Should I buy a Slow N Sear at 30% off?

[Mosca]

Ask yourself if you’d rather have the tool, or the money. Then ask if there is something else you’d rather get with the money. And there is your answer. There have been times I’ve wanted something enough to get it, even when I knew I didn’t need it, and I knew that I wouldn’t use it very much. But I bought it anyhow, based on those two questions.

99% of my S&S use is as a charcoal divider, not for smoking but to create smaller sear zones. 2-3-4 burgers or hot dogs can go over coals placed in the small circle segment, or you can do more over coals placed in the larger segment. Over the years I think I’ve paid for the S&S just in saved charcoal!

That being said, you can do the same thing with a Vortex. I never use my Vortex, ever. It’s fine, I’ve just never use it after the first few tries. It works fine, but everything works fine without it, too.

[FireMan]

Logic, what it is.
Or sometimes, who gives a rip.

[IdahoJim]

OK, well, uh, I went ahead and bought the Slow N Sear Deluxe. I spent some time playing with the Vortex and fire bricks in my 22 incher and realized that the Vortex either provides a very small sear zone (8") or a decent one (12") in an awkward location. I also remembered how annoyed I would get with the fire bricks, especially when they would tip over when I moved my 26 inch kettle. While I was at the snsgrills web sight, I saw a 25% off almost everything Black Friday sale and I saw the Slow N Sear Roasting Bundle (Slow N Sear Deluxe and the Drip N Roast Pan - Porcelain) for $129.99. 25% off made that $97.50. Tack on $15 shipping and I'm all in at $112.50. Not too bad. I'll probably leave the Slow N Sear in the grill for most cooks and it will be nice not to mess with trying to fit aluminum foil to the charcoal grate.

If my wife asks, can I blame you guys?

[jfmorris]

Just remember that the porcelain drip and roasting pan is just that, and keep it in the indirect zone. My understanding is you will mess it up if you try to use it as a griddle over the charcoal. I've got the original stainless version, and it got warped from too much heat as a griddle. If I had to do it all over again, I would get the cast iron one if I wanted to use it as a griddle. But as a drip pan, that porcelain coated one is as good as any of the others.

[PGH_RAM]

jfmorris I bought the cast iron one a few months ago. It's been fantastic. So far my favorite trick on it is to char veggies for fajitas while indirectly cooking the steak. The griddle is then ripping hot and ready to put a nice sear on the meat by the time the veggies are done.

[jfmorris]

PGH_RAM if I were buying today it would be the cast iron one for sure. I've got two of the stainless though, and they do a great job as a drip or roasting pan. Just not gonna bother using them as a griddle again, with other better options available to me. Stainless is far from non-stick, unfortunately.

[FireMan]

All right Idaho, ya done good, and in the true Amazin Wibs spirit ya not only got the SnS but ya went ahead and got MORE Stuff even. ‘Ol Idaho is our member of the month, at least up until now unless someone tops him in the next few days, yessir! Three yahoos fer Idaho Jim!

[DaveD]

You can and should completely blame the Pit hive mind for the sage counsel that led to your wise decisions on new hardware purchases. We will totally own it.

[JeffJ]

I've already weighed in but have a couple of things to add. I have a Vortex and it works well for wings and I love it when I want to cook in a Lodge cast iron pot on the 26" It's the perfect shape as a stove top burner. It's great for those applications. For everything else I use the SnS. I have the 22" SnS for my 26" kettle and it rocks. I used to have the Smokenator. It was really good for low/slow and it was efficient. The SnS took it to a new level by being a dual use accessory and it is easier to use. The only gripe I have is its footprint. I takes up more grate space than the Smokenator which makes pork ribs more challenging in a 22" kettle. Since I have both a 22 and a 26 I was fired up when SnS announced for the 26. I thought they would keep the depth the same and expand the edges to make it slightly bigger to adhere to the dimensions of the kettle. Nope. They made it much larger and while it definitely can burn longer they took away too much valuable grate space on that big 26. The original 22 SnS works great in the 26 Weber and it would be even better if it could be stretched to match the contours and in doing so it wouldn't reduce the grate space.

[IdahoJim]

I finally got around to opening the box with my Slow N Sear and the Drip N Roast.The Slow N Sear looks great and very shiny. Unfortunately, the Drip N Roast has some damage in the porcelain . I've sent an email to SNS Grills with some pictures. Hopefully they will make it right.

[Spinaker]

Hopefully they send you a brand new one. It looks like there are a few spots where the coating is messed up.

[IdahoJim]

I thought I should update everyone on my Drip N Roast pan issue. I emailed SNS Grills on Saturday, December 16th. I got an email the following Monday, December 18th, saying they would send me a replacement and another email that day with the shipping information. I received the replacement Drip N Roast on Friday, December 22nd and it looks great. Nice customer service. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the damaged one. They just told me to keep it.

[Huskee]

It should still work just fine. Might get a little rusty there but no harm no foul. Good on them for doing that for you!

[jfmorris]

I would just season those spots with some oil to prevent rust, and use it as a prep or dry brining pan, whatever.