Slow ‘N Sear is a Match Made in Heaven for Kettle Grills
The Slow N Sear eliminates the difficulty of using a kettle grill as a smoker – making it the most versatile investment in transforming your everyday kettle grill into a lean-mean-smoking-machine.
It seems like an odd combination of opposites to call a device slow, as in low and slow cooking, and sear, as in blazing hot lava surface type temps. How do they fit together? Well, we know how effective a kettle cooker is, and how versatile. This device really expands on that last item, making the kettle even more versatile.
There are a lot of techniques that offer similar results. Like the snake method; effective and fun to watch. But its like setting up dominoes for a cascading fall, lots of painstaking work to do it right. This device makes it all easy to accomplish with minimal fuss and effort. Let’s explore some of what it does and why it works.
Quality
These units are not especially huge. And yet they use over seven pounds of heavy gauge stainless steel that is riveted together. Sturdy and heavy duty are definitely the descriptions that come to mind. Apparently, the manufacturer agrees since they offer a ten-year rust through warranty. In many climates, that is a big deal. The high heat slowly degrades the steel, and in damp environments that lets rust gain a foothold on the metal. Now you don’t have to worry about that.
The design is both straightforward and effective. With the venting at the bottom and the shapes of charcoal that allow airflow, you get good consistent burns, slow or fast. Those same vents are more than accommodating to let the ashes fall through so that by the end of the process you basically have an empty and clean unit, perhaps needing just a tap or two to dump the last of it.
Indirect Heat
To smoke slowly and create great barbecue style food, your kettle starts out okay, but this device makes it really good. First off, the Slow N Sear holds enough charcoal for a slow 8 hour burn time if you manage your air flow properly. Mix a few chunks in with the charcoal and you are talking super flavorful classic smoked cooking.
There is also some science that comes in to play when you are cooking barbecue. Moisture. Smoke, and the flavors it carries, adhere very well to moisture. So, if you keep your cooking environment moist you will get more flavor from the smoking process. Heat dries out the air. This unit has a reservoir that will hold a quart of water adjacent to the coals so that it will turn to vapor in the chamber. Voila, moisture in your cook. You get an additional bonus of heat stabilizing. Water holds heat very well, having a heated reservoir maintains a more constant temperature while you cook.
Direct Heat
To help with the sear in Slow N Sear, the unit keeps the charcoal contained enough to direct the heat straight up giving you a surface of the sun temperatures for searing. Expert advice always says get as high a temperature as you can to effectively sear a steak. Flame on. This device will enhance your set up for that.
You can get a great hot side with a kettle barbecue. The problem is that it takes a healthy amount of charcoal kind of banked to one side to generate enough heat at the surface for your searing needs. The high sides help contain the heat and still gives you at least a third of your grill area for searing. If you need more, than you can just lay a carpet of coals for a full searing surface. But for a handful of steaks, using the classic two minutes per side for two-inch-thick steak to be medium rare, you will get a great seared crust and char-grilled flavors. You’ll be a grilling pro in no time.
Slow N Sear delivers
We’ve all seen products that proclaim all the great things they can do. In this case, we have found them to be true. Truth in advertising; they named it Slow ‘N Sear. It improves your ability to cook low and slow, even creating a superior cooking environment for real barbecue results. It may do even better on the searing side, creating a fury of flames that delivers well crusted, properly seared steaks and chops, that will rival anything a commercial kitchen can produce. Team the Slow ‘N Sear + Kettle Grill + Fireboard 2 Smart Thermometer for the ultimate backyard smoking machine that can handle any grilling task you through at it.
