Just got a great deal on a 22 inch Platinum from Craigslist. I used the bottom of my WSMs or my Smokey Joe Silver before now, so I have a question about the cooking grate - the sides fold in?!?!?

What is the use of this grate? I don't see any advantage to it...Also, is there a place on the web to find info about various cooking setups with the 22 inch kettle? Indirect, direct, searing, smoking, etc?

Last night I tried the Platinum for the first time. I put the two charcoal baskets on one side and my stuffed pork chops on the other side. The temp got up to over 400 and I wanted to keep it around 300. Even on the indirect side, the temp was between 375-400+. The temp above the coals seemed great for searing stuff, so that is nice to know for the future. The NUTemp wouldn't even read the temp over the coals.

Anyway, I hope this isn't too confusing and I'd appreciate any help that will aid my attempts to master the 22 inch!

Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Jason Wayne:
I have a question about the cooking grate - the sides fold in?!?!?

What is the use of this grate? I don't see any advantage to it...Also, is there a place on the web to find info about various cooking setups with the 22 inch kettle? Indirect, direct, searing, smoking, etc?

Last night I tried the Platinum for the first time. I put the two charcoal baskets on one side and my stuffed pork chops on the other side. The temp got up to over 400 and I wanted to keep it around 300. Even on the indirect side, the temp was between 375-400+. The temp above the coals seemed great for searing stuff, so that is nice to know for the future. The NUTemp wouldn't even read the temp over the coals.

Anyway, I hope this isn't too confusing and I'd appreciate any help that will aid my attempts to master the 22 inch!

Thanks!

Jason,

The hinged cooking grate can be used to add smoking chips/chucks or coal to the charcoal grated without the need to remove the cooking grate.

With a little exploring of this forum you will find a great deal of info on temp control methods for the kettle. Your greatest assets for are vent control and the volume of lit coal.

Look here & here & here. to get started. Good luck and happy grill'n.

Q'n, Golf'n & Grill'n.... too many choices!
Gary

Do yourself a favor and use a sharpie to mark various vent openings so you can confidently adjust the bottom vents whilst cooking.

for lower vent control i use a large
extendable mirror. works well. also lets me
see of the holes are plugged with ash.

For cooking direct at 300, I would use one charcoal basket with a fire brick next to it. The fire brick is optional but makes the temps more stable and easier to control and greatly minimizes hot/cold spots. I would fill up the charcoal basket about three-fourths with unlit and light about 7-8 briquettes with a mini minion method start. One wood chunk up on top and one buried in the pile.

With Rancher briquettes and a minion method start, one really full basket should give you close to 6 hours of burn time, so if you are cooking just chicken pieces or something similar, you wouldn't need that much charcoal.

You really want to catch your temps on the way up. Adjust down to 25% open when you are 50 degrees below your target. Once you hit 300, you won't need much air flow to maintain that temp. Mine would hold 300 at about 1/8 open. Mark with a sharpie as mentioned above so you can see easily from the outside, as you'll want to foil beneath your indirect food items to keep your grill from getting full of gunk.

The hinges are great for adding charcoal or wood chunks, or for making one giant coal basket piled higher than the cooking grate when you want a longer burn time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: David Lohrentz,