Kettle Barbecue

[paul6057]

I added this post on another thread, but I don't think anyone has really seen it, so thought I'd open a new topic here.

I wanted to get some thoughts on what the benefits of a kettle barbecues are for. Can someone please elaborate for me? Are they intended for one thing over another, or are they a good hybrid that can be used for direct grilling and indirect smoking? I've always found them pretty annoying, as when you take the lid off, you have to find somewhere to put it, there's no warming rack in there either, and being circular, I perceive it to be harder to create hotter and cooler cooking zones.

I'm curious as I've always had oil drum style barbecues. I like with them there is a large cooking area, and a warming rack which hangs in the lid too, which you don't tend to get with kettles. I purchased a WSM at the end of last year for those long slow smokes, and I've previously been using a Landmann offset smoker (but with that, I've mostly been using it to add smoke flavour for a few hours, but having to do the bulk of the meat cook in either the over or the sous vide). I also bought a second cheap oil drum from Argos last summer, primarily for quick direct grilling when I'd run out of space on my Landmann.

 

I guess I'm curious what the benefits of a kettle are over a bullet smoker or oil drum barbecue.

[Simon]

Hi Paul

i would say a good kettle bbq is very versatile and useful for those people who don’t have a lot of space. 
I have a Weber Kettle and with the new grill they have had a small section that can be swapped out for other parts - skillet, pizza stone, wok, Dutch oven, and others I can’t remember off the top of my head. I have the pizza stone and skillet that I’ve used countless times. 
Long cooks are fine on it as well. I’ve cooked for over 9 hours, and there are a couple of posts showing how to set the kettle up for long cooks. 
They can be used for pretty much everything from what I’ve read. I’ve always advised people who are looking for a basic bbq to get a Weber Kettle as they have so many uses. 

hope this helps. By all means ask more questions.