LarryR

Great question, yes I'm going to leave the back open, think of a U with a break at the bottom of the U where my KK will sit. There's room behind the KK to work on it. Great observation, honestly one I hadn't thought of, just dumb luck I suppose.

I've decided to build the counters around my KK vs. building a feature to set the KK on. I'm thinking of leaving 6" on either side of the KK or from side of KK to counter. Any thoughts/experience on this?

Hmmmm interesting, I could have them install ceramic tiles next to the KK space that would withstand the heat of the grill yet clean easily with a de-greaser . . . interesting idea.

Starting my outdoor kitchen design and thought I'd see what others are doing for something that comes-up when I'm grilling that I'd like to design into my area. For those of you who have an outdoor kitchen/grilling area did you build something in for temporary grate placement? What I mean is when I start a cook I take the lid off my Weber kettle, open KK and move the grate to my kettle, shake off ash, pour in more fuel, light, put grate back on, and wait for her to come to temp. Then I open her up, take hot grate off, put her on the kettle, stir coals, add wood, add deflector, put grate back on. I'd like to design something into my new unit to do this. I'm building in a Weber Summit which I suppose I could move the grates to the Summit grates but I'd prefer not. Any ideas, anyone else addressed this in a build? Sorry for the rambling process above, hope readers understand what I'm trying to accomplish.

Thanks guys, got my coffee and Bailey's going this a.m., laying out my cook. Can't decide if I'm going lump or ECC, probably ECC. Looking forward to doing the cook today and many more. Still have a couple videos to make that people have asked for e.g. pizza. Hoping to do more cooking this winter.

Been away for awhile dealing with some health issues, haven't used my KK in months. Taking the cover off for Thanksgiving and this recipe. Got a 19 lb bird bathing in maple syrup and Jim Beam as I type. Going to use me go to wood for this cook, cherry. Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe T-Day.

Ditto, starting out on a WSM definitely made cooking on my KK easier. Steve's #5 sauce is my go to sauce for pulled pork.

I realize I'm a little late to the party but thought I'd throw out what I've done in the past. I put my six racks of ribs in the rib rack and then laid the final two racks on top of the ribs going the other direction (think tick tack toe) and this method has worked great. Saw your other post and it looks like using all three grates worked well.

Thought I'd update. I went with the bird on a rack in a disposable foil pan on main grate. When bird was done I removed from pan, foiled on rack in another roasting pan and used fat separator for the liquid in foil pan. Heat on bottom of bird was much better than in the thick roasting pan I've been using. My go to method now. Oh, JD bird was awesome too!

Thanks. Decided to go with a disposable foil pan, with turkey on roasting rack with wine and water in the pan. Will be using a deflector as well on fire box. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Gnomatic,I'm struggling with the same thing, the picture above demonstrations how I've done my bird for years. I'm considering using a thinner pan or putting her on the main grate with a drip pan underneath to catch the goodness. I also pour 750ml of water and white wine in my pan as well. My favorite prep method is my Jack Daniels and Maple Syrup brine, in-fact that's where this years guest of honor has been since Monday morning. She'll come out tonight for a rinse and then back into fridge for an overnight air dry so we get some decent skin. Did you put the drip pan on the lower grate? Any issues with the drippings burning due to the proximity to the firebox? I'm thinking about trying this method this year. Also, any issues with the bird getting too dark? Oh, you've got to try the drippings for your gravy. I too make home-made stock but the drippings really push it over the top. On average I get about two cups of liquid from a large bird. Separate the fat and you've got pure gold, one of my nephews actually calls me the god of gravy!

Interesting, I thought the bird would be much darker, I usually foil mine at about 1:30 to make sure they don't get too dark. Did you catch the drippings below? If you did any issues with them burning so close to the fire?

So for years I've been cooking my birds in a roasting pan (see picture below) however, I've noticed as I'm taking my breast to lower temps the underside of the bird isn't quite done, I'm thinking it might be due to my setup as the pan I use is quite substantial and I'm wondering if the bottom of the bird isn't getting the same level of temps as the top of the bird. This Thanksgiving I'm considering cooking her on the top grate (if she'll fit) with the roasting pan on the grate below catching all the goodness for my gravy. I suppose I could also use one of the aluminum foil pans that will allow the heat to come through better and then dump the drippings into my gravy pan and pick out the delicious bits. Any thoughts and anyone do their bird just on the grate? See how low she rides?

Hard to believe six years have gone by since I posted this. Need to do some soon, love this stuff!

Nice, I'll have to check it out!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk