I got home from the West Plains, Missouri Ace Hardware about 5 PM with my new grill. Assembly was just like a 22.5 Premium. Nothing much you can mess up if you follow the instructions. I did take it partly back apart and made a change. I figured the Handle on the One Touch Cleaning System was correctly positioned for assembly. It was positioned to the back. I took it back apart, and moved the handle to the Left side when facing the grill. I like my tool rack on the Right hand side. This was no big deal as the new ash catcher assembly is held by 3 tabs.
After getting it assembled and the Charcoal Baskets placed to the sides I did some measuring of the indirect cooking area. The 22.5 has approximately a 9" X 18" area to cook on (162 SQ Inches). The 26.75 has an area approximately 14" X 23" or (322 SQ Inches) roughly double the indirect cooking area on the grate of a 22.5 Kettle.
Back to the Grates. The Charcoal Grate is reinforced underneath, and well made. The cooking grate is made from Stainless Steel, has the Flip Up sides for refilling the charcoal baskets during the cook. It is nice. With luck it will hold up for a very long time.
I fired off a Weber Chimney full of Kingsford and tryed it out last night. I had some Large Skinless Chicken Breasts to cook. With the Air Intake and Exhaust wide open. I positioned the charcoal baskets to each side, and placed an aluminum Drip Pan in the center. I filled both charcoal baskets, Wiped the Cooking Grate with EVO on a paper towel, and placed the 5 large chicken breasts to the front. Wilma had cut some potatoes in half, and had them foiled with Butter and Onions ready to go. I placed 4 of the 6 foiled potatoes to the rear. Next time I will try stacking the other 2 on top.
The Grill Thermometer went up to 400 deg in a fairly short period of time and then stayed at 400 pretty much all through the cook. I guessed at 25 Minutes per side on the Large Breasts. At 25 Miuntes + 25 Minutes on the second side the Breasts were at approximately 150 deg in the thick parts. Another 10 minutes worked out getting 4 of the 5 done. The 5th and largest Breast was positioned at the front edge in the center (Coolest Position), and still needed a little more cooking time. At 1 Hour I pulled 4 breasts and the foiled potatoes. I left the one Breast on the grill, placed the 2 remaining foiled potatoes, flipped up the grate sides and added 6 briquettes to each basket, and resumed the cook. It took about 15 minutes to come back up to approximately 400 degrees again. I pulled the last breast at approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes total cooking time. I pulled the other foil packets after cooking them for a hair over an hour. The coals were still looking pretty good.
Now I need to cook some Brats to get a handle on the difference in cooking time between a 22.5 and the 26.75. On a 22.5 with my baskets to each side and a drip pan in the center with a full chimney of briquettes divided between them, wide open, I cook them 10 minutes per side, and they are in the 170"s - 180's done. The 22.5 will cook 12 Brats at one time. The 26.75 should do atleast 24 at one time, and possibly a few more. I am guesing the cook time will be extended some as I am using the same amount of coals in a much larget Kettle.
I am a Happy Camper.
Bob R
Topic: My New 26 Kettle Will be in Today (Read 3087 times)