Slow 'n Sear Kettle Deluxe
- Thread starter SmoothBoarBBQ
- Start date
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
I was looking for a 26" kettle and couldn't find one anywhere. Even on the Weber website they are listed as "Out of Stock."
https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/charcoal-grills/original-kettle-series/16401001.html
I'm not a huge fan of Weber at the moment. It feels (not saying it's true, but it feels) like the quality is going down hill...almost a race to the bottom if you will. I also didn't like the way they handled the SmokeFire issues, so I'd rather give my money to someone who is properly innovating. I respect the guys from SnS and how they are making a full on company off of what started as a single product.
ModelMaker
Quintessential Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2006
- Location
- Lake...
Looks to me like Weber could have an interest in copyright issues.
Ed
Ed
charrederhead
Babbling Farker
The SNS kettle looks like a very nice, high quality grill. But if I was in the market for a kettle, I'd choose the Weber 26.75". The extra cooking space makes a difference.
I use an original SNS ($60) in the 26.
22.5 SNS Deluxe $365 vs Weber 26.75 w/SNS (330+60) $390.
390-365=25
$25 more for the added real estate is a great deal, imo.
I use an original SNS ($60) in the 26.
22.5 SNS Deluxe $365 vs Weber 26.75 w/SNS (330+60) $390.
390-365=25
$25 more for the added real estate is a great deal, imo.
Curt.P
is one Smokin' Farker
I feel the same way about Weber, but SnS lost my respect when they sold the company to the Chinese.
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
While I'm not saying you're wrong can you provide a source? I can't find anything suggesting that SnS is now owned by a Chinese company. They do clearly state that their equipment was designed in the USA and manufactured in China.
While I love to support American companies and products it's extremely difficult for a company to compete with Chinese manufacturing prices. Grilla Grills is a perfect example where they went down the "American Made" route, and not long after that they had to shut down and send all manufacturing to China. Now they're a thriving company with a decent enough American work force.
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
Kind of a good read discussing the issues with China stealing IP (intellectual property) from within Amazon. It's from 2017 but it does address some of the issues David Parrish (founder of Slow 'n Sear and previously Adrenaline BBQ Company) had when he was expanding his business and utilizing Amazon.
https://www.hearthandhome.com/magazine/2017-10-16/stealing_creativity.html
https://www.hearthandhome.com/magazine/2017-10-16/stealing_creativity.html
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
So I've had this little 9Lb brisket on for about an hour. It has a light rub of Rod Gray's "Most Powerful Stuff on Earth." The kettle is holding pretty strongly between 250-260°. So far so good. The smell coming in my windows is fantastic and I'm really enjoying cooking on this thing. I'll be testing out the grilling / searing this weekend. The brisket was pooling a bit of moisture in the center so I used Harry Soo's trick of putting a piece of wood underneath it, and it's working well.
Hawklaw
Knows what a fatty is.
looks like a nice set up
Slight tangent - has anyone had a crack at the newish SnS Plancha yet?
Slight tangent - has anyone had a crack at the newish SnS Plancha yet?
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
I was eye-balling that plancha really hard when I was ordering. I'm going to give this kettle a good month-long workout, and if it's as solid as I think it is, then I'll be ordering that plancha.
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
So about 4 hours in and the temps are relatively stable. It's pretty windy here today so I'm getting a bit of fluctuation, but no runaway temps. It's swinging a bit in temp from about 250-265°. I noticed the side near the charcoal was getting more heat than the other side (seems obvious, right? haha), so I went ahead and rotated the brisket. I've got about 160° internal temp, and I'm just planning on letting it ride for a couple more hours.
Curt.P
is one Smokin' Farker
Poor wording on my part. I was trying to convey that they sold out to Chinese manufacturing and no longer are producing here. I don't trust the materials used in Chinese manufacturing and I try not to support companies that have offshored.
If you're curious, they're made by Qingdao Co-innovate Metal Plastic.
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
I 100% appreciate what you're saying here and I'm with you...except that I'm just not really rich enough to essentially double the cost on about every product I buy (in the sense of buying American vs foreign).
Curt.P
is one Smokin' Farker
You're right. I shouldn't participate.
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SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
So I finished up the maiden cook (a brisket) on my Slow 'n Sear Kettle, but I forgot to report back.
Good smoke ring, good flavor, and I learned a lot about cooking on this kettle and in particular with the SnS. The heat is concentrated at the top of the smoker so cooking fat side up makes more sense. Also I feel like rotating the meat every couple of hours is a good idea as the heat differential across the cooking grate is pretty uneven.
Couple more notes: The lid seals perfectly onto the base, and during the cook there was no smoke leaking out at all. The dampers are very sensitive to adjustments, so only a very small adjustment was needed to change temp. I was using Royal Oak Lump Charcoal and that performed very well. The temperature "butter zone" seemed to be between 250-265° and that was where I felt like I was getting the best smoke aroma.
So far so good. I'll be doing a thick ribeye on it today utilizing the SnS and the "spin the grate" technique.
Good smoke ring, good flavor, and I learned a lot about cooking on this kettle and in particular with the SnS. The heat is concentrated at the top of the smoker so cooking fat side up makes more sense. Also I feel like rotating the meat every couple of hours is a good idea as the heat differential across the cooking grate is pretty uneven.
Couple more notes: The lid seals perfectly onto the base, and during the cook there was no smoke leaking out at all. The dampers are very sensitive to adjustments, so only a very small adjustment was needed to change temp. I was using Royal Oak Lump Charcoal and that performed very well. The temperature "butter zone" seemed to be between 250-265° and that was where I felt like I was getting the best smoke aroma.
So far so good. I'll be doing a thick ribeye on it today utilizing the SnS and the "spin the grate" technique.
sandro
Full Fledged Farker
Next cook, try to regulate temps using the "smoke hole" while keeping the bottom vent all the way closed. Put the "smoke hole" directly beneath the SnS accessory. Well, really put the SnS above it. You get the gist
KevinJ
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2015
- Location
- Pensacol...
That's what I like the most about cooking with a SnS on a kettle, it cooks top down, Ribs turnout fantastic.So I finished up the maiden cook (a brisket) on my Slow 'n Sear Kettle, but I forgot to report back.
Good smoke ring, good flavor, and I learned a lot about cooking on this kettle and in particular with the SnS. The heat is concentrated at the top of the smoker so cooking fat side up makes more sense. Also I feel like rotating the meat every couple of hours is a good idea as the heat differential across the cooking grate is pretty uneven.
Couple more notes: The lid seals perfectly onto the base, and during the cook there was no smoke leaking out at all. The dampers are very sensitive to adjustments, so only a very small adjustment was needed to change temp. I was using Royal Oak Lump Charcoal and that performed very well. The temperature "butter zone" seemed to be between 250-265° and that was where I felt like I was getting the best smoke aroma.
So far so good. I'll be doing a thick ribeye on it today utilizing the SnS and the "spin the grate" technique.
sandro
Full Fledged Farker
I believe that's the same with any kettle and the SnS accessory (from now on, just SnS for brevity). As far as my experience with it goes, and as far as I was able to conclude after several tests (read: plenty of briskets, beef ribs and pork butts), the SnS makes the kettle an offset top-down cooker:
* the coals are banked to the side and contained within a confined space with an air gap between them and the bowl, avoiding heat dispersion
* the heat source is moved further up against the cooking grate rather than the charcoal grate down below
* the protein is shielded from direct, radiant infrared heat by the steel walls and the water trough
* all the heat is directed upwards to the lid, and drawn out of the top vent opposite of the coals
The above results in uniform heat in the chamber, as long as you're measuring at cooking grate level. Temps drop considerably below the grate and sensibly increase in proximity of the vent—just what you'd see in an offset, with the hot spot at the collector. While the SnS requires generally more fuel to provide the same temps (as the radiant heat is partially lost and only convective heat remains), the results are more similar to offset-style cooking rather than simple two-zone cooking with the coal baskets.
A stick burner still beats the SnS 5 to 1 but that 1 is quite the difference from anything you'd get otherwise. You can obviously achieve the same with firebricks, it's not black magic.
That being said, I'd be very curious and willing to sacrifice a throwaway lid to try and drill vent holes slightly above grate level instead of the standard ones on top—I wonder, grate level collectors and smoke stacks force combustion gases down and out in offset smokers, perhaps that'd increase the draw and convection for the SnS as well. Who knows. Don't have an extra lid to try anyway.
Guess I got sidetracked. Nice brisket. Looks fine really. Cooked a tiny 9 pounder myself today, overnight cooks beat me down but it's so satisfying having brisket for lunch. Cheers
