Weber sells a rotisserie accessory which consists of collar that extends
the height of the grill about 8 inches and the motor/spit. I was able
to purchase the collar only and am wondering if anyone has used or seen
used a weber kettle as a smoker with this collar.

It looks like I will have to drill some holes in the collar to attach
some type of bracket to place the grate up higher. Are there any other
ideas on a good way to raise the grate higher? If I have to drill some
holes, is the material easy to drill through?

Thanks.

Happy Q'en,
BBQ

bbq > wrote in news:9e4Fb.101709$8y1.311666@attbi_s52:

> Weber sells a rotisserie accessory which consists of collar that extends
> the height of the grill about 8 inches and the motor/spit. I was able
> to purchase the collar only and am wondering if anyone has used or seen
> used a weber kettle as a smoker with this collar.
>
> It looks like I will have to drill some holes in the collar to attach
> some type of bracket to place the grate up higher. Are there any other
> ideas on a good way to raise the grate higher? If I have to drill some
> holes, is the material easy to drill through?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Happy Q'en,
> BBQ
>
>

It's hard to imagine from your description just what you're trying to
accomplish.

1. Do you want to rotisserie? Apparently not because you didn't ask
about adapting any other torisserie products.

2. Do you want to add a second level cooking grill? That would make
sense, but you only mentioned raising the existing grill to a higher
level.

3. Any reasonable quality drill bit will go through a Weber. Just use
a center punch first to keep the bit from wandering around. (They don't
make Weber grills out of Titanium.)

4. You can procure little 'el' brackets from lowes or home depot for
practically nothing and the screws, washers and nuts as well. The
brackets would be about 1/2" on a side and I would use #12 screws. Any
kind of steel will do, galvanized or not. After installing the above
you can raise the existing Weber cooking grill to the top of the new
collar or you can purchase and install a net new Weber cooking grill
to achieve much greater capacity from your grill.

The M&M Man said that

I have used the rotisserie collar as you describe to increase the smoking
volume in my Weber. I used some cap screws bolted to the upper edge of the
collar to hold a second grate. Also attached some wooden blocks on two sides
of the collar as cool-to-the-touch handles. I used the type of grates that
have hinged sides so you can reach through to the fires below. Actually, I
removed these hinged sections -- I don't put food directly over the fire
anyway.

I'd like to see a better seal between the bottom of the collar and the top
of the kettle, but the kettle lid fits fine.

It's a blessing to have double the capacity when you need it.

John


bbq > wrote in message
news:9e4Fb.101709$8y1.311666@attbi_s52...
> Weber sells a rotisserie accessory which consists of collar that extends
> the height of the grill about 8 inches and the motor/spit. I was able
> to purchase the collar only and am wondering if anyone has used or seen
> used a weber kettle as a smoker with this collar.
>
> It looks like I will have to drill some holes in the collar to attach
> some type of bracket to place the grate up higher. Are there any other
> ideas on a good way to raise the grate higher? If I have to drill some
> holes, is the material easy to drill through?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Happy Q'en,
> BBQ
>

Howard R. Bricker wrote:
> bbq > wrote in news:9e4Fb.101709$8y1.311666@attbi_s52:
>
>
>>Weber sells a rotisserie accessory which consists of collar that extends
>>the height of the grill about 8 inches and the motor/spit. I was able
>>to purchase the collar only and am wondering if anyone has used or seen
>>used a weber kettle as a smoker with this collar.
>>
>>It looks like I will have to drill some holes in the collar to attach
>>some type of bracket to place the grate up higher. Are there any other
>>ideas on a good way to raise the grate higher? If I have to drill some
>>holes, is the material easy to drill through?
>>
>>Thanks.
>>
>>Happy Q'en,
>>BBQ
>>
>>
>
>
> It's hard to imagine from your description just what you're trying to
> accomplish.
>
> 1. Do you want to rotisserie? Apparently not because you didn't ask
> about adapting any other torisserie products.
>

Not interested in rotisserie cooking yet. So just bought the collar part
to extend the height of the grill and try and use my kettle as a smoker.

> 2. Do you want to add a second level cooking grill? That would make
> sense, but you only mentioned raising the existing grill to a higher
> level.
>

I have access to an additional grate. The lower grate, I will place the
water/sand/grease catcher pan on. The higher grate will hold the food
that I am going to cook.


> 3. Any reasonable quality drill bit will go through a Weber. Just use
> a center punch first to keep the bit from wandering around. (They don't
> make Weber grills out of Titanium.)
>

Thanks for the tip.

> 4. You can procure little 'el' brackets from lowes or home depot for
> practically nothing and the screws, washers and nuts as well. The
> brackets would be about 1/2" on a side and I would use #12 screws. Any
> kind of steel will do, galvanized or not. After installing the above
> you can raise the existing Weber cooking grill to the top of the new
> collar or you can purchase and install a net new Weber cooking grill
> to achieve much greater capacity from your grill.
>

Thanks again. That is what I had in mind.

Happy Q'en,
BBQ

> The M&M Man said that

John Crankshaw wrote:

> I have used the rotisserie collar as you describe to increase the smoking
> volume in my Weber. I used some cap screws bolted to the upper edge of the
> collar to hold a second grate. Also attached some wooden blocks on two sides
> of the collar as cool-to-the-touch handles. I used the type of grates that
> have hinged sides so you can reach through to the fires below. Actually, I
> removed these hinged sections -- I don't put food directly over the fire
> anyway.
>

Thanks for the ideas. Had not thought of adding handles. I normally have
bbq mitts handy when I am fussen around with the cooker.

> I'd like to see a better seal between the bottom of the collar and the top
> of the kettle, but the kettle lid fits fine.

Me to. I am surprised that Weber did not design the collar so that
there is a lip on the bottom of the collar to keep all of that wonderful
smoke inside till it escapes out of the top vents. This is one of the
reasons the WSM is far superior to my Char Broil smoker. Another is
because the material in Weber's products is much thicker.
>
> It's a blessing to have double the capacity when you need it.
>
Have you ever smoked pork butts or brisket on your kettle smoker?
Do you know if using a kettle smoker is good for doing an overnight
cook, without having to get up in the middle of the night to check
things out?

WSM owners/users rave about the ability to start a cook late in the
evening and go to sleep without worrying about the cooker getting too
hot or fuel to burn out. I would like to get similar results with my
modified kettle.

Happy Q'en,
BBQ

John's comments below says it all. You could buy a second 22" grate, and
prop on the underlying grate with two bricks as a trial. I don't think
the increased volume of what you are creating with the collar is going
to drop your cooking temp. enough to call it "smoking". You can cook a
22lb turkey when the church group comes over..
Kent

bbq wrote:
>
> Weber sells a rotisserie accessory which consists of collar that extends
> the height of the grill about 8 inches and the motor/spit. I was able
> to purchase the collar only and am wondering if anyone has used or seen
> used a weber kettle as a smoker with this collar.
>
> It looks like I will have to drill some holes in the collar to attach
> some type of bracket to place the grate up higher. Are there any other
> ideas on a good way to raise the grate higher? If I have to drill some
> holes, is the material easy to drill through?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Happy Q'en,
> BBQ

Kent H. wrote:

> John's comments below says it all. You could buy a second 22" grate, and
> prop on the underlying grate with two bricks as a trial. I don't think
> the increased volume of what you are creating with the collar is going
> to drop your cooking temp. enough to call it "smoking". You can cook a
> 22lb turkey when the church group comes over..
> Kent
>

That is precisely what I did. Bought 2 6X6 bricks and placed them on a
grate and placed another grate on top of the bricks. Easier than
drilling, though drilling is not hard.

Pics of my first batch of turkey legs are on ABF now. Temp is about
300°. Just poured the hot coals into a pile and added 3 chunks of soaked
apple wood. I think if I spread them out a bit, I could get the
temperature to around 250°, which is the temperature I like to smoke
cook pork shoulders, spares, etc.

Happy Q'en,
BBQ