Which low and slow method do you prefer? Snake or a Bro N' Sear / Slow N' Sear? The more I think about this cook and what I did wrong the more I think I'm on team Bro N' Sear.
So you've never used a Slow N' Sear, but you're on team Bro N' Sear? Are you sure? 1/2 the cooking surface is unusable for slow smoking. The SNS is only 1/3 of the grill surface (with a water pan) and goes all the way up to the grate, so you have a much bigger cook area. It's stable with it's temperature and once you get the coals lit if you close the bottom vents and leave the top all the way open it stabilizes around 225f for roughly 6-8 hours with a full basket of lump charcoal (as long as you leave the lid closed). About the time you are ready to wrap you'll need to add more coals and then open the bottom a bit to get it rocking around 275f to push through the stall. I originally cut a piece of plate steel from Home Depot with an angle grinder to separate the coals into a hot zone and added a foil pan to serve as a water pan. I'm glad I bought the SNS as once I did a few test runs (smoking chicken) I was able to dial in how to get what temperatures and now I smoke everything from brisket and ribs to picnic shoulders with crispy skin. Hell I even reverse sear ribeyes over a ripping hot fire for the maillard reaction then put the steaks back in the fridge (stops the cooking process) and close the lid to get the fire to die down low so I can smoke them with hickory to medium rare. Not sure the BNS has the same versatility, it feels similar to what I was doing with the plate steel/foil pan. Not a bad way to turn your kettle grill into a smoker, but the SNS is leagues better IMHO
I agree with you that the sns is probably way ahead of the bns. The main point of the bns is it's only 25$. I've been doing the snake method since before time began and that's free. I think that the bns has opened my eyes to a different way to do it. And maybe I can convince the Mrs that I do "need" a 80$ sns lol 😂😄 Edit: she just agreed that with your comment we should review and compare the sns with the bns....so ty 😂😆
@@ClumsyDogAcres Getting the wife in on this is the true W, well done! Thanks for the vid, I'm not gonna buy the sns but I'm a lot more interested in the bns now.
Nice job of explaining the subtle differences, once you get comfortable with it, it'll be no problem. Also, one other thought on fire control and either the Bro N Sear or slow and sear, if you add a bit more depth to the coals, you can go longer without the back and forth. Obviously not too much more as temp control (keeping it low enough) becomes another issue.
I can't believe I didn't think of going deeper with the coals. Some times things that are obvious escape me lol thank you for the tip. I do think it will get easier just need to do it more.
😂 you scared me when you said your target temp after putting the probe in the brisket was 250, then when I heard cook temp I let out a sigh of relief 😂
Thank you, I've had some time to get a few cooks under my belt and taking the advice from @skewbertoescobaresq2327 if I keep my bottom vents all the way shut and top all the way open, then usually it will sit around 225 with very little fiddling on my part. As he pointed out the bro n sear does take up more room and limits the cooking chamber but I think i might be able to shrink its size down a bit with maybe some foil to give myself some more room. Stay tuned and once I've nailed it down I'll be sure to share.
I haven't, and honestly I haven't even considered it but thinking about it I don't see why that wouldn't also help stabilize the temperature a little more
Which low and slow method do you prefer? Snake or a Bro N' Sear / Slow N' Sear? The more I think about this cook and what I did wrong the more I think I'm on team Bro N' Sear.
So you've never used a Slow N' Sear, but you're on team Bro N' Sear? Are you sure? 1/2 the cooking surface is unusable for slow smoking.
The SNS is only 1/3 of the grill surface (with a water pan) and goes all the way up to the grate, so you have a much bigger cook area. It's stable with it's temperature and once you get the coals lit if you close the bottom vents and leave the top all the way open it stabilizes around 225f for roughly 6-8 hours with a full basket of lump charcoal (as long as you leave the lid closed). About the time you are ready to wrap you'll need to add more coals and then open the bottom a bit to get it rocking around 275f to push through the stall.
I originally cut a piece of plate steel from Home Depot with an angle grinder to separate the coals into a hot zone and added a foil pan to serve as a water pan. I'm glad I bought the SNS as once I did a few test runs (smoking chicken) I was able to dial in how to get what temperatures and now I smoke everything from brisket and ribs to picnic shoulders with crispy skin. Hell I even reverse sear ribeyes over a ripping hot fire for the maillard reaction then put the steaks back in the fridge (stops the cooking process) and close the lid to get the fire to die down low so I can smoke them with hickory to medium rare. Not sure the BNS has the same versatility, it feels similar to what I was doing with the plate steel/foil pan. Not a bad way to turn your kettle grill into a smoker, but the SNS is leagues better IMHO
I agree with you that the sns is probably way ahead of the bns. The main point of the bns is it's only 25$. I've been doing the snake method since before time began and that's free. I think that the bns has opened my eyes to a different way to do it. And maybe I can convince the Mrs that I do "need" a 80$ sns lol 😂😄
Edit: she just agreed that with your comment we should review and compare the sns with the bns....so ty 😂😆
@@ClumsyDogAcres Getting the wife in on this is the true W, well done! Thanks for the vid, I'm not gonna buy the sns but I'm a lot more interested in the bns now.
Nice honest video.. I like the snake method and don't get a brisket larger than 12 lbs. I have never had an issue with adding charcoal. Good job!
Sweet lookin brisket Bro!
Thanks bro! Appreciate it! 👍
Nice job of explaining the subtle differences, once you get comfortable with it, it'll be no problem. Also, one other thought on fire control and either the Bro N Sear or slow and sear, if you add a bit more depth to the coals, you can go longer without the back and forth. Obviously not too much more as temp control (keeping it low enough) becomes another issue.
I can't believe I didn't think of going deeper with the coals. Some times things that are obvious escape me lol thank you for the tip. I do think it will get easier just need to do it more.
😂 you scared me when you said your target temp after putting the probe in the brisket was 250, then when I heard cook temp I let out a sigh of relief 😂
Lol oh yeah that would have been a bit too done 😆😂
Did a great job explaining. Hopefully you revisit.
Thank you, I've had some time to get a few cooks under my belt and taking the advice from @skewbertoescobaresq2327 if I keep my bottom vents all the way shut and top all the way open, then usually it will sit around 225 with very little fiddling on my part. As he pointed out the bro n sear does take up more room and limits the cooking chamber but I think i might be able to shrink its size down a bit with maybe some foil to give myself some more room. Stay tuned and once I've nailed it down I'll be sure to share.
That brisket looks damned good!
It was outstanding!
Have you tried using fire bricks instead?
I haven't, and honestly I haven't even considered it but thinking about it I don't see why that wouldn't also help stabilize the temperature a little more
90% of the video is the guy.
Yep, I know its rookie numbers and next time we'll bump it up to be 95% to 98% Good call out, thanks.