Having said all of this, this upgrade is not necessary to smoke on the weber kettle. To make this even simpler, you could buy another thermometer to upgrade the kettle and install it on the exhaust damper side at grate-level. The lid thermometer and the exhaust damper are placed on opposite sides. You’d be super hard pressed to find a more affordable grill with 22 inches of grilling space, engineered from decent materials, for the same price, with a long warranty. The short of it is – the Weber Kettle is what I believe to be one of the best grills and even smokers to exist, especially at a fair price-point. So ordered the platinum package along with grill cover and cast iron griddle.
The lower vents were also very clean on this kettle so I was spoiled with an easy fix-up but most times you won’t be so lucky. The damper vents are prone to clogging up with grease if not maintained and can eventually seize solid. Also clean out as much visible crud as possible from around the vent holes using a mini flathead screwdriver.
The grates are just 27 inches from the ground, nine inches shy of the standard kitchen-counter height. So cooking on it can be a literal pain in the butt (and lower back). The Napoleon grill, which we otherwise didn’t love, is a generous 34 inches in height at the grate, making it more comfortable to work on. Because this grill is so popular, both Weber and other manufacturers offer a bunch of add-ons (such as charcoal baskets, pizza stones, and rotisseries) that increase its capabilities. Once we knew the Weber was our pick, we used a popular third-party accessory, the Slow ‘N Sear Deluxe charcoal basket, to smoke a rack of baby-back ribs. The grill performed terrifically, turning out tender ribs with great smoky flavor.
When you consider that the Napoleon grill costs about $50 more than the Weber kettle that it emulates, the Weber model’s superiority is even starker. We tested an older version of the 22-inch Napoleon Rodeo Charcoal Kettle Grill (NK22CK-L), which is considered one of the better Weber clones available. It performed well in our cooking tests, though not quite as well as the Weber model. And its unique heat-diffusing plate—a shallow metal dome that sits in the middle of the coal bed—was less effective than we’d hoped.
This way I find I take more time to get it perfect and end up catching some smaller details you would otherwise miss by jumping all over the place. First off I would like to introduce the kettle being used in today’s demo. This is a no date stamp red MBH kettle that I found on craigslist in early January. It’s clearly seen better days and at one point the previous owner even decided to “eye ball” some rattle can paint onto a few areas to cover damage. Thanks to the Age Guide we know this particular kettle was made sometime around 1978.
The warranty isn’t as generous as other models—one year for the grill, and five for the burner—but for under $100, we still think it’s a great deal. We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click weber kettle bbq on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Through Bread Pay™, we offer easy and affordable financing options so you can pay for your purchase over time. We may update this record based on further research and review.
Essentially you want to repeat the exact same process on the exterior of the kettle as you did the interior. Start with your razor scraper to remove any heavy debris, and then follow up with the steel wool lubricated with soap. The first thing I suggest doing is completely dismantling the kettle if at all possible.