Aura Outdoor Products Kettle Zone Cooking System for 22 Inch Weber Kettle

[farmer-fred]

I received an e-mail the other day with a link to this Weber 22 in grill attachment and was wondering if anyone here had tried one and if so what do you think of it? The reviews on Amazon look good and I could see where it could allow for some more cooking options for the kettle.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KY2XFF4/?coliid=I1U88IXR07EYFY&colid=I1YK8378ZAGM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Description from the Amazon listing below.

"Easily transition your grill from a low and slow smoker to a grilling and searing machine
The Kettle Zone Cooking System comes with a base rack that fits into your grill and has a locking mechanism to prevent it from spinning.
Includes 2 Half Moon Heat Deflectors that can be used for heat deflection during smoking or for using to get even indirect heat for delicate foods
Comes with 2 Half Moon Stainless Steel Grates. Not your average grates! These are heavy duty and built to last. Heavy gauge rods mean better heat retention and longevity
Raise up your cooking surface! Separate your food from the coals and reduce burnt and overcooked foods without sacrificing grilled flavor"

 

[ebijack]

For $106, I don't see any advantage compared to what is out there now. From custom grates, drip pans, pizza stones/pans, bricks etc.
But if you like it go for it. And post a review.

 

[Demosthenes9]

For $106, I don't see any advantage compared to what is out there now. From custom grates, drip pans, pizza stones/pans, bricks etc.
But if you like it go for it. And post a review.

Can't speak to the quality or anything like that, but that whole system at $106 is intriguing if you don't already have the other contraptions that you listed. A slow and sear is like $80 or so, half grates are $40 each.

Basically, it's a versatile do it all kind of accessory at a cheap price comparatively speaking

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[Demosthenes9]

Fwiw, it would cost you about $80 - $100 to buy a stainless 22 inch grate alone from Weber, ABC, or Killagrilla.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[farmer-fred]

Can't speak to the quality or anything like that, but that whole system at $106 is intriguing if you don't already have the other contraptions that you listed. A slow and sear is like $80 or so, half grates are $40 each.

Basically, it's a versatile do it all kind of accessory at a cheap price comparatively speaking

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

Kind of what I thought. My Weber Gourmet grate is getting weak and starting to sag so just replacing it is $39.00. I do not own a slow and sear and one of them is $99.00. I had been thinking about ordering one of them so this would probable be a better deal.

 

[TheHojo]

My only concern with using the heat shield is how would you replace the charcoal if you needed to - appears only way would be to remove one of the grates and the heat shield and then add more charcoal.

Of interest would be how would you set up the fire if you were doing low and slow with both heat shields in place??

 

[ulc]

That looks similar to what's in my Big Kamado Joe. The advantage of using this system for smoking vs Slow and Sear or bricks is you can use pretty much the entire cooking grate surface. The disadvantage is it's hard to reload the charcoal in the middle of the cook if you need it. For kamado it's usually not a problem because charcoals last really long time. I'm not sure how long charcoal would last in the Weber 22 but kettle can hold good amount of charcoal so I think it should be fine for regular smoking.

Basically this would turn the Weber 22" kettle into something similar to Weber Summit Charcoal without the insulation.

 

[farmer-fred]

The more I look at this the more I think I want to order it. Right now I have some chicken quarters and breast's spinning on my Only-Fire Rotisserie attachment on the Weber Performer and I was thinking that this attachment with the deflectors might work well with the rotisserie. It sure would give you many more options on how to use the kettle.

 

[ulc]

Another potential negative I see with this system is the cooking grate sits higher than the standard kettle cooking grate so it wouldn't be that great for direct searing and grilling. On my Kamado Joe, I don't have this problem because I can move one or both of my half moon cooking grates and place it directly on the ceramic fire bowl to get even lower and closer to the fire or keep it above at normal height. I don't think you can do that with this Aura system because I don't think you can place the cooking grates on the lower level. Weber kettle does direct/indirect grilling really well without the use of deflector plates so this Aura Zone cooking system is really only for smoking. For direct/indirect grilling, you would be better off with regular Weber cooking grate.

 

[Demosthenes9]

Another potential negative I see with this system is the cooking grate sits higher than the standard kettle cooking grate so it wouldn't be that great for direct searing and grilling. On my Kamado Joe, I don't have this problem because I can move one or both of my half moon cooking grates and place it directly on the ceramic fire bowl to get even lower and closer to the fire or keep it above at normal height. I don't think you can do that with this Aura system because I don't think you can place the cooking grates on the lower level. Weber kettle does direct/indirect grilling really well without the use of deflector plates so this Aura Zone cooking system is really only for smoking. For direct/indirect grilling, you would be better off with regular Weber cooking grate.

I get what you are saying, but you could always put coal in baskets which would raise the height from the traditional "single layer" that many of us use for direct cooks.