Nice vid James! I prefer the soapstone for maintenance, wipe/scrape and put it away. As a reverse sear deflector, the soapstone can get well heatsoaked for the final sear
Nice video. I used to like some black char on the sear, then I realized a brown sear has a better and sweeter flavor and depth of flavor. Compared to black char which is bitter. I'd probably cook on steel at lower temperature, or use the soapstone.
Always love a good shootout. Great vid, keep them coming. I did very similar test a while ago and after owning the soapstone for over 3 years it's my favourite surface. However, it's heavy, its brittle, it's slow to heat, it's expensive but nothing sears like it. When I did similar to you i got similar results but later discovered that the soapstone needs to be much hotter than CI. If you get CI that hot it will burn the food but soapstone will just sear. Try smash burgers on the soapstone as well. But support it with a grate. Stick with it. I think it's worth it. Anyway, great video as usual
This was something I didn't actually cover in the video but it's a plus point of the soapstone. I just get it really hot and scrape it down so it's much easier to look after compared to cast iron that needs cleaned and re-seasoned to avoid rust.
@@Barbechooif you scrape with a wire brush, there is every chance that the chunks of the soap stone will fall off. Just burn it off close to the coals on the next cook - keep flipping sides on cooks. That’s all that’s needed.
My favourite is to cook them over the hot coal on the gill. pretty much no heat loss but you dont get as nice a crust as you would on a flat cast iron. Thanks for posting :)
Great video James! It’s great to see a British channel in the sea of US content. I just got in to barbecue and jumped from basic kettle that I got from work to big Joe 3 within 2 months and expecting it to arrive on Monday. I have done few cooks and really enjoying the process and stoked to cook on my new unit. I think I will order a cast iron girdle based on your impressions here. Was also considering cast iron grate for great searing lines but I think this is more versatile if I want to do smash burgers etc. Next Joetisserie 😅
So the soapstone has twice as long to come up to temperature and it still didn't reach the temp of the cast iron. I was going to wait but that is one negative of the soapstone so it features in the results
Nice vid James! I prefer the soapstone for maintenance, wipe/scrape and put it away. As a reverse sear deflector, the soapstone can get well heatsoaked for the final sear
Nice video. I used to like some black char on the sear, then I realized a brown sear has a better and sweeter flavor and depth of flavor. Compared to black char which is bitter. I'd probably cook on steel at lower temperature, or use the soapstone.
Always love a good shootout. Great vid, keep them coming.
I did very similar test a while ago and after owning the soapstone for over 3 years it's my favourite surface.
However, it's heavy, its brittle, it's slow to heat, it's expensive but nothing sears like it.
When I did similar to you i got similar results but later discovered that the soapstone needs to be much hotter than CI. If you get CI that hot it will burn the food but soapstone will just sear.
Try smash burgers on the soapstone as well. But support it with a grate.
Stick with it. I think it's worth it.
Anyway, great video as usual
Looks fantastic
What’s the best way of cleaning your soapstone?
This was something I didn't actually cover in the video but it's a plus point of the soapstone. I just get it really hot and scrape it down so it's much easier to look after compared to cast iron that needs cleaned and re-seasoned to avoid rust.
@@Barbechoo I have both but my soapstone has got pretty grubby, think I’ll do a clean up of them all today. Cheers for the reply.
@@Barbechooif you scrape with a wire brush, there is every chance that the chunks of the soap stone will fall off. Just burn it off close to the coals on the next cook - keep flipping sides on cooks. That’s all that’s needed.
500-600°F will get your soapstone clean and ready for your next cook. I just pop it in when I run a cleaning cycle on my KJ.
Surely if they were both the same temperature the results would be different to this?
My favourite is to cook them over the hot coal on the gill. pretty much no heat loss but you dont get as nice a crust as you would on a flat cast iron. Thanks for posting :)
I have Shack envy. The steaks both look great too.
Great video James! It’s great to see a British channel in the sea of US content.
I just got in to barbecue and jumped from basic kettle that I got from work to big Joe 3 within 2 months and expecting it to arrive on Monday. I have done few cooks and really enjoying the process and stoked to cook on my new unit. I think I will order a cast iron girdle based on your impressions here. Was also considering cast iron grate for great searing lines but I think this is more versatile if I want to do smash burgers etc.
Next Joetisserie 😅
Somewhat off topic, but do English cattle moo with an accent?
Come on!! You must cook at the same temperature to compare! This test has no value…
Surely the value is in seeing how each substrate reacts to the same fire...I get that they were 50 degrees apart, but this is just a different test
50 degrees is trivial
So the soapstone has twice as long to come up to temperature and it still didn't reach the temp of the cast iron. I was going to wait but that is one negative of the soapstone so it features in the results