I lust for a Weber Ranch Kettle

[highchef]

I've had 3 weber kettles in my life, one a 'table top' for camping. I really know their limitations, but its only a problem when I'm trying to do 2 things at once and feed like 20 people....but in the summer thats half the week. I'm looking for functionality (?) over looks. So I've checked out a ton of charcoal grills lately and they're all over the place. Seriously, do you think the ranch kettle is oversize? I've seen it described as the answer to feeding the team, but what if I'm only feeding half the team? Is there a lot of wasted space with this grill, or does a little room to move make it worth the price? Check it out Here. I've seen it run up and down of 1200$

Edits: insert link

[Chris Amirault]

We talking charcoal or gas?

[highchef]

Charcoal.

[andiesenji]

One of my friends has one of these super-sized grills and for small batches he puts the charcoal (he uses chunk type) into one of these, to keep the fire limited to a section and concentrate the heat.

He removes it when he needs to fire up the entire grill.

[highchef]

One of my friends has one of these super-sized grills and for small batches he puts the charcoal (he uses chunk type) into one of these, to keep the fire limited to a section and concentrate the heat.

He removes it when he needs to fire up the entire grill.

So it's not a big deal when you're just cooking for 4, that's pretty clever. I'd prefer not to have 2 grills but the sheer size of this thing makes me wish they'd make it just a midge smaller. It's like a choice between cooking for the ranch hands or a family of five....

[Borgstrom]

What kind of cooking do you want to do? low&slow -- 15 hours at 220F for pork butt; high-heat direct grilling -- 2-3 minutes at 700F for steak; hot/cold smoking; pizza/bread? For that kind of money, you might want to consider a ceramic cooker which can handle all of these cooking tasks. The Big Green Egg seems to be pretty popular, and has lots of cool accessories, including multi-tier racks if you are cooking for a crowd. I'm picking mine up in a few weeks!

[Trev]

The ranch is perfect for what you're describing. A lot of folks (including myself) use fire bricks to cordon off an area or the charcoal grate for smaller direct grilling or for indirect/smoking, etc. Also, being a weber it has a lifetime guarantee, as you know.

It's good to have the space when you need it, but it's easy to use a half or third of this grill when you don't.

You can't go wrong with a ranch.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Trev (log)

[highchef]

Thank you, those things are what I needed to know...I assume they come with 2 larger baskets? The problem is, there is no place to go see one, you have to special order them here (guess it's more of a commercial thing) but I cannot see that just having another regular size kettle will help much. My first thought is I'd use twice as much charcoal than just getting the big one to begin with. The andiron Andie suggested seems reasonable, but are a fixed size and bricks I have plenty of. How is the air control? It looks like maybe its not that big when you consider that it offers space to have separate heat zones....direct, indirect and further away for keeping things warm. Is there anything special I should order with it besides extra long tongs?

I would really appreciate hearing any tricks you've learned when you transitioned to that big boy. Thanks!

Edit: you have to special order the big green egg too, so I'veyet to meet one of those in person either.. Is it cheaper by any chance? The ranch is going to run 1200$ or so.

Edited June 2, 2011 by highchef (log)

[Trev]

Oh my goodness, I'm sorry highchef but I think I've misled you by accident. Although I've read a lot about the ranch and about it's operating habits, etc., I don't actually own one. I meant that I use fire-bricks to cordon off an area in my kettle grill for indirect cooking, or direct grilling in a smaller area. After re-reading my post I can see how it was misleading. My apologies for the confusion.

I can tell you, however, that using longer tongs is a good idea, as is a good pair of long mits-- like welders gloves. I can also tell you that the ranch is actually pretty thrifty with charcoal. I'd suggest a visit over to TVWBB (the virtual weber bulletin board) and google ranch kettle. A number of guys there have one and they're really good about sharing info.

Good luck with it.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Trev (log)

[Borgstrom]

Edit: you have to special order the big green egg too, so I'veyet to meet one of those in person either.. Is it cheaper by any chance? The ranch is going to run 1200$ or so.

I got (or will get) my BGE for $850, including a nest (metal stand). This is a special the local dealer has for their "Eggfest" later this month. Otherwise I could have just picked one up for a few bucks more from their shop immediately; no special order required.

I'd also note that, from what I've read, BGE is pretty efficient with charcoal -- the ceramic walls/top retain heat well, and when you are done you can close everything up and save unburned charcoal for next time. For indirect cooking they offer a "plate setter" to protect foods from direct exposure to the coals.

[Dave the Cook]

If I understand highchef's requirements, space is a huge -- perhaps the most important -- consideration. The largest Big Green Egg has less than half the grate area of the Weber Ranch (452 square inches vs. 1104).

However, kettles -- in fact all round shapes -- are problematic for efficient, even grilling. In one of many "d'oh!" moments, I came across this in Modernist Cuisine (2.14):

The light-like behavior of radiant heat has surprising consequences for grilling . . . black is a terrible color for a grill and . . . the ubiquitous kettle shape is among the worst possible. Once you have intuition for the behavior of radiant heat, you'll want a cooker that has a large bed of coals, straight sides, and a shiny interior.

Based on that, if I had a grand to spend on a charcoal grill, I'd be looking at one of these or two of these. MC suggests lining the inside of the box with aluminum foil.

[Mr Holloway]

Wow!! That is a great looking grill. I have 2 Kettles and have used them together for crowds. I think you could use a section for smaller cooks.

But please have a close look at the Big Green Egg. I am coming up to my first year with mine. With some planning, you can really pump out a high volume of food.

Then you also have a amazing smoker, stone style oven and some killer food

[DanM]

I used to live not far from the Weber factory and have seen the ranch kettle in person. It is well built and very impressive. You will not be disappointed with it! IIRC, they use them in their Weber Grill restaurants.

Dan

[Chris Amirault]

I've been ogling those Master Forge charcoal grills at Lowe's lately. They seem to be built like brickhouses and keep the features limited and smart.

[gdenby]

Considering that a lot of the time you won't be using the whole of that giant grill, would it not be less expensive to buy 4 22" kettles? They wouldn't have the awesomeness factor, but might be a whole lot more versatile and less expensive. Or a smoker, and 3 kettles? For a bunch of people, a couple of smoked butts goes a long way.

[Clark D]

I'm a big fan of the Ranch Kettle. I have a lot of grills including the Ranch just because we do a lot of competitions. If you are looking for something not quite as big as the ranch but a little bigger than the standard kettle you might want to look at the 26 inch kettle.

All the grills mentioned are good cookers but I wouldn't buy the big green egg (again, I do have one). Before everyone gets upset with that reoomendation it isn't because it isn't a great cooker because it is and I love to use it! And as mentioned they use far less charcoal than the Webers and have an excellent temperature range. The reason for my recomendation is you could pick up a WSM and a kettle for roughly half the price (in my area anyways) and hit close to the same temps (taping out at around 700 - 800 not 1200 degrees but still able to cook basically anything). When comparing it to the Ranch it has a lot of positivies but no where near the grill space that the Ranch has so it isn't really comparing apples to spples.

The ranch is not ideal for cooking for two people or cooking one chicken or something like that. It can absolutely be done as stated but you are heating up a huge space and wasting charcoal (even when you are using the baskets the heat is disipating over the whole area). It is great once you get to 5 people and over though and it can hold a tonne of food.

Just my $0.02!

I think I have a photo of it at home holding 150 of pork shoulder as well that I can look for later just to show the size of this thing. If any of this doesn't make sense let me know!

Lastly look on Craigs List as well, I picked up my Ranch for $400 and two of my WSM'S for $100 a piece as well as the Smokey Joe Platnum for free.

Here's a few picks of some of the Ranch cooks I've done recently.

For the pizza cooks this is about 20 pounds of charcoal. Having said that it cooked 20 pizzas in a row and did not burn through the majority of it.

Clark

[Mr Holloway]

Great info Clark

Nice looking set up for the pies

[Clark D]

Couple more ranch kettle pics to show the size from last weekend at the restaurant for a bbq we put on.

Clark

[highchef]

I think im gonna get me one! Even if I just use it for football season, I think its probably worth having. Its one of those you need when you need it things. Thanks for the pics.

[eternal]

Awesome post, Clark. I would also agree that while I love my Kamado egg, it will not do what the OP wants.