Observations On The SNS Kettle

[ecowper]

Okay, I am now 4 cooks in on the SNS. I have cooked

• 3 lb Tri-Tip
• 3 lb chuck roast for chili
• 5 lb spatchcocked chicken
• 7.5 lb bone in pork butt

So far, each one has turned out well. I have not done burgers, steaks, pork chops, or ribs. Those are coming soon.

Here’s what I’ve learned. I like this cooker so much, I’m going to use it as my primary cooker for the next 6 months and see where I’m at. Things I’ve seen right off the bat:

It is easy and fast to get this cooker going. Pour some charcoal in the SNS, pour some hot water in. Add some smoking wood and a tumble weed starter. Light it. 30 minutes later, your SNS kettle is at 225, smoke rolling, and you are putting on whatever you’re cooking.

It really is that easy. Amazingly easy. It took me 20 odd cooks to learn the Hasty-Bake and 10+ to learn the WSM. Today, I’m pretty comfortable with the SNS after 4 cooks.

It seriously conserves charcoal. I have done 4 cooks, and a total of 18 hours of cooking time, and only burned about 10 lbs of a 16 lb bag of KBB. On my Hasty-Bake I would have gone through a whole bag of Fogo or 2 bags of KBB for the same cooks.

My wife and I actually really prefer the food flavors we are getting off the SNS kettle at this point. Much closer to live wood fire, honestly.

I highly recommend the SnS Kettle with the full set up (Kettle, SnS 2.0, Drip n Griddle). THis thing is pretty awesome and does 95% of what the Hasty-Bake does. It’s only drawback is the amount you can cook on it, compared to other cookers. But there’s literally nothing for that price that is going to be as good.

[RonB]

Great write-up.

[theroc]

You know that you're making it very hard to say no to this grill.....

[ecowper]

Man, I fought against getting a kettle plus SnS for years. After all, I have a Hasty-Bake. Now I have to say that I really regret not having done this sooner.

[Jfrosty27]

Geez. You’re killing me. I have a Weber performer with SNS. But you are making me want this. 🤦

[Davek8282]

I can't wait to see Panhead John do his first hot dog cook on the SNS

[Panhead John]

Hot dogs are for rookies. I’m going all out with burgers.

[ecowper]

I keep a couple packs of those pre-formed frozen burgers in the garage freezer just for my special guests .... like John

[Old Glory]

Sounds like it is treating you right!

[FireMan]

Having come from a Weber as I stated in yer first post, I discovered what you did as far as ease, efficiency & timing on my 2nd cook. I just wish I had this kettle when It first came out. You are spot on with yer write up. 👍

[Razor]

Dr. Pepper there isn’t a 26 SnS yet. I would consider one if there was.

[Dr. Pepper]

Razor So I've been told. I wrote to SNS, and they said they don't have any plans to make a 26". Sad.☹️

[TBoneJack]

I recently saw a Youtube video of a 26" Kettle using two 22" SNSs (one on each side), with a vast area of cooking space in between. Enough room to fit 10 lbs of chicken flats (wingettes), with lots of room to spare.

[rickgregory]

Kettles are just a price/performance beast, especially when you can get so many accessories for them to tailor them to your needs - rotisserie, vortex, etc. If the capacity is enough for someone, I think it's really hard to justify many other cookers aside from simple preference or curiosity.

Even if I do get the SNS, I'll keep the current weber because then I'd have two 22" kettles for occasions where I do actually want more capacity.

[Andrrr]

You probably nailed it with the "curiosity" comment. I think for most of us we start with the universal cooker (kettle) but then find little things we want to tweak and spend more money than we should on other MCS items to make those tweaks more attainable.

[LA Pork Butt]

I think most of the accumulated MCS cookers are the result of "I want to try cooking on that cooker." At least that is where my MCS comes from. Currently my MCS has been stirred by the Oklahoma Joe, but I just can’t justify it. Can someone lone me theirs for a couple of weeks?

[Bad Hat BBQ]

@ LA Pork Butt ...I had an Okie Joe for years , bought the charcoal grate from Horizon and I had a wonderful dual purpose cooker

[Andrrr]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, Eric. I know you've been a HB supporter for a long time and it's fun/interesting to see how the transition to a kettle has been not only seamless but an improvement! I'd have to think that your ability to figure this cooker out quickly has something to do with the fire management lessons you learned on your other cookers but still, I think this thing was so well thought out that anybody that has any experience in trying to regulate a temperature on a kettle would find it to be a very short learning curve. I had to retire my weber earlier this year and have been doing fine without it but if I ever got the itch to re-kettle, this would be it.

[ecowper]

You know, you kinda took the words right out of my mouth.

[ecowper]

More seriously, I think you are right. I learned fire management the hard way, on a cooker that needs a lot of learning. That almost certainly makes the SNS seem so easy. However, I think it is quite easy. I think that a newbie, who just follows Dave’s guidance on the SnS grills website will do pretty good in a short period of time. That’s impressive to me.

[FireMan]

If & when you do get the itch you’ll wish you scratched a whole lot sooner. It is NOT yer grandfather”s kettle!

[Caffeine88]

Eric,
Your write-ups on this have had me drooling. You have me thoroughly convinced that the SNS is amazing, and I really want one.

Here's my serious question - I've got two Weber kettles and I feel reasonably confident doing everything except brisket, but I think that's just practice. I've cooked a well planned (and fortuitously-timed) menu for 50 on the pair, so I feel like there's enough grate space to feed plenty. I can manage temp with my Weber ok, but I'm no master. The ThermaWorks Smoke has been real Godsend, but I haven't invested in a Fire board or fan. I might have pointed out the great sale on SnS bits and pieces a couple weeks ago to my wife (a few times), and I'm pretty sure she's ordered the SnS Deluxe, the DripnGriddle and probably the rotating grill.

Just how much better is the SNS kettle vs a Weber kettle with similar accessories? Is it really worth switching over? I can find a happy new home for one of the kettles when my son moves out of his tiny apartment and into a house in few months, so I won't have to worry about a pick up fee to get rid of one. But is it really worth it?

Thanks - I really appreciate the work you put into this and the thoughts.

[ecowper]

Caffeine88 Here’s my seriously honest opinion. Bearing in mind that I bought my daughter a 22” Weber Kettle plus SnS and Drip n Griddle …. A couple months before the SnS kettle was available.

So, my daughter has the 22” Weber Master Touch … not the level up from there. I would consider that very comparable to the SnS Kettle except for the the upscale items that SnS gives you, like the shelf and the pre-drilled holes for probes and fan. She also has the SnS Deluxe and the Drip n Griddle. Then I drilled holes for her and added grommets, so she can run probes and a fan without an issue.

I think that her set up is comparable to the SnS Kettle. Let’s say it is 95% as good. It’s missing the shelf. The top vent placement isn’t as good as the SnS. The dome thermometer isn’t as good.

Soooooo …. If I already had a good Weber, I wouldn’t replace it with the SnS. The difference isn’t enough to be worth a new gadget. I’d put the money into other stuff, like a fan/pid controller.

[Caffeine88]

Thanks - I thought that might be the case. So, I can start planning to give my son a Weber... :-)

[ecowper]

Panhead John I did some FireBoard to dome therm comparisons. Typically about 20 degree difference, with the SnS dome therm being higher than the FB. Not surprising, considering the airflow along the roof of the kettle. On my Hasty-Bake, the lid thermometer is 50 degrees colder than the FB grate therm.

[ecowper]

The thing about the SNS kettle … it isn’t wobbly. Those 4 legs make a difference. Yep Caffeine88 you should figure out the gift to the kid strategy :-)

[DavidNorcross]

Excellent write up. I can say that I am not surprised with the review. Great products through and through.

[fzxdoc]

I forsee the SnS grill going on a lot of Xmas wishlists after reading your review. I admit to being tempted, even though I have the full SnS setup on my WSCGC, which is great. I use my 22" Weber Premium kettle mostly for quick Vortex cooks. So I'll keep talking myself out of buying the SnS kettle even though I'm attracted by its intelligent design. It's good to hear that you're loving yours though.

Kathryn

[LA Pork Butt]

A new and different cooker is always tempting. I have to admit MCS has stirred, but I can cook everything I want in the four cookers I have. I can’t justify it unless I am willing to part ways with one or more of the cookers I have.

[bbqLuv]

What? No picture of the chicken?
Good Eats for sure.

[glitchy]

This is a great share, Eric! Even though I have no need for it (similar setup to fzxdoc ), I’ve looked at this grill a few times on the SnS website and various threads here. For those that don’t have a kettle and see themselves smoking on it, I don’t see any reason to get the Weber over the SnS except you can probably just go grab one somewhere within a few miles of your house and have it immediately. I think the biggest thing is that many people buy a kettle wanting to char grill steaks and a few other things, then learn how versatile it can be. Too bad more people couldn’t see your thread before they buy a kettle, but they usually stoke the fire before finding us here. Maybe you should print it out and tape it up by every kettle in ACE, Home Depot, and Lowe’s across the country

[Sid P]

I’ve really enjoyed your SNS kettle posts. You’re giving that beast quite a workout!

[ecowper]

I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype. I can firmly say that it is better than expected.