Earlier this year, one of my sons gave me a copy of Serious Barbecue by Adam Lang Perry, which I highly recommend to anyone that wants to take their backyard barbecuing to the next level. While Adam cooks with many different stoves, his constant reference to and use of photos showing the Weber Ranch Kettle gave me a real case of grill envy. Sensing my desire for a bigger grilling surface, my wife surprised me with the Ranch Kettle grill for a Christmas present.
The photo below gives you an idea of how much bigger the Ranch Kettle grill is versus my Performer grill. I'll continue to use the smaller Performer when I'm cooking for just my wife and I, but when all our sons and grandkids come over, or when we have our annual community barbecue, I'll look forward to firing up the Ranch Kettle.
Not realizing I was getting a new grill, I bought a new cast iron grate for the Performer grill. While the stainless steel cooking grate that comes with the Weber grills is more than adequate, a seasoned cast iron grate provides a really nice non-stick cooking surface. More importantly, cast iron gives off a more even heat and produces amazing grill marks. Another benefit to cast iron is it can withstand a lot higher temperatures than normal grates.
As I frequently visit several barbecue forums, I discovered a German company that developed a cast iron grate for use with kettle stoves, and markets them through a US firm named Craycort. Below are photos of their grate. One of these days, I'll have to post some photos of how chicken or steaks look when cooked on my new grate!
In closing, should any of you still wonder why I'm posting an entry about grilling, go back and read my opening sentence. Life is about having many passions. Go out and take photographs, go out and grill great steaks for your loved ones, just go out and enjoy life. (Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a New Year!)
