So after I posted pictures of my shiny new SnS Travel Kettle several members urged me to get the darn thing dirty. So I set out to do just that this past weekend. As I posted in the SUWYC thread, I grilled some salmon, then turned around to see how the grill handled low & slow. After all it is a Slow-n-Sear so I wanted to try both extremes.
Initial Thoughts
Initial Thoughts
- Overall build quality is pretty good. My unit had some defects on the outside of the bottom bowl, but I contacted SnS Grills and they basically said don't worry about it, they would note it in case something happened.
- The SnS insert that comes with the grill and the optional mini drip pan which I opted to get, do not fit quite as good as their bigger siblings. During my low & slow cook I got a fair amount of liquid dripping into the bottom bowl and into the ash pan. This was because the drip pan is just not big enough to adequately catch all the drips from the indirect cooking area.
- I have a lot to learn. I should have taken the time to do a test run and learn how the grill runs. Instead I figured I have multiple cookers, I'm good to go. Nope. In my initial cook with salmon I used too much charcoal (and failed to trust my intuition for how to cook it) and charred the salmon. For the low & slow cook, I was chasing the temp all day. It would seem like it settled in, but then the temp would either jump up, or take a big dip, both of which had me going outside to tweak the vent settings.
- It is very efficient in low & slow mode. In this area it is at least equal to it's big brother, if not better. I ran grill for over 5.5 hours (using Jealous Devil lump charcoal) and still had a little less than half a basket left in the grill after I snuffed it out! I suspect I could have went a solid 8+ hours!
- There is no water reservoir in the small SnS charcoal basket. SnS recommends using a foil loaf pan filled with water over the coals. I didn't have one so I used a small cast iron skillet filled with water.
- The size of the grill is great. At 18" you can get a decent amount of food on this grill and it is still small enough to lug many places. Make no mistake, this grill is not small and it is not light. But said you can move it around fairly easily. If you are going any distance on foot, I would put it in a wagon.
- Price. For what you get I think it is a good value. This grill has a lot of great features. Baby Back Maniac has a nice YouTube video comparing the features of the SnS Travel Kettle to his Weber Jumbo Joe. Things like the probe port, smoke hole (temp controller port), heat shield and cool touch vent handles show thought was put into the design of this grill.
- The lid bail doubles as lid lock when transporting the grill.
- As you can see in the pictures below the grill lid does not sit in one position. It shifts from side to side when in the up position in the lid bail. This may be seen as a benefit as you can shift it from one side to the other as a wind block. I would prefer it sat straight back and then I could turn the grill to defeat the wind if necessary.
- The long bottom handle that serves to adjust the lower vent and to activate the ash sweep does not lock into place and it is slightly flimsy. I'll likely rig something up to keep it tight. I have not figured out a way to mark the vent positions so I don't have to look at the bottom vent.
- My grill thermometer is off by 25-30 degrees. This is fairly common for grill thermometers, if you want to travel light and leave your digital thermometer home, you will need to figure out the variance of yours, or replace it with a Tel-Tru thermometer.
- The size of drip pan as mentioned above, although this is an option, I thought I would still list it.
- Me. I need to cook more on this grill before coming to a final verdict. In retrospect, I should have done (and will do) a test run as mentioned above. This would have allowed me to try using the smoke hole to regulate the low & slow cook, rather than relying solely on the lower vents. I could have also figured out how much charcoal I need for a hot & fast cook. I should have probably used briquettes rather than lump charcoal.
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