Bail Spacers on new Original Kettle

[Smoker_Boy]

A bunch of fender washers would work, or add a short pipe nipple and 2 washers.
Sold at any big box store.

[michaelnel]

Further experimentation shows me that removing the lid and parking it almost always results in the edge of the lid being on the bail rather than the spacer. So it sits cocked. I may be onto a solution though.

I found a set of three of these birch wood spools. They are 3.1" long, and the bent part of the bail is about 3.25", so they fit and cover most of the needed area. I will monitor during a cook today, but I don't think the bail gets hot. We'll see.

[michaelnel]

Did a cook this morning (spatchcock chicken), and checked temps where the lid / bail stuff goes on. The bail itself is cool enough I can hold it with my fingers for 10 seconds even though the cooker was running at 325F.

Right where the bail enters the washer and then through into the kettle, it measured about 120F. I think the wood rollers are going to be fine, and I can always add an insulating washer by the wall of the cooker if needed.

BTW, the chicken LOOKS terrible, but very smoky, tender, juicy with crisp skin, so I call that a success. Especially for my first time doing it. You can see the finish temps, and I had taters and onions in the drip pan. They are delish cooked in those drippings but way underdone, so will finish them on the stove. Last, asparagus spears in olive oil and salt charred over the hot side (no pic of those).

The probes are #1 ambient, #2 white meat, #3 dark meat.

Overall, very pleased. Temp stability of this cooker is excellent.

[michaelnel]

The wooden spools arrived and I installed them. This is just as they came out of the package, completely unfinished. Just a fit and function check.

They work perfectly. I can park the lid repeatedly with my eyes closed (simulating smoke billowing out of the lifted lid) EVERY SINGLE TIME... which is a big improvement over getting it wrong over half the time.

SnS has expressed some interest about solving this... they already asked me if I would rather have longer spacers or shorter ones with springs. That indicates to me they are listening and understand the issue.

I can make do with my wooden ones if they don't come up with a production fix.

[Smoker_Boy]

^ Very cool!!

[jfmorris]

Well, I am glad after the initial "it's as designed" response from SNS that they are now considering a solution. I can see a spring working as it would keep the spacer pushed out to the end of the bail, but I think that looks goofier than just having a longer spacer as it originally had.

I just checked, and my Weber kettle (Performer Deluxe made in 2007) has long spacers that cover the entire length of the bail from the bend to the body of the kettle, pretty much like your wooden spool.

[michaelnel]

After weeks of not responding to me, SnS has told me they won't be coming out with spacers / rests of the proper length. They offered me springs to kind of make the too short spacers work. I declined. Disappointed SNS would release this thing with such a glaring flaw

I should have bought Weber. From now on I will.

[Smoker_Boy]

That is pretty lame of SnS to do.

Piss-poor engineering at it's finest.

I notice they aren't here defending themselves.

[jfmorris]

michaelnel Well, I don't like to hear this.

I was a little bummed when I reached out to SNSGrills recently, and found that they no longer sell a grill cover for my 2021 SNS Deluxe Kamado "Gen 1" - a grill that was $1799 just 4 years ago. They revised it to a "Gen 2" kamado a couple of years ago, and the new grill covers are not a good fit on the old grills. I needed a new cover, and their own website says the Gen2 cover does not fit Gen1 grills. I reached out to customer service, and was told my only option was the one for the Gen2 grill. So I ordered it, but it's a big sloppy fit on the body, and a tight fit on the chimney area, and looks like crud compared to the original deteriorated cover. If the top vent did not leak rain water from time to time, I would just not cover it at all.

I also inquired to see if the rain proof top vent on the newer Gen2 could fit my older Gen1 kamado, and was told no. The fact that they orphaned expensive kamado grills in regards to accessories so quickly is a little frustrating.

Sometimes I think things can move so fast or a business can grow so quickly that customer service can begin to suffer.

I still think the SNS insert is the best invention for Weber kettles ever, but I am bummed a little with the lower level of customer service I feel we are seeing out of SNSGrills now, versus 5 years ago. 5 years ago they published their phone number on the web and in the manual for the grills, and you could call and someone would answer, or call you back, even on weekends I think. Now its email only, and it takes 1-2 days to get a response.

Oh well. I still love my SNS, and use it routinely in my kettle, and I love my kamado. Just wish I could have gotten a properly fitting replacement cover for it, or have an option for a rain proof top vent.

I hate they left this somewhat unresolved with these improperly fitting bail spacers... I can see how the springs work, but they are only needed because they made the plastic spacer too short.

[Spinaker]

I would look at stuff for the Kong kamado. That is all the SNS kamado really is anyway. It is just a Kong Kamado (or very similar, cause it SURE looks like it) that is made private label. It's not like they came up with a new body or anything. If SNS won't outfit you, maybe Kong or Vision can.

And if you are looking for a rain proof cap, check out Ceramic Grill Store. I have caps from them for all my Kamados. They are SS and are still like new after 7-8 years.

[jfmorris]

Spinaker I’ve chased all the leads in replacement top vents and rain caps. While it looks a lot like the Vision top vent, the Gen1 SNS Kamado vent is an inch or so bigger. I’ve not found anything that will fit.

One day I may have to just fabricate a rain cap that somehow attaches using the center screw and nut.

[michaelnel]

SnS seems quick to dismiss their customers' concerns. I'm done with them.

The Home & Roam (how do they come up with these dumb names?) is poorly finished and lightly constructed, leaks smoke like a sieve, and comes with a SnS insert that is designed for the smaller Weber Smokey Joe... they were to cheap to make the somewhat larger one for the H&R so they just include the one for the Weber.

[Oak Smoke]

If you have incredible patience I will make you a pair when my new shop is set up. I can machine and polish an aluminum pair that will look fine. With all this moving and now realizing that the new shop is going to have to be wired for 220 volt it could easily be spring.

[michaelnel]

Thank you Oak Smoke. The wooden spools work fine, but they are not hard enough to stand up to the sharp edge of the kettle lid for long.

[Spinaker]

Sorry to read about your troubles. TBH, I never understood why people bought their kamado or kettle. Their kamado is just a Vision or Kong Kamado that has been rebranded with "SNS" on it. Their kettle is a bit different, but the classic Weber just looks better. (And it sounds like built better) You can always throw the SNS insert in a Weber anyway. (I haven't used mine in years, not even sure where it is. I just bank the coals or use the snake method when I am smoking on my kettle.)

[jfmorris]

Spinaker The SNS Kamado is really its own beast at 22” inside diameter, about 24 outside, in order to use the 22” kettle cooking grates and SNS insert and such.

It is really not the same at Vision (most are 18”) or Kong (20”). I don’t think anyone else makes a 22” kamado. BGE skips from 18 to 24 I think.

[Andrrr]

Man this has really been a bummer to read through, both through your experience and the H&R kettle. The oversight on the spacer length sure smells fishy, like a total R&D oversight which doesn’t seem on par with their other products, or a supplier/rev change batch issue? Who knows, I’m an armchair quarterback.
On another note I’d been wanting to get that travel kettle for years but $159 for a “every so often” grill, I put it on the back burner. My thought on the name change is a marketing one, where if you change the idea behind the purpose of the grill from “travel” to “home and roam”, it further justifies the extra cost or value because it’s not just something you walk around with, but its quality enough to be used as an everyday grill. Recently I noticed the price stayed the same but it now included the basket, which seemed odd given that EVERYTHING has become exponentially more expensive over the last 5 years (or every day😫). I suspected this change happened at the expense of quality and you seem to confirm that. Honestly, everything going “black” raised that supply chain cost reduction red flag… the old “result disguised as a feature” routine.

After 2/3 of a baseball tailgating season under my belt I was really ready to pull the trigger but your review made me take a step back and realize that all I’ll be doing is hot and fast brats and burgers where a tailgate/travel grill such as the 18” jumbo joe or the old Go Anywhere, which will do just fine at not-quite half the price. Saves me $70.
For the record, I don’t want it to be this way or to come to these conclusions, but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.,,