sudsandswine
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- Jun 23, 2012
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- Kansas City
I've owned both....I only own the 26" now. But, I don't often need the grilling capacity the WRK offers. Took me a 20lb bag of charcoal to fully fuel that beast!
New to me Kettle Ranch
- Thread starter IamJHam
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rwalters
Quintessential Chatty Farker
20lb’s?!?! I see guys using 2 XL SnS’s with great success. What did your setup look like with that much charcoal? Were you doing lots of direct grilling? I could see that taking a good amount. Just trying to understand.
Demosthenes9
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- Louisville
Demosthenes9
is One Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2010
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- Louisville
Honestly, while I love the 26 and do most of my cooking on it, if I could only have 1, I'd take the Ranch.
But, that's just because of my situation really. I have a large extended family. Last count, I had 14 aunt's and uncles (including spouses), 23 first cousins (not including spouses) and a bunch of second cousins. Add friends into the mix and the numbers are even more.
Around here, 40 to 50 people is just a regular cook out. 70 to 80 is getting up there. It's not a big bash until it hits 100ppl or so.
Couple the numbers with the fact that I'll have a cookout just to celebrate that it's International potato day or some other excuse.
The Ranches can handle that kind of volume, so they are a necessity for me.
That said, if I want to go out and cook 2 steaks, the Ranch can handle that as well and uses no more charcoal than the 26 would.
sudsandswine
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Yes, like a bunch of burgers or something. Many times I'd just do half the bottom direct and have the other half for indirect, and that worked as well. Less fuel that way too. Think I even used the largest model Vortex at one point.
rwalters
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Man, now you’ve got me half tempted to sell my 26 and go big! I am not a normal brethren as I don’t like lots of cookers hanging around. Typically buy one means sell one. Hmmmmm.
sudsandswine
Quintessential Chatty Farker
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Well....what you may lack in cooker diversity, you make up for in......giant cooker dimensions. :becky:
Last edited:
Demosthenes9
is One Chatty Farker
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- Louisville
Hehehe. Funny thing is that I used to have all those cookers. Back when I was using gas, I had 2 6 burner Brinkmann Pro series grills that I'd use for proteins and a couple of Weber Genny's that I'd put people on to grill veggies.
I picked up a regular 22" kettle and that started my drift over towards charcoal. I'd still use the gassers for the bigger cooks as I just couldn't manage them on a 22. Then I started collecting the Ranch kettles
sudsandswine
Quintessential Chatty Farker
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- Jun 23, 2012
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- Kansas City
Exactly the type of cooking a WRK was meant for!
Demosthenes9
is One Chatty Farker
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- Louisville
On the subject of charcoal usage. This is kind of a pet peeve of mine when it comes to comments on a Ranch kettle.
Simply put, on direct cooks, all you need in terms of coal is to cover an area slightly larger than what you are cooking. Picture a 10" pizza crust on your grate. You'd want to have an 11 to 12" diameter layer of coal underneath it. (Yes, I know that you don't cook pizza directly over coals, but it's an easy way to visualize it.)
Say that I want to direct cook 2 ribeyes. I'd use roughly the same amount of coal whether I'm using an 18, a 22, my 26'er or one of my Ranch kettles.
Are there any direct cooks where I would use close to an entire bag of coal ? Yes, there are. But, that would probably be a cook where I was going to fill my entire grate for a direct cook, then reload the grate again.
bascially, if I was going to cook 40 or 50 ribeyes, I'd lay down a single layer of unlit coal. I'd fire up 2 full chimneys and another mini chimney. Dump the lit coal overtop the unlit coal. Then, start laying on steaks.
As the first layer of coal burns, it cooks the first round of steaks. Those coals will ignite the unlit coal underneath. This gives me time to pull the cooked steaks off the grill and load the grill a 2nd time for a hot and fast cook.
Fair warning to anyone who tries this, IT GETS REALLY HOT :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
On most "largish" cooks, I'll set the grill up with different cook zones. There are more options than you'd have on a 22 or 26'er. Which way I set it up depends on what I'm cooking.
you could set up two zones with one side being direct, the other side being indirect. Or, you could go 3 zone. Make the left 1/3'rd a very hot direct zone, the right 1/3'rd direct as well, but lower heat (don't pack the coals as tightly) and leave the middle open for indirect. That's my usual setup if doing steaks, chicken and pork loin chops. Chicken goes down first on the hot (left side). Mark one side then flip. Mark the other side and move to the middle to finish indirect. Then throw the pork chops down on the lower heat (right side.). With those started, throw the steaks down on the hot (left) side. Flip steaks and chops when they need it. Start pulling whatever finishes first. If need be, move chicken into a pile to make room in the indirect zone and stack cooked meats to hold until all meats are ready to come off the grill.
Simply put, on direct cooks, all you need in terms of coal is to cover an area slightly larger than what you are cooking. Picture a 10" pizza crust on your grate. You'd want to have an 11 to 12" diameter layer of coal underneath it. (Yes, I know that you don't cook pizza directly over coals, but it's an easy way to visualize it.)
Say that I want to direct cook 2 ribeyes. I'd use roughly the same amount of coal whether I'm using an 18, a 22, my 26'er or one of my Ranch kettles.
Are there any direct cooks where I would use close to an entire bag of coal ? Yes, there are. But, that would probably be a cook where I was going to fill my entire grate for a direct cook, then reload the grate again.
bascially, if I was going to cook 40 or 50 ribeyes, I'd lay down a single layer of unlit coal. I'd fire up 2 full chimneys and another mini chimney. Dump the lit coal overtop the unlit coal. Then, start laying on steaks.
As the first layer of coal burns, it cooks the first round of steaks. Those coals will ignite the unlit coal underneath. This gives me time to pull the cooked steaks off the grill and load the grill a 2nd time for a hot and fast cook.
Fair warning to anyone who tries this, IT GETS REALLY HOT :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
On most "largish" cooks, I'll set the grill up with different cook zones. There are more options than you'd have on a 22 or 26'er. Which way I set it up depends on what I'm cooking.
you could set up two zones with one side being direct, the other side being indirect. Or, you could go 3 zone. Make the left 1/3'rd a very hot direct zone, the right 1/3'rd direct as well, but lower heat (don't pack the coals as tightly) and leave the middle open for indirect. That's my usual setup if doing steaks, chicken and pork loin chops. Chicken goes down first on the hot (left side). Mark one side then flip. Mark the other side and move to the middle to finish indirect. Then throw the pork chops down on the lower heat (right side.). With those started, throw the steaks down on the hot (left) side. Flip steaks and chops when they need it. Start pulling whatever finishes first. If need be, move chicken into a pile to make room in the indirect zone and stack cooked meats to hold until all meats are ready to come off the grill.
