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Picking up 26" weber kettle for $50

Hoss said:
Nice! I would pay list for another one tomorrow if something happened to mine!
Click to expand...

I agree!!! I have a lot of toys to play with, but I have used the 26' Weber almost weekly for the last three years. It's the only thing I cook Chicken Wings and Drumsticks on now, and I love the space.

Vortex Wings and Legs by David Miller, on Flickr
 
Bacchus2b said:
I agree!!! I have a lot of toys to play with, but I have used the 26' Weber almost weekly for the last three years. It's the only thing I cook Chicken Wings and Drumsticks on now, and I love the space.

Vortex Wings and Legs by David Miller, on Flickr
Click to expand...

I have a question about the vortex. I see that the fire is in the middle which makes sense with respect to the input vents since they are directly below but what do you do about the output vent being on one side? Do you constantly have to twist the lid every 5 minutes or so to balance things out?
 
I see why after only 3 years of use they gave up and sold it. The propeller was completely frozen by caked on grease mixed with ash. I had to get a scrubber, soap and hot water to get it all cleaned out. It moves now but not as smooth as I’d like, guessing to junk stuck to underside of blades. Does it come apart easy to cleaning or is it riveted?

I started a small fire in it hoping that might free it up a bit, due to heat melting any grease under blades. Cleaning it up a bit. This thing is gorgeous :)

I guess if I am gonna cook indirect in this thing I’ll be putting foil or drip pan under the meat to prevent this gunky blade problem in the future.
 
bbqgeekess said:
I see why after only 3 years of use they gave up and sold it. The propeller was completely frozen by caked on grease mixed with ash. I had to get a scrubber, soap and hot water to get it all cleaned out. It moves now but not as smooth as I’d like, guessing to junk stuck to underside of blades. Does it come apart easy to cleaning or is it riveted?

I started a small fire in it hoping that might free it up a bit, due to heat melting any grease under blades. Cleaning it up a bit. This thing is gorgeous :)

I guess if I am gonna cook indirect in this thing I’ll be putting foil or drip pan under the meat to prevent this gunky blade problem in the future.
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It's one pin that you pull off, then then you can remove it. Sometimes it take a jolt or two light taps with a hammer (be careful, not hard). A new propeller is not expensive if worn. You should be able to get it like new for less than $30.
 
You got a great deal. No need for guilt. The seller wished to part ways with the grill, set a price she was willing to accept and found a buyer. You tipped her 10%, enough said. I live 100 miles from Tulsa and if I had seen that listing I would have laid rubber in the driveway leaving the house to purchase the kettle in spite of my wife chasing me down the street yelling that I already have too many kettles. Fabulous deal and hold your head high with pride. That was your lucky day.



As for the ash sweeps. Keep working at it and you will get it back to smooth operation. Go over to the Weber Kettle Club Forum and ask for tips on removing the ash sweep. Those guys are very helpful.


To keep you ash sweeps in good, smooth operating order, you really need to wipe down the inside after each cook if you are doing indirect cooks. If not, on your next cook the grease gets covered with ash and eventually that grease/ash builds up into a hard crust and bends your ash sweeps. If you are cooking direct, the drippings fall into the fire and burns up. Also, if you do not clean after an indirect cook, the next time you build a large direct fire, you may experience a grease fire. Been there, done that. I've done the foil lining, but do not like it as I think it hampers the air flow. YMMV as they say.


As for Vortex versus S-n-S, I have both and really love the Vortex. I know there are a lot of fans of the S-n-S and I never really gave it much of a chance to shine since I have so many smokers that I do not need to use a kettle for that purpose. I did try to use it for reverse searing steak, but my family prefers the direct sear so it remains unused.


I think you will enjoy the 26. If not, I will gladly take it off your hands if you decide to sell it.


Thanks,


Robert
 
Thanks for the replies :) Starting a cook on it right now. I bought Royal Oak lump.. a big bag of it for $10 at Walmart. Now I recall why I quit buying it in the past. Inside there are bunches of tiny broken up pieces of lump charcoal.. like so much it's ridiculous. I just made up a mnemonic for this lump charcoal to avoid purchasing it in the future: Royal Oak is now "Royal Joke". All sorts of small pieces are now surrounding the propellers.. I actually had to move them a bit to get the airflow back.
 
I hate chicken grease so that's why I stopped using my vortex. It makes a huge mess and stinks and that's why I bought the SnS drip pans for both my 22 and 26. Only thing I found is that there the same size for both 22 and 26. :sad:

8BeUuAYh.jpg


So I overlapped the pan with HD aluminum foil :becky: I just toss it out after each cook and no more grease, gunk or gross smells.

bO9fw3Lh.jpg


Oh and I thought I'd use both and did for some time until I gave redhead to my brother when he moved back from out of state. So get ready to give the 22 to someone or sell it because you'll eventually stop using it. :grin:

tgZbH2Xh.jpg
 
Gorgeous pair of grills there! You really keep them clean :) Someone online was suggesting buying the SnS for 22" and use in the 27". It's $100 and has removable water trough for more charcoal.
 
bbqgeekess said:
Gorgeous pair of grills there! You really keep them clean :) Someone online was suggesting buying the SnS for 22" and use in the 27". It's $100 and has removable water trough for more charcoal.
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Great suggestion actually. Not much of a difference between two baskets.

I give them a quick wipe down before each cook and the 26 is actually on its first run there.
 
my weber 26 is my favorite cooker and regret waiting so long to get one


that's one hell of a score.



Before I got mine, there were two used ones that came up for sale, one I hesitated so missed, the other I had the flu and was in no position to go get one
 
Oh and the one touch blades are cheap and super easy to replace. Will make your life way easier to replace them if they're in bad shape.
 
Congrats on that deal- I have the exact same model, and it's my daily driver. "If I could have only one cooker..." :-D

The ash sweeps are easy to remove. All you need is a flathead screwdriver. Visit The Weber Kettle Club website for more info. Be careful not to bend them at all. I use a lubricant like Sea Foam Creeper to loosen things up. I've bought several kettles over the years w/ locked-up sweeps. Most of the time they can be freed relatively easily.
 
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