Trying a Slow ‘N Sear. Like it so far.

[Shadowdog500]

The local butcher carries prime meats and for the last few weeks we’ve been ordering 1-1/2” thick prime ribeyes and porterhouses.

I decided to try a slow and sear to get a low and slow cook along with a good sear. It arrived yesterday and the first Porterhouse came out perfect, but I may reduce the sear to 45 seconds instead of a minute. So far I am liking it.

My wife picked up half a brisket at the supermarket (I never heard of it either). Today I decided to smoke it using the Slow ‘N Sear using charcoal and apple chunks until the stall then wrap and put in the Green Mountain to finish.

It’s been on the Weber performer for about 6 hours and is in the stall. Here is a photo from about 5 hours. I have Carona beer and water in the built in water troth.

Here is last nights dinner.

 

[Mikhail]

Beautiful. Considering a slow-n-sear for my kettle.

 

[mcyork28]

I really like my Slow N Sear. I have actually been using it in my Summit Kamado even though it's a little to tall.

 

[Moose]

I used a brick setup for smoking and reverse searing in my kettle cookers for years, so thought the SNS was a bit gimmicky.

However, I decided to take the splurge and get one, and I've been really happy with how it performs for smoking. I can get a good 6-7 hours out of a load of briquettes!

 

[cowgirl]

Looks delicious!!

 

[CALWLDLIF]

I can't remember the last time I saw a PorterHouse.:thumb:

 

[thirdeye]

Oh yeah!!

I'm still field testing my SNS basket, the coals are much closer than my small Egg which has been my searing machine for a long while. The SNS guys have a video that's called something like 'cold grate searing'. They keep moving the steak to a cooler part of the grate, then spin it over the coals. This is repeated 3 or 4 times. The result is a seared steak, but without sear marks. The jury is still out on this method too.

 

[ehk49]

For guys that have used a slow n sear as well as Weber kettle, is the SNS any different than a Weber kettle set up for 2 zone cooking? They're nice looking grills for sure.

 

[ShadowDriver]

I, like Moose, used a fire brick setup in my Weber 22 for years... got the 26 kettle for Christmas '20 so I picked up the SnS XL for the new rig.

Big fan thus far. Holds 250-275* very nicely for a long while... yeah, probably 6-7 hours on one batch of charcoal.

I like the fact that it's "form fitting" to the side of my kettle, and adds additional metal (and water, if you use it) mass to keep the temps pretty steady. I have less flare-ups with the SnS vs my previous fire brick setup in the 22 when I had to choke the intake at the bottom down to bare minimum to run sub-300*.

 

[Shadowdog500]

For guys that have used a slow n sear as well as Weber kettle, is the SNS any different than a Weber kettle set up for 2 zone cooking? They're nice looking grills for sure.

I’ve done both methods and like the slow and sear better for searing. There is a higher concentration of coals that are only a little under the grill which makes it sear pretty good nice. I smoked a brisket with it today and it worked well. The cleanup was a snap. I assume you could do the snake method in a kettle and beget a similar result.

A few weeks ago I just decided to dust off our performer and start using it more. I don’t think I touched it in a year. It has more than enough capacity for my wife and I. If I can successfully use it as a smoker it will be a lot less hassle than the WSM and hopefully will give better flavor profile to beef and pork than my pellet cooker. I smoked the brisket for about 7 hours in the Weber performer then wrapped and put in in my green mountain as an oven to finish. After smelling the mild smell of apple wood chunks over charcoal for 7 hours, the smell of apple pellets smelled harsh. If this Slow and sear works out, I may do more of my smoking in the kettle.

 

[mike243]

I use the baskets that came with mine, I don't care for a hard sear as the spices can change flavor. But I don't think I can ever have too many cooking tools lol wife has other idea's

 

[Shadowdog500]

I, like Moose, used a fire brick setup in my Weber 22 for years... got the 26 kettle for Christmas '20 so I picked up the SnS XL for the new rig.

Big fan thus far. Holds 250-275* very nicely for a long while... yeah, probably 6-7 hours on one batch of charcoal.

I like the fact that it's "form fitting" to the side of my kettle, and adds additional metal (and water, if you use it) mass to keep the temps pretty steady. I have less flare-ups with the SnS vs my previous fire brick setup in the 22 when I had to choke the intake at the bottom down to bare minimum to run sub-300*.

I was also amazed at how well it held temperature. Yesterday I used a sharpie to mark a point next to the handle where the bottom vents just closed. The smoke position was less than 1/4 from that position and I was able to fine tune it to hold the dome temp around 250-275 for the full 7 hours. Same thing with the steak yesterday. After the sear put the steak on the cool side with a water/beer pan buffer and I closed the bottom vent to just under 1/4” from closed and closed the top vent to 1/4, and the temps came righ down to the 250-300 range.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I had to run out for a couple hours while the brisket rested. The side nearest the fire was a little over done, actually I think the entire brisket was a bit overdone. I would put a pan of water at grate level to create a buffer next time.

The brisket was half a brisket that my wife bought from the supermarket. It had half of a flat and a thin sliver of point. The meat had a funky flavor and we threw it out.

One of these days I’m going to order one from snake river or creekstone.

 

[ssv3]

Nice!

Love my slow n sears on both th 22 and 26. 99% of my cooks won the kettles are with the sns'

 

[SVTNate]

I love a thick, Prime, smoked and seared steak. I have friends who don't... they feel it's too rich a flavor.

I'll do one of two things -

Toss the steak on the RT-590 on XTREME SMOKE!!!!! setting for an hour, then sear over lump charcoal on the Performer

OR

some lump in the Performer with a damp chunk of wood, close the vents down, put the steak at the opposite side (does a kettle really have "sides"?), roll smoke at 200F, remove steak, add more lump, keep the lid off and sear it.

I think wood chunks in the kettle is superior smoke flavor. Tomahawks are not a bad choice for this method.

 

[TBoneMac]

Oh yeah!!

I'm still field testing my SNS basket, the coals are much closer than my small Egg which has been my searing machine for a long while. The SNS guys have a video that's called something like 'cold grate searing'. They keep moving the steak to a cooler part of the grate, then spin it over the coals. This is repeated 3 or 4 times. The result is a seared steak, but without sear marks. The jury is still out on this method too.

They are just trying to sell you their grate. I bought one, and the hinges have already come loose, and the grate is not easy to install/remove without careful placement. The standard Kettle grate is better and free in comparison.