# Weber Genesis 1000 Smoker Mod



## joelbenroth (May 16, 2010)

I am new to the SMF but already it has been a good resource for an amateur smoker. Here is an idea I am working on and so far it is panning out nicely.

I own two Weber Genesis 1000 grills. One I bought new in 1997, and the other I recently inherited from my in-laws when they replaced it with a new Weber. 








My '97 Weber has seen alot of use but is still going strong. Plus since they are getting a bit long in the tooth for some owners it is easy to find them put out for the trash. There is even a grill store here in South Florida (Lee's Grill Center) where people just abandon the grills behind the store and you can often pick them over for parts. BBQParts also has good prices here: http://www.bbqparts.com/genesis1000.html

Problem of course is that it is terrible for smoking. Nothing ever works consistently and I have tried all the suggestions out there, until I happened upon this post to SMF by mjrodney: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=73198

The thread suggests "the narrow warming grate that comes with the Genesis series is cut down to the size of a flavorizer bar. The rearmost flavorizer bar is removed from the grill, and the next flavorizer bar is turned on its side. In the place of the rearmost flavorizer bar goes the cut down warming grate. The smoke box now goes onto that cut down grate and the flame from the rear burner can hit the smoker box directly, without interference from the flavorizer bar."

A good suggestion. But there are actually two "narrow warming grates" that come with the Weber. One is a "flat warm rack" and the other is a "warm up basket" (pictured). 
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
The post above is talking about the rack, not the basket, but if you have a basket, or you can find one, it actually may work better. 

All you need to do is get a hacksaw and cut off the small (~1/2 inch) nub of metal on the end that is designed to be inserted into the grill hood. Once you cut that small piece off, remove the entire row of short flavorizer bars, and the rearmost long flavorizer bar. The basked should fit easily into the spot where the last flavorizer bar used to be. No need to turn any flavorizer bars on their sides as mjrodney says in his post.

The basket will hold your wood chips, pellets, etc. And since it is positioned right over the rear burner, it will get constant heat to produce smoke.

Now, the grates in the warmer basked are too far apart to hold chips. Also, with the top row of flavorizer bars removed there is a possibility of smoking two racks of food at the same time! So, time to go to Home Depot. 

In the hardware section pick up a thin, small piece of sheet metal. They come in lots of different sizes. You will use the sheet metal to form a "U" shaped smoking box that will fit inside the warm up basket. Alternatively, metal used for framing interiors can me modified to fit if you have that. Keep in mind you may need metal shears to cut the metal to size. 

In the grill section at my Home Depot I found an adjustable coated cooking grid that was almost the perfect size to fit right over the top of the long flavorizer bars to provide a lower grill surface. Alternatively, you can use spare Weber grids cut down smaller to fit. The interior of the Weber is narrower the lower down you go in the firebox so you need something that already is smaller or which you can mod to make smaller to fit over the long flavorizers. 

When you get home cut the sheet metal to size and then bend it using pliers into a "U" shape in the correct dimensions to fit snugly in the warm up basket. I will post exact measurements if anyone wants them. I would do it now but I'm smoking! 

As for the adjustable grid I found, it was a tad long but I just took a pair of pliers and bent about one inch of each corner 90 degress which had the added benefit of lifting the grid up above the flavorizer bars slightly.

In the photo below you can (sort of) see the chips smoking in the back row. The two racks of beef ribs are in rib stands that are resting on the modified cooking grid. I also cut down one of the Weber cooking grids and on it is a pan of veal bones I am smoking for use later in stock. 







In my photos you can also make out that I have a rotisserie bracket attached to this Weber. Later on I plan to try my new mod out with some chickens to see how it goes.

But the ribs look great so far, don't they?  I have been watching the temp since I got this started about 2-3 hours ago and the Weber never goes above 200 degrees and the smoke has been fairly consistent.  I have added chips a few times but they last and don't burn up right away.

Let me know what you think about this and if you have any other suggestions on how to make this even better!  Thanks!


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## graybeard (May 16, 2010)

Looks great! I have a 1996 red Weber and it's till like new.

beard


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## joelbenroth (May 23, 2010)

Came out great!


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