Introducing the Slow 'N Sear!

[Steve Vojtek]

SnS chicken quarters - using 'recycled' charcoal. After reverse searing a steak and closing the vents to put the coals out there was enough left to cook chicken another day. I just brushed off the ashes from the partially burned coals and followed the 325F directions and created this:

S&G on left - Memphis Dust on right...





After cooking at 325 still had enough power to sear in just seconds.. - it was awesome!

[David Parrish]

Thanks Steve. You certainly have that charcoal at Warp Ten in that sear pic. You do seem to have it figured out

[Steve Vojtek]

It's not just me - the SnS makes it easy - the SnS is the Star ...not me...

[David Parrish]

Steve thanks. Much appreciated.

[JohnF]

OK, let's discuss a Thanksgiving turkey on the SNS, I have done several on the Weber with the conventional Weber indirect method, you know the two charcoal trays on each side with drip pan in the center, My turn to cook this year and at my age it will be here shortly. How big a bird would you imagine I could cook, we usually do a 15 to 17 lbs. bird. When the SNS arrived the trays have ben placed in storage.

John

[David Parrish]

Haven't tested it but pretty sure a 17 will fit.

[Jon Solberg]

Great call JF. I need to do my July test Turkey on an SnS!

[barney]

Jon Solberg, that would be great.

[JohnF]

Pit Boss--Thank you

Jon--- let us know how it goes, please.

[Spinaker]

David Parrish Huskee When are the second run SNS supposed to be delivered? I just picked up a weber kettle off of Craigs list. If I pre-order one today, when could I expect to see it? I'm going up to superior at the end of the month and would like to bring my new SNS. Thanks.

Just ordered The SNS. Looking forward to joining the crew!

[Spinaker]

@pitboss Where di you guys end up having these made?

[David Parrish]

They're being made in the USA.

[Spinaker]

Great to hear!!! @pitboss

[richinlbrg]

I just keep finding new ways to use the SnS.

I know the pic rules, but I've been screwing up on that. Even took pics of a set up, then forgot to take a pic of food on the kettle and the finished products. AARRGGGGHHHH and DOH.

A couple days ago, I did a smoked salmon according the the tested recipe here on AR. A nice slow 225 to bring it up to 140ish (it was good - I'll likely try it one more time with 2 pieces of salmon, one with br. sugar on it and one just according the the recipe - Not convinced I liked it better than just grilled salmon).
Speaking of grilled salmon, when I was done with the smoked salmon, I opened up the vents while the smoked salmon rested according to the recipe, and grilled a couple little slabs of salmon over he SnS. Was GREAT!

Last night was a scheduling nightmare as #1 didn't know how late she'd be home, so I set up as if I was going to do a slow smoke without water, put some veggies in a meatloaf pan with oil and seasonings, left the vents open and cooked our veggies, then closed down the vents to preserve the coals when the veggies were done. At the appropriate time, I opened them up a tad and put burgers on the cool side in prep of a reverse sear. When #1 arrived, I opened the vents, put the burgers on for the sear. Only took a couple of minutes. #1 said it was one of the best burgers she's had (I guess she was hungry, eh? LOL)

This thing is GREAT - I'm loving it, and have cut down on the amount of charcoal used all at the same time! The SnS is VERY responsive when the vents are opened up. It can fly!

[Steve Vojtek]

The SnS is awesome....

[Huskee]

Nice post Rich! The SnS is very efficient. And I feel it will be very efficient in the winter too (although it was warm when we got prototypes to test!). You'll notice if you move it 1" - 1.5" from the sidewall of the kettle it creates yet another thermal barrier around the C-shape perimeter. Instead of the coals' heat transferring directly out the kettle wall, as when doing the brick method or just piling charcoal to the side, or even when using a similar accessory that's been around for a while, that extra barrier of airspace will help retain heat further and keep the coals grouped tighter. Win win!

[richinlbrg]

Actually, Huskee , I just did that on the last cook when I need to go afterburner. You know, the blind pig acorn thing! LOL

[Spinaker]

Man I can't wait to get my SNS. I am really looking forward to it. I just wish I didn't have to wait. Maybe if I had my kettle earlier then maybe I would have been considered for the early release by @pitboss and Huskee oh well good things happen to those who wait. (so I've heard)

[David Parrish]

The wait will be worth it Spinaker

[Huskee]

Just think of how nice that maiden SnS brisket will taste!

[fuzzydaddy]

Whole chickens cooked yesterday using the SnS on my 26" kettle. I wet brined this chicken (thanks Huskee for your brine recipe) using 2/3 C table salt and 1 C sugar in a gallon of water. I dry brined another chicken. Both were brined for almost 24 hours, coated with vegetable oil and seasoned with garlic powder and black pepper just before cooking.

This wet brined chicken was the best without question...very moist, best flavor, and was noticeably more "plump" after cooking.

[Steve Vojtek]

I want to eat my screen!!

[richinlbrg]

How did you cook this beauty? Reverse sear, hot and fast all the way, how? Looks so good!

[fuzzydaddy]

Powersmoke_80 I dried the cavity and the outside but didn't rinse.

[fzxdoc]

Gorgeous chicken, fuzzydaddy ! Interesting about the differences between dry and wet brining on those two chickens. Were they pre-brined at the packing house as well--that is, what was the salt content of the birds taken from the package, do you recall?

Kathryn

[Huskee]

fuzzydaddy I only go 1hr wet brine with 1 cup salt to 1 gal water. I'd recommend increasing the time only in proportion to how you decrease the salt, one third less salt, one third more time, etc. That may prevent it from being too salty. I also will sprinkle a little extra salt on the skin after the other seasonings. Fwiw. 24hrs is one looong wet brine

[fuzzydaddy]

Huskee ...pickled chicken? Haha! The things we do when do don't know any better. However, the chicken was not salty at all and neither of us usually add salt to our food. Guess I got lucky.

[Huskee]

fuzzydaddy ok I thought I read you said it was salty.

[fuzzydaddy]

My intent was to cook it really hot and fast - 340 to 360. I started with a full chimney of lit Kingsford blue (no smoke; heat plume visible from a short distance), with both vents fully open, and temps quickly came up to ~370 (using my probe in a clip on the cooking grate), I left the top vent fully open and adjusted the bottom vent to 3/4 open and the temp seemed stable. I went inside to dry, lightly oil, and apply my rub (2 parts powdered garlic to 1 part black pepper). When I came back out with the 2 chickens (less than 15 minutes), the temp had dropped to 340 which was ok, but surprising. After adding the chickens (breast up) temps stayed 280 to 315 with both vents fully open. I did ash sweeps to make sure the intake vents were not blocked and I had fully cleaned out all ash and dumped the bowl before starting this cook. I could not get any higher temps. I dropped an air probe down through my exhaust vent to about 3" off the grate and found it registered 40 degrees hotter (347 vs 307) than my other air probe in a clip on the cooking grate which sits about 3/4 off the grate and was a good 2" from the chicken legs.

I flipped the chickens after about 1-1/2 hours because my Thermapen showed that the meat temp on the bottom (back) side of the chicken was ~15+ degrees cooler than the breasts which were ~145. After flipping the whole chickens, I finished the cook. The entire cook was 2.5 hours, which was much longer than I expected. The chickens were 5.5 lb each.

Several things/questions come to mind.
-These are my first whole chickens to cook on my 26" kettle, so I'm inexperienced with whole chickens and how long they should take. Is 2.5 hours for 5.5 pounders normal?
-I had foil covering the charcoal grate to catch drippings (starting at the SnS, then edge-to-edge; fully covered). Did that affect air circulation?
-Is it normal to have much cooler air temps near the cooking grate vs 3" above it (40 degrees difference), with my setup (SnS, foil covered charcoal grate excluding the area under the SnS of course)?
-Do I have a bad air probe...I'll be checking them soon to be sure, but based on meat temps I tested with my Thermapen as the cook progressed, I don't think so.
-Did I have a bad bag of Kingsford from Walmart? Is that possible if they lit just fine?

The outcome could not have been any better. For anyone who wants to chime in...

EDIT: I had the exhaust vent on the side 180 degrees opposite of the SnS. Just trying to give as much info as possible. Outside temp was around 90.

-David

[richinlbrg]

fuzzydaddy , did you put the salt and sugar in cold, warm or hot water to prepare the brine?

[fuzzydaddy]

richinlbrg I used slightly warm water and made sure they dissolved ok before I added the chicken.

[richinlbrg]

Thank you VERY much, fuzzydaddy !

[fzxdoc]

fuzzydaddy , FWIW, in my PBC at 325 to 360 ave smoker temp 3 x 5.5 lb chickens take 1.5 hours--as a point of reference only. I know kettles cook differently than PBCs. A single chicken takes about an hour with the same setup.

Kathryn

[Spinaker]

Last night I made the best chicken I have ever made. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap any pics of the finished product. The skin was unbelievably crispy with a small hint of sweetness. I used S&G rub from Meathead but I added a little cayenne pepper and some brown sugar to the mix. I took the rub and mixed it with some olive oil to form a paste. I rubbed this under the skin and let it rest for about an hour in the fridge. I dry brined this one in the fridge with a salt/baking soda mixture for a day before the cook . That is the key to crispy skin, no question. I threw it on the PBC and let her rip at a bout 390F. And after about an hour it was all done. The finished product was crispy, moist chicken breasts. Amazing dark meat in the legs and thighs. I will defiantly be doing these more often. Thanks for your suggestions on this cook. Most notably fzxdoc and Ernest (I went into the archives get some of the info I needed)

[fzxdoc]

Well, that sounds like the perfect chicken cook, Spinaker . I got hungry just reading about it! I'm glad I could help in even a small way.

Maybe some of the SnS+Kettle folks have done this as well--getting the kettle+SnS up really high for chickens. I think Huskee mentioned that has achieved this with his kettle+SnS setup for chicken, because I recall him saying on another topic that he lets his kettle rip at 370 to 390 and gets crisp, mahogany-skinned, tender and juicy chicken all the time.

fuzzydaddy , hopefully other SnS users will give you some great tips on getting those temps up high for when you cook chicken.

Also, don't you have the 26 inch Weber kettle? I wonder if the heat profiles are all that different between a 22 inch and a 26 inch. I wouldn't imagine that to be the case. Do you happen to know?

Kathryn

[fuzzydaddy]

Yes fzxdoc, I have the 26". I do know that the 26" is roughly 40% more cooking grate area. Maybe I need to get a 22" so I can do some research...yeah, kettle research project. Anyway, by closing the intake from full open to 3/4 open I may well have choked some the the high-heat life out of the briquettes. I had my chimney completely full and slightly mounded. As I think about this, there are 3 things I may do different next time.
(1) Let the briquettes burn a bit longer in the chimney so that the top-most are well lit.
(2) Add the chicken to the grill before I add the lit charcoal to the SnS with both vents fully open.
(3) Watch the rate of temp rise and hold off on any vent adjustments unless it appears it will break 390.

EDIT: I have a hover grill I may use to place the meat higher, into hotter temps.

David

[David Parrish]

Also, don't you have the 26 inch Weber kettle? I wonder if the heat profiles are all that different between a 22 inch and a 26 inch. I wouldn't imagine that to be the case. Do you happen to know?

Kathryn

I can answer this. The 26" heats up to 225 about as fast as the 22" but overall responds more slowly getting to higher temps than 225 and also to vent adjustments in general. The 26" also won't get as hot as the 22" on the indirect side. The 22" kettle is like a highly maneuverable race car and the 26" a big rig 18 wheeler. I like using them both and it's a toss up which I'd pick if I could only have one... but if pressed I'd probably go with the 26".

[fuzzydaddy]

Thanks David Parrish. Good info to have.

[fzxdoc]

Good to know, David Parrish . Thanks!

P.S. I wish the 26 inch came in the Copper color.

[David Parrish]

Copper would be very awesome.

[PaulstheRibList]

Placed my order! #CantWait