(Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center) + (SnS Lo-Profile) = Good Eats

[fzxdoc]

Yesterday I broke out my brand spanking new SnS Low Profile designed especially for the WSCGC by reverse searing two ribeyes using Dave Parrish's ( David Parrish ) cold grate method. Manohman is that setup sweet for searing off steaks! I had wanted to try Dave's cold grate method for reverse seared steaks ever since I saw the video he posted here on The Pit. But I was having trouble getting an even sear on the Summit Charcoal.

I love smoking and grilling on that Weber Summit Charcoal Grill. It's a lot of fun and by and large does a great job. Along with my Weber Summit gasser and my PBC, I thought I had just about the right stuff for my BBQ needs.

That said, I've never been happy with my reverse-seared steaks and chops on the WSCGC. I used to pile up coals on one side of the upper level charcoal grate and fire them up to Warp 10 with my BBQ Dragon when the time came to sear. Because the coals were in a pile (not level) there was a falloff in heat profile. I just wasn't happy with the non-uniform searing results.

So then I tried I filling up the two charcoal baskets that came with the WSCGC and searing with Warp 10 hot charcoal in them. Again, the results were not so good. The shape was odd for searing more than one steak at a time and still have even heat distribution.

Now I'm an official member of the Happy Searing Club thanks to the SnS, because my steaks yesterday were absofrigginlutely perfect. Not a grill mark on them, just a good even sear on each side and a nice bit of seared crunch with every bite.







I plan on putting the SnS through more paces with my WSCGC, because I'm interested in answering what the SnS brings to the table for a kamado/kettle. So far so good, because I now have a great go-to setup for reverse searing steaks and chops.


Kathryn

[Thunder77]

Woohoo! Looks beautiful Kathryn!

[Craigar]

That looks fantastic! Thanks Kathryn for sharing! I am curious with this new SnS as well and how it will compare to the divide and conquer systems of other kamados.

[JeffJ]

Great looking steaks, Kathryn.

[RonB]

A great job on the steaks Kathryn.

[Steve B]

Yummy. You just can't beat a good ribeye.

[DWCowles]

Beautiful!

[Spinaker]

Looks great. Can you show us some more pictures of the SNS sitting in the WSCG? Thanks!

[fzxdoc]

Thank you, everyone, for the positive responses on my WSCGC+SnS cook. I had so much fun doing it.

Spinaker , here are a couple more shots. Hope they're what you're looking for. You can also see the foil-covered DnG pan under the steaks basking on the cool side and of course it's really visible when the steaks are first starting their sear session in the second photo.

I did not have to use my BBQ Dragon at all. Those coals were ripping hot, poured from the chimney just before starting the sear.

I had painted the steaks with beef love and sprinkled fresh ground black pepper on them. In the video, Dave uses olive oil instead of beef love. Otherwise, I followed all of the steps in the video.

I used Kingsford Competition. Next time I'll start with KBB, since the Competition barely made it to the point where I needed to pull the steaks and pour the chimney full of coals prior to searing. That is, the WSCGC temp was dropping pretty quickly (down to 190°F) by the time the meat reached 115°F, 50 minutes from the start of the cook.

[Spinaker]

That works! Thanks. I have never seen an SNS in the WSCG. I think this is going sell well.

[Thunder77]

Good idea to start with the KBB. That Kingsford Competition burns HOT, but it burns up quickly! The KC is great for searing. 😎

[jgg85234]

Those look great. I tried Dave's cold grate technique on some 1.5" top sirloins last week, and they looked remarkable. Was going to do it again to take some photos, but hadn't gotten to do it yet.

I had mastered reverse searing on the Kamado Joe (one grate high (with deflector low) and one grate low. That won't let me turn the grates though. So, I'll have to turn the whole Divide and Conquer Assembly, or just keep doing the steaks on the Kettle/SnS.

Best regards,
Jim

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for the info, jgg85234 . The grate on the WSCGC spins so nicely when doing that cold grate method. Almost like it was built for it.

Sounds like you've got a good combo there, with the Kamado Joe and a Kettle+SnS. You can do just about anything with those .

Kathryn

[Craigar]

Okay, I'm starting to see the method to the madness of having a SnS for the WSCGC.

[kmhfive]

That looks fantastic. Thanks for the pictures and the details. Now I'm starting to think my two cookers aren't enough. Maybe start with the low profile SnS, then convince SWMBO that I need a WSCG…. Hmmmmm

[fzxdoc]

Sounds like a plan...

[jgg85234]

I've seen you do it, and others do it. What I haven't seen is any explanation. Why the smaller grate under the steaks when you're baking them (low temperature time)?

Jim

[wbzipf]

fzxdoc thanks for the review. I will be patiently awaiting other cooks you will use the WSCG + SnS. I am really curious about this tool on the WSCG and the benefits it brings. Do you think you will try and smoke something using the SnS? I would love to hear if there are benefits that you find the SnS provides over the stock WSCG setup for smoking.

[fzxdoc]

I've seen you do it, and others do it. What I haven't seen is any explanation. Why the smaller grate under the steaks when you're baking them (low temperature time)?

Jim

Jim, I never used that wire rack on the grill until this cook. I saw Dave use it in his video and thought "what a good idea!". It's the same rack that the steaks were dry brined and refrigerated, uncovered, overnight on, and it also makes an easy steak transport vehicle to/from the kettle. When the steaks reach the low temp target, it's great just to pick up that rack, head to the kitchen, pat the steaks dry, add beef love or oil and sprinkle on cracked pepper then transport them back to the grill where they're finally lifted off the rack and put over the SnS searing machine. I really liked the convenience.

fzxdoc thanks for the review. I will be patiently awaiting other cooks you will use the WSCG + SnS. I am really curious about this tool on the WSCG and the benefits it brings. Do you think you will try and smoke something using the SnS? I would love to hear if there are benefits that you find the SnS provides over the stock WSCG setup for smoking.

I will absolutely smoke some meats using the SnS addition to my WSCGC, wbzipf . Like you, I'm very curious to see how the smokes compare with the SnS vs. using the kamado portion of the Weber. One benefit I can see is for smaller cooks--less to clean up. But I will be looking closely at taste, appearance and texture to see how the SnS stacks up against the WSCGC. I'm actually looking forward to the testing. Can't wait to get going on it.

Kathryn

[Craigar]

If your testing is half as good as it was for the PBC, we will all be in for a treat!