u/JohnP-357

I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. Bought some frozen scallops from Trader Joe’s and thawed them overnight in the fridge. Put them in a deep fryer basket I bought online. Costco charcoal with a pecan chunk. I caramelized them over the flames and then put them on the side. Covered the grill and let them smoke of about 30 minutes. Took them inside and finished them with peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms and broccoli with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wonderful! Even my wife who doesn’t really like seafood liked these.

Was tasked with making pulled chicken by my daughter who’s helping with a bridal shower for a friend. Two for the party and two for our family. Bit of a tight fit, but four whole chickens are possible. I’ll be moving them around a bit about every hour to prevent too much burn on one side. Keeping 300 - 325 degrees for perhaps three and a half hours or more depending on what my meat thermometer tells me after hour three. Costco chickens with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, onion, paprika, and mustard powder. Hickory chunks. B&B Charcoal.
We shall see…

My son, my daughter, and I went to Indiana to see the monster in person. We got to Argos early enough but Big Boy had to stop and wait while a Norfolk Southern - with BNSF and CSX power units - container train headed east on the line. Finally, after a 45 minute wait, Big Boy came through on their way to a stop in Knox. We decided to skip Knox because we heard it was going to be crowded, and instead headed to Valparaiso to catch it in action. This time they were going faster, around 40 mph, and we got some great action shots. Big thanks to UP and NS for bringing it this far east! Hope to see it again some day.

Twelve pound pork shoulder, thankfully. Never too difficult. I decided to try a charcoal snake for this one. First picture shows my attempt to get it going using Duraflame’s starters. I didn’t like how it looked, so I threw ten more briquettes into my charcoal starter and got the fire going better.
Up till this, I’ve been using Costco charcoal, which I think is great. But I didn’t have enough for this so I got a bag of B&B (based on the great reviews here). I discovered that B&B takes longer to light than the other brands I’ve used, but I like the size of the briquettes.
Temperature got up to 350, but has backed down to 275 with a top vent adjustment. Going to push it to 9 or 10 hours, depending on what the meat thermometer says later. So far so good.

35 bucks plus tax. My kettle is now a performer.
At least, all I need from a performer… the table.

I see a lot of posts about what kind of upgrade from a 22 inch kettle or an 18 inch kettle would be best. I’ve had 22s and a WSM. This 26” beast is better.
Full size hotel pan for drippings and moisture.
Plenty of room for full racks of ribs without cutting them in half. There’s room for five racks.
I could potentially fit four whole chickens.
Three 8-10 pound pork shoulders.
A full size packer brisket.
Or you can do smaller amounts.
Takes the same amount of charcoal as my 22s did. Not more, like some others think.
Better temperature control and better results because the meat doesn’t get singed from being too close to the coals.
I only regret that I didn’t get one sooner.
Next up? Gonna try a pork shoulder or two with the snake method. Oval shaped foil roasting pan underneath them, because it will fit.

Trying out baby backs on the new 26. That’s a full size foil pan. One of the things I didn’t like so much about my 22 inch grills was that I had to cut the rib slabs in half to fit them over the smaller foil pans. But with the 26, I can leave them intact. They’ve been on for about an hour and a half so far, temperature is holding nicely at 275. I’m also experimenting with putting the wood chunks under the charcoal. No particular reason why, just thought it would help me gauge the amount of charcoal for each basket.

I’ve been using Weber 22 inch kettles for over 40 years. They are the best charcoal grill for the money and can even out perform some pricier grills. I also had an 18 inch WSM back in the mid 90s, which I liked a lot but ultimately decided not to keep due to moving to another location where it wasn’t practical. My most recent 22 inch was an early performer, purchased in 1997 and lasted 28 years until the bowl disintegrated two years ago.
This week I finally got my hands on a 26 inch kettle. Researching the dimensions and thinking it over during those two years, told me that the 26 would likely be better for temperature control. While I always liked the 22, there were some drawbacks - not the least of which was the charcoal grate was only 18 inches. That doesn’t offer a lot of room for separation of fire from food for smoking purposes. There were a number of times when I smoked larger cuts of meat and the edges would get more than burnt. Not terrible, but annoying.
For my first cook on the 26, I got a two-pack of whole chickens from Costco (under ten bucks right now) and put them both on. On the 22 I could do the two chickens but I had to put them lengthwise in the center of the grill. The only drip pan I could fit wasn’t big enough for both and so a lot of grease would get into the bowl and ash catcher. Again, not terrible, just annoying.
But with the 26, I was able to put them side by side with a foil 9x13 pan under each chicken. I think I could have put one more in if I had used a full sized steam table foil pan, which would easily fit.
I bought the Weber charcoal baskets and they worked great. (Not even going to try the included charcoal rails.) I dumped 12 pieces of hot charcoal into each basket and added a couple of wood chunks. Got the temperature to 300 degrees on the lid thermometer and checked it every 30 minutes. Smoked the chickens for 2-1/2 hours. They turned out perfectly. I’m certain that I could have gotten another hour out of the fire if I’d needed.
The only complaint is the GBS grill. The inserts fall out too easily if you’re not careful. However I discovered that cleanup is better. I have a twin compartment kitchen sink so getting a 22 inch grill in there never happened, let alone the 26. But the two inserts fit just fine and since that’s where the chickens were sitting, it was the only part of the grill that needed cleaning. So not too bad. I really wish Weber would offer a choice of either the GBS grate or a hinged grate, for all their Master Touch grills, but they have their way of doing things. Eventually I’m going to get a hinged cooking grate replacement for it, but I want to get a Wooly Bully cover first. Also thinking of a vortex, which would be the only reason I’d keep the GBS grill. I have no interest in either the wok or a griddle. Not a criticism, just a personal preference.
Overall I think the 26 inch kettle is Weber’s best charcoal grill. It’s pricey but worth it. You get much better temperature control and enough room for a full sized packer brisket, or five slabs of St. Louis ribs, or even three bone-in pork shoulders without the edges being too close to the fire. 508 sq inches of cooking space is a lot of room, and the 22 inch charcoal grate is big enough that you could use a couple of 10 inch wood logs instead of charcoal, if you’d want to try it (I’m planning on this at some point).
The lid of the grill is not as heavy as some people have complained about here, and when doing the chickens, I used less charcoal than I would have with my old 22s. Of course that’s because I didn’t use the charcoal baskets on that. Wish I had. I’m convinced that the reason my last 22 disintegrated was due to piling the hot coals against the bowl walls. The baskets offer some protection from the heat. At some point I might consider a Slow’n’Sear insert, but 22 bucks for the Weber baskets and a couple of bucks for foil drip pans versus 120 something for the 26” SnS insert is not worth it right now. I have a sneaking suspicion that the SnS for the 22 inch would work just fine, but my budget’s not there yet, either.
Hands down, this is the best Weber kettle I’ve owned in over 40 years, and I intend to have a lot of fun using it in the years ahead.