Slow n sear or pbc or plain weber kettle?

[Anthonyf]

I currently have a weber 22.5". I've cooked st. Louis ribs twice 3 times and brisket once. The ribs got progressively better although they came out chewier and tougher than I expected. The brisket was really good although the flat was slightly tough. I followed the recipes from Meathead's book.

I have a maverick et-733 thermometer and I had kept the temperature mostly between 210 and 250 for the ribs and between 212 and 275 for the brisket although it did spike to 300 once and took about 15 minutes to get back down.

I aimed for 225 for both rib and brisket cooks.

i was wondering if the ribs and the brisket flat came out a bit tougher than I expected because of the radiant heat coming from the charcoals piled to the side. I didnt have any barrier like a slow n sear.

Have y'all tried cooking with a slow n sear and without on the kettle and are the results significant?


​​​​​​Also I noticed I was babysitting the grill a lot. On those longer cooks, especially on brisket, I was hoping the temperature would settle a bit more instead of having to adjust the vents all the time.

Would a slow n sear keep a much more stable temperature than charcoal piled to one side? I had unlit charcoal in a pile then poured about half a lit chimney of charcoal on top. I used lump charcoal.

Or would having briquettes steady the temperature a lot more than lump?

Finally, I was wondering if I should get a pit barrel cooker instead because it seems to get really good results with no baby sitting.

How would y'all compare the meat results from a weber kettle slow n sear with a pbc?

I know that pbc cooks at a higher temp and I would think it would lead to tougher meat than a kettle at around 225, but I've never tried a pbc. The testimonials in the pbc have all been good and the se for slow n sear so I have no idea which would be better for me.

I would like good tasting food and minimal vent adjusting, whether it be from stable temperature on the sns or set it and forget it from pbc.

For those of you who have tried the pbc, slow n sear, and weber kettle without slow n sear, what do you make of this or recommend?

There seem to be so many good options that I'm a bit paralyzed.

[FireMan]

Welcome aboard. First off, ya got a whole lotta thinking & testin that you talked about, and that’s a lot to deal with. So, I’m not going to. In my itty bitty opinion, the PBC & Weber kettle are two different animals. I wouldn’t think of using a kettle without a SnS, period. The PBC is great for smokin. Get both, you won’t regret it. Heat wise, I don’t sit & tinker with either one of them when cookin, ya just have to learn em. Eat good & have fun.

[DWCowles]

Get the Slow n’ Sear then you will see a big difference in those ribs and briskets. Welcome to the Pit.

[phoccer]

Yeah, lots to address, I'll take a crack.

1. High heat does not mean tough meat. Many a great briskets are done at 300 or even higher.
2. The PBC does cook at higher temps but it's not your average smoker. It's a very humid cook in there. Much of the goodness of the PBC comes from the meat dripping on the hot coals.
3. You don't HAVE to get a Slow N' Sear but IMO it greatly improves ones happiness in working with a Weber kettle. It does do a great of job of allowing you to control temps better from my experience and that of many others.
4. There are air controllers you can get and connect to the Weber for getting easier temp control. I recently bought a Pitmaster IQ 110. Haven't used it much but some people swear by it. There are many other options besides the IQ 110.

I have a Weber 22 with an SnS. The Weber with the SnS is an amazing cooking setup. You can do burgers, steaks, or smoke brisket, butts, etc. It's a multipurpose machine. If you just want one device to do it all, that's your setup IMO.

I ended up getting a PBC because I wanted the ability to take on higher capacity cooks when I want and I like to tinker.

[Spinaker]

Yup!

[kmhfive]

What he said! Love the difference the SnS made!

[Butchman]

If your goal is to have just one cooker then the kettle with the slow and sear does it all. If you want to cook more than 2 racks of ribs and you can swing owning 2 cookers then I'd recommend a PBC as a great companion to your kettle.

[HawkerXP]

Agree.

[hoovarmin]

Anthonyf, you are in a great place - about to have a breakthrough. So, don't get discouraged because all these things are going to become clearer really soon. In my opinion, it is easier to maintain stable temps with the SNS in the Kettle. I really can't tell you why in a scientific way, but it does. I did a brisket this weekend and left home to go to the harware store, shop for groceries, and played with the kids without even looking at the thermometer. There are other variables that we need to know, like what do you mean by "brisket?" Was it a whole packer, or a flat? What grade was the brisket? Did you wrap it, and at what point in the cook? Did you put it in a Cambro and for how long? Trust me, if I can do this, ANYONE can do it. I hope you will master your kettle before buying another cooker, but that's just me.

[Huskee]

Welcome to The Pit! I can't add much to the above, other than chewy ribs are undercooked, NOT overcooked or overheated. Use Meathead's bend test as he outlines in his Last Meal Ribs article. If you're using thick baby backs (3lbs/rack+) then the bend test might not work so well due to all the extra loin meat on them. But it works great for thinner BBS and St Louis. You're not looking for a tiny crack, you want a good crack when it's almost ready to split in two- those will be good & tender.

[SoCalTim]

Here’s my input. I currently have six smokers. Weber 26 / a Lg BGE and a PBC to name a few. They are all excellent at some things and not so excellent at at others.

A PBC cannot sear like a BGE or a Weber, yet when it comes to ribs .. neither can compare to the PBC. Ribs made on a PBE are magical.

Want a very long low n’ slow? A BGE can get the job done, in fact, i can go about 24 hrs on a single load of lump without ever opening the dome.

IMO, your next pit should be a PBC, as much as I love all my pits, the PBC is a good all around cooker and will give consistently awesome cooks - NOW! Tim

[Anthonyf]

Thanks for all of your responses.

The brisket was prime from costco, full packer, 10.5 lb before trimming all the fat off except about 1/8". Cooked it until it stalled at 153 for about 30 minutes, so I wrapped it until it hit 203. Put it in a faux cambro for 4.5 hours. Put it on the indirect side at 225 for 30 mins to firm up the bark. Flipped of at 15 mins.

[Huskee]

Thanks for all of your responses.

The brisket was prime from costco, full packer, 10.5 lb before trimming all the fat off except about 1/8". Cooked it until it stalled at 153 for about 30 minutes, so I wrapped it until it hit 203. Put it in a faux cambro for 4.5 hours. Put it on the indirect side at 225 for 30 mins to firm up the bark. Flipped of at 15 mins.

Flats are always going to be drier and chewier than the point. And sometimes even a good brisket is tougher than you expect, it's the animals muscles so it's of course dependent of its genes and the exercise it got, etc etc etc. You win some you lose some, happens to us all.

[Troutman]

I was thinking the exact same thing. Those packers that small from Costco tend to have a very thin flat. You either have to cut it back to obtain some "meat" or the entire end comes out dry as shoe leather (take it from direct experience!). I suggest getting a 14# or larger then begin to trim. Just a suggestion.

[Anthonyf]

Thank you, I had some crack in the ribs when doing the bend test, but next time I think I'll wait longer for a bigger crack. I didn't know chewier ribs meant undercooked. The St Louis ribs were about 3 lbs each.

[Huskee]

That's a perfect size for StL if you ask me. Yep, my advice is just go a little longer next time. If you're doing 2 racks, try one but leave the other on another 30-60 minutes and see how you prefer it compared to how they crack.

[jlhilden]

For the bend test, if your ribs have a good bark, do not mistake the bark breaking for the meat tearing.

[phoccer]

Great tip jlhilden. I think I've always focused too much on the break in the bark.

[RonB]

Lots of good stuff here. Like Huskee, there's not much I can add, BUT I have been using a Weber kettle for many years, and the biggest improvement to my use of the kettle has come from two things:

1- Joining The Pit.
2- Buying a Slow N Sear.

You've already got the kettle, so the cheapest way to go is to get the SnS. If you don't like the temp swings, you can either get a PBC or a temp controller.

I also suggest reading the articles on the free side for both brisket and ribs. Please remember that tenderness indicates doneness - not temp. You want a probe to go into the meat "like a knife in warm butter".

[Spinaker]

Tons of a great advise above. I have othing to add. Let us know what you end up with in the end. I have a feeling it might be both.

[kmhfive]

Welcome to fun and learning!

[Nate]

Welcome from Indiana.

If I've said it once I've said it a 100 times. The PBC and a kettle with SnS should not be considered exclusive of each other or a "this or that" type purchase.

The two compliment each other extremely well. They both have their advantages and disadvantages that the other seems to offset respectively.

If if you already have a 22 then grabbing the SnS makes the most sense to me initially but with that being said go ahead and plan on getting a PBC in the near future as well.