A Slow 'N Sear by any other name...

[DavidNorcross]

Just a neat story. So many successes start this way. Thank you for sharing Huskee

[Huskee]

How did you and Dave get together to develop the SNS? It's not like you were nextdoor neighbors anyway. Enquiring Pit Members want to know.

Here's an abridged autobiographical account of how it all happened:

Dave helped me get hired by Meathead as a moderator on the free site, back when that's all their was, the Pitmaster Club hadn't been thought of yet, say about 2009-2010-ish? Not sure on the exact year. It was shortly after Jerod was hired because I remember asking questions on the free site (Disqus) and now there's these two new guys Jerod and Dave answering me (who the heck are these guys? I want Meathead! Lol) Anyway I was posting questions and even some answers to other readers like myself, mainly on the stickburner and fire/smoke channels. Sharing with other readers what I'd learned from Meathead and now Dave and Jerod, as well as what I learned on my own. He must've thought I had a brain for BBQ and recommended Meathead hire me as a mod as well to help out with stickburner questions. So he did.

Dave & I, now 'colleagues', emailed and phoned regularly. We became pals. I wanted to buy a Smokenator, for smaller smokes, but I didn't even have a kettle! I bought a small travel kettle, the Smokey Joe, but realized it's not gonna cut it for smoking. About that time, Dave sent a gift to Jerod and I, a brand new 22" Weber Kettle for each of us, our choice of color! What a nice guy. I still have it and use it.

It was then that I became more serious about getting a Smokenator, because I thought I should. Dave helped me see that I could smoke just fine w/o it, using bricks and a charcoal snake, which I'd known but I still thought the accessory would help with efficiency. I used a small bread pan with water and bricks and the snake, it did work just fine. But I knew it could be better as far as coal longevity. Then I got to thinking about a Smokenator again, thinking I needed something to group the coals better than an open snake and better than Weber charcoal baskets. Except I now realized the Smokenator's huge inherent flaws, for instance, the small holes that the heat and smoke come up out of, and lack of coal grouping, lack of easy ash removal and reloading, etc. 'Why is this thing so cramped, it doesn't need to be, in fact it shouldn't be, it's hurting itself.'

I sketched out a D-shaped device, open-top, made of metal, that had an outside border to the kettle wall to help create an airspace between the coals and the kettle wall, so as to prevent heat from bleeding out through direct contact with the kettle wall. I also thought a vertical water pan directly bordering the hot coals would be nice, to help create a buffer between direct and indirect and give great steam. I sketched out what would soon become the Slow 'N Sear. Except for one big difference- I thought a hinged grate over top of the coal section would be handy. You can use it to sear a steak! Dave loved the idea, the shape, the water pan idea, all of it...except the hinged grate. He said it would be too complicated to manufacture it, plus wouldn't be needed anyway since you have the Weber's own grate which will be over top of the coals. Duh! He was clearly right. I was thinking of it as being an all-in-one, no large 22" grate needed, but this wasn't as productive of an idea as eliminating it altogether would be. So his input there led us to that change and then to pursue a CAD drawing and a couple prototypes, a patent, which my name is on as co-inventor, to test and then to pick a name, etc.

I helped Dave create his first website, back when his budding business was called Adrenaline Barbecue Company, ABCbarbecue(dot)com. I designed it, I wrote the lighting instructions and the first 10 or so main recipes (brisket, ribs, wings, prime rib, etc) all including mainly pics I took for each, and then after a bit I became busier here and chose not to continue with Adrenaline Barbecue Company, parent company of what would soon become SnS Grills. And here we are 9, 10? 12? years later.

[RonB]

Thanks for the synopsis. I'm sure most here are interest in the history of the SnS and you guys.

[Sid P]

Very interesting. It’s an amazing product!

[jfmorris]

Thanks for the history lesson! I knew you had been involved, but did not know to what extent.

[RustyHaines]

Thanks for the history lesson Huskee ! Brings back good memories. Although I constantly use my now "ancient" SNS, I still have my Smokenator. I used it last summer for a pork butt at our cottage in a very old kettle. I should probably upgrade the cooker situation at our cottage ! Thanks again.

[Sid P]

I know we all read what’s most interesting to us, but I would think most regulars recognize Jon Solberg since he started both "Show Us Your Pets" and "What's the Temperature & Weather Where You're At?".

Whatever happened to him?

[Huskee]

He moved on to other things. I know he has a nice BBQ-related Instagram channel and used to (maybe still does?) work some with HeyGrillHey.

[FireMan]

Rilly glad ya’ll didn’t go with KettleQueer, just sayin.

[Michael_in_TX]

How awesome. It certainly is a great product. I am indebted to it as it helped me get over my initial frustrations in smoking. I might not have stayed with this if it hadn't been for the Slow n' Sear.

One thing that I think both of you did expertly was partner with people to produce how-to videos. Those videos were pivotal in helping me gain both skill and confidence in grilling/smoking. Great videos on how to use a great product.

[Sid P]

I had decent success with my WSM, but when buying a used Performer the seller went on and on about how great the Slow ‘N Sear is, and how every kettle owner should have one, etc etc., and he was right. I sold my WSM after the first SnS cook and never looked back.

[JeffJ]

Huskee I’d forgotten you were involved in the development and I had no idea Jon Solberg was involved. I already had a Smokenator when I joined the Pit. When I was first exposed to the SnS at the Pit its advantages over the smokenator weee immediately evident. Not just for smoking but for 2 zone grilling which is what I usually use the kettle for anyway. Between my 14.5” WSM, PBC, OKJ offset and kettle with SnS the kettle is the simplest to set up and use.

I do have a question, it was originally ABC - Adrenaline Barbecue Company and the SnS was a product. What prompted Dave to change the company name?

[Huskee]

I have to assume since the SnS was the big product, popular, internationally-known, and all else really revolved around it, it just make good business sense to showcase its name. Adrenaline Barbecue Company was initially also a teaching website, similar to AR, but tailored to recipes to use with the SnS...the focus became more the product line and the two different names could get blurry. Adrenaline Barbecue Company remains the parent company of SnS Grills. Educated guess, but still a guess.

[Michael_in_TX]

If I remember right, the name change occurred right around the time of the introduction of the SnS Grill. I understand why they changed it, but I always thought ABC was quite clever.