50 hour burn on one load of charcoal in the Weber Summit

[4ever3]

I wish you could get it without the gas starter, just the cart and the grill...

 

[chashint]

50 hours burn is still very impressive no matter what.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

I'm a huge Weber fan, thanks for the videos. Are the outside edges of the grate hotter like an egg or WSM?

I'd buy it.

Good question. I wasn't really paying attention to it so I can't answer that. I would think that would be likely since the vertical set up is similar.

The cool thing about this is you can also set it up just like a normal kettle (only bigger) if you want. I'm going to try it both ways and see which one I like better.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

I wish you could get it without the gas starter, just the cart and the grill...

You mean just to save a few bucks? Or do you not like the looks of it?

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

I did an 18lb brisket in 8 hours on mine. used very little carcoal and it didn't dry out the edges like my XL egg.

That's really good to know!

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

He also mentioned temperature drops in the video.
Sometimes I contemplated forced air temperature regulation, but I can never convince myself it is worth it.

There are pros and cons. I can tell you I usually don't use mine simply because I don't like fussing with all the cords. I used to use it all the time though.

It was nice for something like this though.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

I bet if you had used lump you wouldn't have had to mess with the charcoal at all.

You are probably right.

 

[grantw]

Wouldn't all smokers use very little fuel empty? My backwoods and wsm would probably go forever unloaded too

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

Guys, regarding the charcoal. Keep in mind, I'm still learning this cooker. I started out the first half of this experiment not really messing with the coals much. I would just do what I could through the access hinges in the grates and firebox. I also noticed that every time I stoked the coals, the temps would jump up about 25 degrees for an hour or two (more on that later). Somewhere in the course of that first night, the temps dropped so that was when I decided I would pay more attention to the coals. Keep in mind, this was something like 17 hours into the cook at this point...that's a long time to go mostly unattended. That was also when I realized it would be really easy to just take the grate and heat deflector off anyways.

The first time I took off the grate and deflector was what you saw. I honestly thought I must have used up most of the coals. My intention was to open the grill up, show that 85 percent of the coals were gone, and I was going to just stir the rest into a pile and then come back a couple hours (or however long it took) and say something like "Wow, 28 hours on one load of charcoal! how cool is that?!"

Once I realized most of my coals were still there, I was like "Oh crap. This is going to take forever." That's when it also occurred to me that opening it up completely each time would be advantageous because you guys could get more of a sense of how fast it was burning through the coals. Also, I kinda wanted to see it myself. Plus, I knew storms were coming and keeping the ash completely clear would give me more control over when I did or didn't serviced the coals.

During the course of this I also figured out that by turning off the temp controller while stoking the coals prevented the 25 degree spike and keeping the ash cleaned out prevented any drops so the cooker pretty much stayed locked in at 225 for the remainder of the cook even with stretches of up to 8 hours at a time (and in stormy weather.). I'm sure it would have gone longer but I was working towards keeping the temps at 225 consistently and giving you guys something to see periodically...which was important particularly after realizing I was done talking to the camera.

So anyways, that's the backstory. It wasn't a perfect experiment by any stretch and I guess it really wasn't really supposed to be...It just gave me a chance to learn my grill a little better and give you guys something interesting to see. I'm sure it would be different with lump or without the temp controller or with meat in it or whatever. There are a million variables.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

Wouldn't all smokers use very little fuel empty? My backwoods and wsm would probably go forever unloaded too

Yeah, I'm sure they would. Definitely the backwoods. I don't think the WSM would go that long on 3 chimneys but the backwood might run for a few months on it. lol.

 

[16Adams]

That's a lot of Miller Lite

 

[Zin]

That's a lot of Miller Lite

1/3 less calories

 

[4ever3]

You mean just to save a few bucks? Or do you not like the looks of it?

I just don't like the looks of it, maybe if the corners were radiused, or if it were a teardrop shape, anything other than a stainless box hanging on the side of the cooker. Screws up the lines of the cooker, but I'm sure it's just me.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

I just don't like the looks of it, maybe if the corners were radiused, or if it were a teardrop shape, anything other than a stainless box hanging on the side of the cooker. Screws up the lines of the cooker, but I'm sure it's just me.

Yeah, I can see what you mean. I think the main purpose of the ss box on the non-performer version is just to hide the ugly propane tank. I think it's an improvement over that. lol

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

1/3 less calories

Tastes great. Less filling.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

I just noticed something. The SS is pretty soft on the side table. There are a lot of tiny scratches on it from setting the grates on it. Probably something to keep in mind if you are thinking about buying it.

 

[wbzipf]

I just noticed something. The SS is pretty soft on the side table. There are a lot of tiny scratches on it from setting the grates on it. Probably something to keep in mind if you are thinking about buying it.

Thanks for the heads up on that. I will be careful when I get mine.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

Thanks for the heads up on that. I will be careful when I get mine.

You bet. Ok, so my cousin works for a company that sells high end outdoor appliances. He saw my comment on Weber's Facebook page where I was asking them about the issue. He said all stainless steel is like that. He said all their stuff uses the higher end 304 ss and he said it doesn't help. It's a soft metal and if anything metal rubs it, it will likely leave a mark. I didn't realize that. You live, you learn.

It's good thing he told me that because if Weber had told me that, I don't think I would have believed them. lol.

 

[wbzipf]

You bet. Ok, so my cousin works for a company that sells high end outdoor appliances. He saw my comment on Weber's Facebook page where I was asking them about the issue. He said all stainless steel is like that. He said all their stuff uses the higher end 304 ss and he said it doesn't help. It's a soft metal and if anything metal rubs it, it will likely leave a mark. I didn't realize that. You live, you learn.

It's good thing he told me that because if Weber had told me that, I don't think I would have believed them. lol.

You know, I can second that, but just on anecdotal experiance with other SS equipment. I wasn't sure if it was endemic to al SS, but I guess it is. On a secondary note, I think the scratches can all be buffed out, if you care that much.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

Thanks. I'll look into it. I should probably ask my cousin about it. My ace in the hole is that my emblem was attached ever so slightly crooked and they have to send me entire new table to fix it. They just don't have any spare parts stalked yet.

That's one of the things I like about Weber. They do stand behind their products.