The SnSK adventure continues ...

[58limited]

WillieMac A large brisket, did not wrap. It had a very long stall.

[WillieMac]

58limited, walmart.com has the hickory B&B. I'm now a believer. Took my time with the warm-up. My short ribs cooked for six hours in the SnSK's SnS, held a steady 230ish while leaving maybe a quarter of it unburned, and way less ash than briquettes would have produced. Will try it Kamado-style next. I'll keep using Kingsford Pro for the shorter cooks but for ribs, etc., this is the stuff. Thanks! Btw ... what did you cook for 20 hours?

[58limited]

I use B&B and the local Latin grocery has a couple of brands from Mexico that work well. The main thing for low and slow is start the fire, leave the lid up about 10 minutes then close. When the temp is 100 degrees below your target close the vents to the desired setting. This takes practice but will work for you once you get the hang of it. Watch the SnS youtube channel, that is what I did to fine tune my technique.

[WillieMac]

58limited Maybe a bit more but pretty much about 40 briquettes. I clearly need to use more, let it start to get big and dial it back early enough to hit the marks. I used a boatload on both pizza cooks and got it up to 800 and have had great results with the SnS - amazing how long it holds temps. Just have to play with it some more for the one-ish hour cooks. And I'll be ordering some lump. What do you use?

[58limited]

WillieMac Did you only use half a chimney of charcoal total? I fill the fire ring up (or KickAsh basket in my case) and either dump live coals on top or use a wood wool fire starter (or two). I never have a problem getting to a high temperature. Often I have to be careful about overshooting low and slow temps, even when using the SnS insert.

For low and slow I'll start the fire with one fire starter. For a hotter cook I'll use two or three spread out in the charcoal bed. Kamados really are designed to use a full fire ring, temperature is regulated with the vents. I've had a basket of lump charcoal last 20 hours at 250^o before.

I've used briquets before but lump really gives me better performance with less ash.

[WillieMac]

Still learning how to build a mid-temp SnSK fire for a traditional cook with the heat deflection plate in place. Didn't use lump because I haven't gotten around to ordering the B&B or something that's not full of dust and small pieces - so, lit up a bit more than a half-chimney of the Kingsford Professional, using 2 firestarters. Even with both vents wide open, it took a good half-hour to get to 350. Then, after I put in the chicken pieces, it struggled to get to 335. (Warm day - around 80.) Dunno if I need more coal and/or am just being a bit impatient. That said, everything was done in 55 minutes - pulled the breasts at 155 and everything else at 172. The fire wasn't hot enough to crisp anything. But it was some of the juiciest, tastiest chicken I've ever had - and the best I've ever cooked. Simple seasoning: 24-hour dry brine, and Memphis Dust just ahead of the cook.

[jfmorris]

Looks good! I've got a plate of ribs in the freezer that I will need to thaw and do soon...

I wish I could get my cooking grates looking that nice again, along with that felt gasket...

[RonB]

They look good to me.

[rlozinak]

They look great

[WillieMac]

Tried my hand at beef short ribs on the SnSK Saturday. These were from Wegman's and cut much shorter than I'd like, but fine for the first go-round. The biggest ribs were 1.75" thick. Dry-brined for 24 hrs, started fire in the corner of the SnS and seasoned with Big Bad Beef Rub while the coals did their thing. Once ready, I filled up the SnS - tossed in a few apple wood chips - and at 234, put on the meat. Spritzed a few times at the 2, 4 and 5-hr marks with Malcolm Reed's Mojo Mop (16 oz beef broth, 1 tbs ea of dill pickle juice [why not?], soy sauce and Worcestershire Sauce. It took 5 hours to get to the low 90s. Wrapped them individually with butcher paper - just experimenting. This seemed to slow things down a bit - they weren't done until the 6:15 mark - but the results were moist and delish. (Maybe a full rack would have maintained more heat and cooked faster after wrapping?) Anyway, the wrapped ribs went straight into a small faux cambro for an hour. I want to tell you ... these ribs were tender! A successful cook that taught me some things. I'll go bigger next time.