Gas burner curiosities

[burnchar]

I understand that the gas burner is intended to pre-warm a grill, mostly in cold climates.

I like the idea, but details online are sparse.

Should I get one of these?

• One post in the forums mentions that an entry for gas burners is no longer standard. I have a 2024 32". Is it compatible?
• Does the burner need to be removed from the grill? It looks like it is made from cast aluminum, and I know the fire can get hot enough to melt aluminum if it gets away.
• What maintenance is typically needed? For example, does the nozzle need regular cleaning from ash?

Thank you for taking a look at this post.

[Tyrus]

Burnchar, as far as I'm aware the 23 Ultimate has a backside door for the gas element or at least mine has one in my 2017 model. From what I saw, there are two inset posts set within the mortar base to accept the gas unit and hold it in place . Check to see if those posts are in position on yours or simply if you have the door that's needed to move the unit into place.  These posts are drop down and not threaded for convience of removal. If you were to use this to pre-warm the grill the gas unit could be easily removed and you could convert to coal if this was your intention. I presume the unit's function though was to cook separately from coal so the regular cleaning involving ash wouldn't be a factor. You would most likely remove the gas unit when switching back to coal and then reposition the door back in place, this would be necessary because of the gas line in the doorway. Using some kind of deflector for food particles might be an issue though, however easily remedied 

[John T]

Never had difficulty getting charcoal lit and our KK up to temperature in cold weather (sub freezing included).  Ours sits on a covered deck, out of the rain/snow but otherwise open to the environment. 

[DennisLinkletter]

On 11/12/2024 at 11:43 AM, burnchar said:

 

• One post in the forums mentions that an entry for gas burners is no longer standard. I have a 2024 32". Is it compatible?
• Does the burner need to be removed from the grill? It looks like it is made from cast aluminum, and I know the fire can get hot enough to melt aluminum if it gets away.
• What maintenance is typically needed? For example, does the nozzle need regular cleaning from ash?

 

Yes your grill has a gas door assembly...
It's cast iron.. Will not melt for sure..
It will fill up with ash if you burn charcoal above it... The nozzle/jet is never going to get any ash on it.. The burner might need to be flipped and cleared of ash if it piles up.. Easy to remove it for cleaning

[Syzygies]

I'm a fan of the gas burner assembly. I get the impression that there aren't many of us, but it has its uses.

As a general principle, one can take the approach of learning how to use a KK with minimal accessories, and then buying later to meet recognized needs. How one imagines the KK will work rarely corresponds to how one observes that it actually works. It's hard to identify needs in advance, before getting experience.

That said, I consider the pizza stone, and the double bottom drip pan, essential equipment.

I use the gas burner assembly to get a hot fire going more quickly, for example for pizza. The issue is that one is lighting charcoal from underneath, so the fire wants to burn all at once then go out. This can be mitigated by controlling airflow, and by using large pieces of lump, such as one can buy from Fogo.

As Dennis notes, one could turn off the gas but leave the gas burner inserted. I swap it for the regular door. It just feels right to get propane equipment out of the way, though I recognize that there's no actual safety issue here.

My approach to pizza is to catch the KK on a downward arc, where the fire is mostly spent but the walls are still radiating a good deal of heat. I don't let the fire go into low earth orbit, because the pizza stone will get too hot, so I control airflow to limit the maximum temperature. On the other hand, the pizza stone needs to get hot enough; this is a balancing act. This is where I consider the double bottom drip pan to be essential; it's the best heat deflector for shielding the pizza stone from the fire below. In a conventional wood-fired pizza oven, the fire is not below. Using a KK, this is a key difference that requires attention. One doesn't want a burnt crust before the top is done.

With this approach, I don't care that the fire has been lit from below and wants to burn all at once. My goal is to burn it all at once, within my imposed upper temperature limit.

 

 

[wrandyr]

That's very interesting. I found that a stone by itself doesn't get hot enough (top burnt/crust under done), and a baking steel gets too hot (crust burns before the top is done), but if I put the stone right on top of the steel, it's about right. I then manage the fire for the dome temp I want, which has been around 600°F lately.

17 hours ago, Syzygies said:

As a general principle, one can take the approach of learning how to use a KK with minimal accessories, and then buying later to meet recognized needs. How one imagines the KK will work rarely corresponds to how one observes that it actually works. It's hard to identify needs in advance, before getting experience.

 

 

Quite astute.

[Syzygies]

18 hours ago, wrandyr said:

That's very interesting. I found that a stone by itself doesn't get hot enough (top burnt/crust under done), and a baking steel gets too hot (crust burns before the top is done), but if I put the stone right on top of the steel, it's about right. I then manage the fire for the dome temp I want, which has been around 600°F lately.

Huh. I don't doubt your experience, but it's quite different from mine. I'd love to meet you halfway. What KK? What stone? What dome temperature? How long do you let the fire settle, stone heat?

I do have a baking steel, but it's dedicated to tortillas; I don't want to mess with its seasoning.

[wrandyr]

21", cordierite stone, 600°F. I start the fire, get it to ballpark temperature, which takes an about an hour, add more fuel, the grates, steel, and stone, then let it heat soak another hour or so. The steel and stone are on the upper (as opposed to main) grate with the short handles down, so the stone is slightly above the lip of the KK. I find I can hold the temperature longer with this setup than any other I have tried so far, although I haven't done it enough times to know for how long. I think we are doing pretty much the same thing in principal.

[wrandyr]

We did pizza last night and I clipped a temperature probe right under the steel. It settled in to an average of about 740°F while the dome was at 600°F, and ran that way for a solid 2 hours before I shut it down. I didn't think to measure the stone. It's hard to estimate how much longer it would have gone by looking at the remaining fuel this morning, but I think the may have been another half hour if I needed it.

Another data point.

Edited November 30 by wrandyr