Griffin wrote:"CaptJack - really dig your Old Smokey.
That was the first grill I ever owned, but I think it was a smaller one.
I've contemplated getting another one just for nostalgic reasons."
I had an 18" (Med) model about 20 years ago
I loved it for doing stand up whole chickens. I could do 3 at a time
but it was a little small, and the fire pan was a little too close to do indirect cooks
you couldn't keep it under 300° if you needed to
one of my favorite cookers is my 22"OldSmokey (made in Houston since 1923)
if I had just one outdoor cooker it would be my OldSmokey
it has two major advantages over most all other charcoal cookers
the firepan sits 8"in. below the grill grate
(the kettle's fire grate is 5" below the grill grate)
which means you can cook chicken direct over the coals and never have a flair up that burns the food
you just put your chicken on bone side down and cook it till it reaches the final internal temperature that you want for that piece.
it is the best chicken cooker I have ever cooked on
another advantage it has over the kettle is the tall lid
you have plenty of head room to do stand up chicken or ribs in a rack
to do longer indirect cooks I broke off two of the end grill wires
so I can add charcoal and wood chunks during longer cooks
it is really easy to run the OS at different temps with the two bottom & two top vents
indirect tri-tip
then reverse seared
indirect country style ribs
some of the direct - over the coals - chicken cooks
since the OS's firepan is 8" below the grill grate it's too low for high heat searing
the firepan normally sits on the three lower leg screws 1½" off of the bottom
if I put Coke or beer cans on the bottom it raises the firepan 5" to 4½" below the grill grate
I have a set of GrillGrates and what's fun to do is put the coal in some Weber charcoal baskets
with the GrillGrates over them
then this sucker really cranks up the heat
I bought the heavy vinyl cover for the 22"Weber to use on my OldSmokey
and I use a left-over plastic garbage can lid on top of that
I'm very disciplined about cleaning the ashes out of the OS the next day and putting the covers on her
she's going to last a long time
