Slow n Sear on a 26" kettle

[ctesibiusulpius]

I'm new here, having recently joined about a week ago. So hello.

I've been grilling as an amateur on a 22" kettle for a while now. After reading about the slow n sear, I decided to try my hand at grilling on a more advanced level. I purchased a weber 26" kettle. a Maverick redi-check model ET-733, and of course a slow n sear. I've read reviews and followed the instructions and I've yet to achieve the great length of time in my cooks that are reported. I understand that from a physics stand point it's a bigger grill. I get about 4 hours of viable heat around the 225 target. I read reviews of people getting in excess of double that. Is the dynamic of use that significantly different in the larger kettle?

Further to my question I am curious about the measure of charcoal used. I've read on this site that a chimney of coals is about 80 briquettes and that a half a chimney is about 40. As placed a handful at a time in my chimney, it holds 110 briquettes in what I would consider to be full, which is an average height of level to the top. As poured from a bag it holds 100 briquettes level with the top. To the top of the holes, half way, it holds 50 briquettes. The point of my asking this isn't to be a jerk or anything of the like. I'm just trying to get a firm grip on my understanding of this. Is the "80 briquettes" more important or is the "chimney of coals" more important? The difference in mass of 80 to 100 briquettes and likewise 40 to 50 is a 25% increase. Based on averaging the weight of 30 briqettes of the kingsford blue bag I come up with an average mass, or technically weight I suppose, as I did it in lbs, of .92 avoirdupois ounces, as I live in the united states, per briquette. So 80 briquettes equals approximately 4.6 lbs of charcoal. Where as 100 briquettes equals 5.75 lbs. My concern is doing either too much or too little heat or in affecting my longevity of a cook, and of course also in wasting charcoal if unnecessary.

I apologize for the long winded nature of that and if it is a completely stupid question I'm asking. I'm just trying to understand and cover all my bases. Thanks for any help and/or thoughts on this matter.

[David Parrish]

Welcome to The Pit ctesibiusulpius! We're glad you're here.

I wouldn't stress too much over how many briquettes you have in the SnS. Just fill it up and cook. You should definitely be getting 8 hours of cook time at 225 F. I'm wondering if you're temp probe was in the right spot. Could be you were cooking much hotter than you thought you were on those cooks where you only got 4 hours (assuming a full load was in the charcoal basket). Make sure the probe is on the indirect side and 2 or more inches from the meat. If the probe is too close to the meat if could be influenced by cool air that surrounds the meat.

Also, what type briquettes have you been using? We base our cook times on Kingsford Blue Bag original briquettes. You mention them in your post but please confirm for us that's what you used on each of your cooks. Thanks!

[DWCowles]

David Parrish where is the correct spot for probe on the kettle. I put my in the center pointing towards the SnS. Is that the correct way?

[David Parrish]

Pretty much anywhere on the indirect side, 2 or more inches away from the meat, and vertically level with the meat, and you're good to go!

[Fine Swine]

Pretty much agree with Boss. Fill it up even with the sides. I really like the weber starting cubes when using the SnS. Place it on one side and let burn towards the other side.

[DWCowles]

Welcome ctesibiusulpius

[smokinfatties]

The only thing i can think of is that maybe there are too many hot coals when you started (which i have done before) and usually results in faster burning of charcoal but also higher temps. maybe also consider how open your dampers are top and bottom and maybe put foil on the bottom grate to help consistency.

With the SNS i have found that after your cook you can use tongs or something to move over the unused charcoal if any from the side that hasnt burned back into the chimney and recycle it for next time.

Or you can go to Lowes and get some on sale at 12.99 (versus 19.99) for almost 40lbs that allows for more than 25% margin of error

[ctesibiusulpius]

I might have had the probe a little too close. I did an initial trial run with Kingsford blue bag. I started 12 briquettes in the corner with a starter cube and then counted out 80 briquettes and added them in. I then did 2 runs with a rack of ribs each the same way. After that I did 2 runs with a rack of ribs each with the b & b briquettes after reading how well those do. That I started with 12 kingsford briquettes and the corner and just estimated to the approximate level of 80 kingsford briquettes in my chimney, probably a little less closer to about 70 blue bag briquettes of volume. So maybe I hosed myself on the b&b runs. With the b&b I got closer to 5 hours. I also noticed with the b&b the temperature fluctuations seemed lower, the temp stayed more consistent/steady during the time of viable heat.

As for the dampers I adjusted them according to the directions to get the desired temp range which was 220-245. I filled it with a quart of hot tap water each time. and I lined the side of the grill under the food with foil. The outside temp was approximately the same during the runs. Some around fifty and some in the mid 60s.

I bought the new 26" kettle before my stay at home vacation last week so I'd have plenty to keep my occupied. I was wanting to try some longer cooks, but I want to "nail down" my technique before moving onto anything more daunting. Thanks for the input. I never figured I'd have a response thirty minutes after my post. That's pretty dang good service. I appreciate it.

[David Parrish]

What kind of ribs were you cooking and how much did the racks weigh? Was there a lot of meat on them or were they lean? When you took the ribs off how done were they? Tough to bite, clean bite no tug, fall off the bone?

Answers to these questions can help us determine if you were cooking hotter than you think you were, which is still my best guess to explain your short cook times.

And glad to help!

[BigBear]

Welcome to The Pit ctesibiusulpius . I can tell from your question that you are in to the details of trying to perfect your cooking craft. This is the perfect website for you and you can count on a lot of help from the other Pit members.

[ctesibiusulpius]

They were all spare ribs. The two cooks with weber blue bag each rack was just over 4.5lbs and probably about average meat on them. When I took them off just short of 5 hours they were not tough to bite and the meat would come off of the bone pretty easily. Both cooks with kingsford the ribs were in a rib holding rack. The cooks with b&b were less consistent. The first one the rack was 6lbs. After about 5 hours of decent heat. I checked the ribs, in a rack, and the top of the rack was definitely overcooked and black. The sns was completely out of water. This rack was very tall and I thought perhaps that was partly to blame for the issue, that the top of the ribs were overdone while the bottoms weren't because heat rises and all that. The next cook with B&B I set up the same was as the first cook with the b&b. I laid the ribs directly on the cooking grate with no rib rack. At a about 4 hours I opened the lid. I rallied the coals of which there was very little left. I added a handful of unlit briquettes to try to maintain the heat. I added water. After the heat didn't come back up to high enough I added another handful of unlit briquettes 20 or 30 minutes later. After 6 hours 15 minutes I called it quits. The ribs weren't done for ribs, but they were done enough I could eat them. They weren't tough, but definitely not tender either. It was sunday night and 7pm and I have to get up at 4am for work. So, I cut my losses. All cooks I used aluminum foil on the charcoal grate under the ribs.

I'm trying chicken now. I used a half a chimney of charcoal. I closed the vents off some when it reached about 300 degrees it leveled off at at 313 degrees. I figured it was okay that if I opened the vents more it'd be fine and I didn't need heat for long anyways with chicken. So I added the chicken and opened the vents all the way. With 4 chicken quarters on the cooking grate and my probe 2" away from the food, my temp maxed at 290. 45 minutes later I'm at 282 degrees. I'm very baffled by this, considering everyone else's excellent and consistent results. This weekend when I have the time I guess I'm going to try the sns in my 22" kettle and see what the results are. I love the 26" kettle. It's got more room. It stands a little higher up off of the ground. However, if it's going to drive me crazy none of that really matters!

[ctesibiusulpius]

Sorry to double post. I just noticed smoke coming from my lid thermometer, now useless for more than one reason, and from under my lid. So I'm sure that's at the very least exacerbating the issue, if not causing it. Any suggestions on the best way(s) the leaking issue would be appreciated.

[Craigar]

I get about 4 hours of viable heat around the 225 target. I read reviews of people getting in excess of double that. Is the dynamic of use that significantly different in the larger kettle?

I have had the same problem, but I just passed it off as being winter and the fact there is more real estate to warm up with a 26. I did get 6 hours one time, but the wind was blowing about 5-10 and the ambient temp was in the 60's. Most of my cooks this winter have been in temps below 40 and the winds blowing 15-20 and gusting to 30. I am thinking once it starts to warm up around here and the winds calm down a bit I will start to see the burn times that have been advertised. I would be tickled if I could get 8 hours before having to reload. As it is, I have been happy with the 4-6 hours burn time as it keeps me moving instead of becoming a permanent bump in the couch.

[David Parrish]

Sorry to double post. I just noticed smoke coming from my lid thermometer, now useless for more than one reason, and from under my lid. So I'm sure that's at the very least exacerbating the issue, if not causing it. Any suggestions on the best way(s) the leaking issue would be appreciated.

I think there are several moving parts with your particular cook times woes. How about giving me a call on the ABC hotline tomorrow? 704-425-1023. We'll figure it out!

Craigar this invitation goes out to you as well

[ctesibiusulpius]

That sounds great to me. I extremely appreciate that. I don't get home from work until about 14:30 central time. Is that going to be okay? If not what times work best for you?

[David Parrish]

That works great. We'll talk then!

[Huskee]

This winter wasn't as stone cold as last, but I still get 8-9 hrs on one load of Kingsford original when it's 10-12 degrees outside. And that's with my probes wires run under my lid.

[Breadhead]

ctesibiusulpius ... I did an 8 hour cook on my 26" Weber & SnS today. I followed ABC's lighting instructions exactly. I lined the bottom of the direct side with aluminum foil enough to stack 12 briquettes in a stack in the back corner, over a fire starter. I lite the starter and as it got to burning, I did cheat a little. I used my BBQ Dragon to speed that process up. When the 12 briquettes were gray I filled the direct side full of unlit coals. I put in my wood chunks and let them burn enough to give me clean blue smoke. Then I put my pork belly stripes on and closed the lid. I left 2" between the Pit thermometer and the meat too. Then I adjusted my top & bottom vent to barely open. I find it best to let your temp sneak up to 225° instead of letting go over and then try to bring it back down. Once it got to 225° it chugged along nicely at that temp for about 5 hours, no adjustments required. Then I started losing a few degrees and tried opening the top vent some. But I wasn't getting much response so I opened the lid and used a wiggle stick to slightly shift the briquettes around a LITTLE bit and closed the lid again. That wiggle stick was magic everything smoothed out again. After 90 to 120 minutes I started losing temp again. I got my trusty wiggle stick out again, moved the briquettes a LITTLE and all was good. I cooked from 10:00am to 6:00pm without adding any briquettes and I believe I could have cooked for another hour. You might want to try the wiggle stick method when your temp goes down and vent adjustments aren't helping much.🤔 Today's cook was pork belly strips dry brined overnight and then I added some beef love and coated all sides with Memphis Dust and then on to the grate. After 6 hours I coated half of the strips with maple syrup just to see how that might effect the flavor profile. I pulled them exactly 8 hours after I put them on. It was my very first cook of pork belly and I really had NO CLUE about how to do it. All worked out well.😆

[David Parrish]

NICE COOK! What final temp did you take those pork bellies to?