McSpazatron
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2015
- Location
- Milwauke...
My trusty Weber has been getting a workout this summer. I use lump exclusively, so I like to use a charcoal basket with expanded metal to keep the coals from falling through. Baskets are a great way to conserve lump to re-use on the next cook... Well, the charcoal basket I made for it years ago has finally given up the ghost. It was too small anyway (although it served me admirably).
So I decided to make a new one, but this time I wanted to make it more like the Slow N Sear, paying more attention to the angle of the curve along the bowl. But I wanted it bigger, lots bigger. I decided to go for a basket half the size of the bowl, because Ive been finding myself direct grilling more frequently. Not doing this stuff for a living, I figured I’d better start with a cardboard mockup of the back of the basket.
I don’t have any scrap metal around, so I had to buy sheet steel at full freight. The the curve of the back wall require a 4ft by 2 foot sheet of steel. Not cheap for 45 bucks. After some tin snipping, I got this
Next, I made a template of the floor of the basket, with some extra in the front to fold over as a front fence. I used a 24inx24in sheet of 13ga expanded steel (1/2 inch grate). Again, not cheap at 35 bucks... I used the tin snips to cut it out (my hands still hurt), and the edge of a table and a hammer as a poor man’s brake.
I fitted both together and used stainless steel hardware to tie all as one solid basket. Went with stainless screws/bolts because I didn’t want any zinc coated stuff anywhere on this. Ideally, I would have preferred to weld it, but one would need a welder for that, lol
Because this a rather large basket, I decided to make a removable fence for the times I am cooking indirect. The left-over piece from the 2x2 expanded steel sheet was just enough material to make a simple L shaped spacer. With this in use, the usable basket becomes 1/3rd the size of the bowl, instead of half.
Now, the moment of truth...I loaded full up with charcoal to test it out with some burgers. I make my burgers big and thick, so I was pleased to see I could fit 8 at a time over the coal. I went a bit too long with these, using my typical 3 min per side. During a second round of burgers, I settled on two minute sears for the perfect char. When I cook them this way (searing them first), my burgers usually only need a few minutes of indirect cooking to get them to temp.
I’m pretty happy how this turned out! Hopefully I can get at least 5 years out of this, if not more. The heat across the coals seems pretty even, judging from the burger test. I tested how hot this could get, and my therm on the cool side of the bowl got nearly to 600 degrees using half a bowl, and up to 500 degrees using the fence (1/3rd of the bowl). This should turn out to be the perfect accessory for cooking chicken thighs!!!
Although this wasn’t that cheap to make, I really like the size and the flexibility this should give me.
So I decided to make a new one, but this time I wanted to make it more like the Slow N Sear, paying more attention to the angle of the curve along the bowl. But I wanted it bigger, lots bigger. I decided to go for a basket half the size of the bowl, because Ive been finding myself direct grilling more frequently. Not doing this stuff for a living, I figured I’d better start with a cardboard mockup of the back of the basket.
I don’t have any scrap metal around, so I had to buy sheet steel at full freight. The the curve of the back wall require a 4ft by 2 foot sheet of steel. Not cheap for 45 bucks. After some tin snipping, I got this
Next, I made a template of the floor of the basket, with some extra in the front to fold over as a front fence. I used a 24inx24in sheet of 13ga expanded steel (1/2 inch grate). Again, not cheap at 35 bucks... I used the tin snips to cut it out (my hands still hurt), and the edge of a table and a hammer as a poor man’s brake.
I fitted both together and used stainless steel hardware to tie all as one solid basket. Went with stainless screws/bolts because I didn’t want any zinc coated stuff anywhere on this. Ideally, I would have preferred to weld it, but one would need a welder for that, lol
Because this a rather large basket, I decided to make a removable fence for the times I am cooking indirect. The left-over piece from the 2x2 expanded steel sheet was just enough material to make a simple L shaped spacer. With this in use, the usable basket becomes 1/3rd the size of the bowl, instead of half.
Now, the moment of truth...I loaded full up with charcoal to test it out with some burgers. I make my burgers big and thick, so I was pleased to see I could fit 8 at a time over the coal. I went a bit too long with these, using my typical 3 min per side. During a second round of burgers, I settled on two minute sears for the perfect char. When I cook them this way (searing them first), my burgers usually only need a few minutes of indirect cooking to get them to temp.
I’m pretty happy how this turned out! Hopefully I can get at least 5 years out of this, if not more. The heat across the coals seems pretty even, judging from the burger test. I tested how hot this could get, and my therm on the cool side of the bowl got nearly to 600 degrees using half a bowl, and up to 500 degrees using the fence (1/3rd of the bowl). This should turn out to be the perfect accessory for cooking chicken thighs!!!
Although this wasn’t that cheap to make, I really like the size and the flexibility this should give me.
Last edited:
