on the homepage

When we originally discussed me writing this, the Product Reviews section didn't yet exist, but now that it does, I understood this type of content to appear here, regardless of whether or not it gets copied elsewhere.

[chuck s]

I truly believe you missed your calling my brotha!!  Took ya long enough but you came through!!  ^^

[Johnpv]

Killer write up!

[Hogsy]

[WNC]

Great write up ATS! Good info there

[1buckie]

holy balls. this could have been frontpage material duder!

Should be.......

Great layout !!!!

[Bob BQ]

Phenomenal write up, ATS!! 

...and Craig, I think we all would like more details on your warming rack...

[jcnaz]

Damn skippy.

Well done, sir!

[Winz]

@addicted-to-smoke Fantastic writeup!  I especially enjoyed (and learned from) the temp study.  I hope you are planning on doing writeups on other accessories.


Winz

[SixZeroFour]

Very nice!!!! Great read ATS - thanks!

[Cookingmama]

good read.  that half moon is awesome.  i didn't know it existed.  i love the "warming" rack.  and have noticed that it does get hotter.  it is usually always my go to for dogs and sausages.  but i have also put tater halves up there.  i also like to use it for the smaller pieces of chicken that i have when i don't want them to be so close the the heat source.