Almost twin Chuckies

[Big Dawg]

I'm still playing around with the Slow 'n Sear, trying to find the best use for it in my arsenal of tools for my Weber 26.57, Big Kahuna. 

This week's experiment is beef chuck roasts.  I picked up two 4 lb. chuck roasts and rubbed one with the rub I typically use on briskets and the other with Big Dick's Steak It!  Of course, they spent the night in the fridge.

Saturday, I set up the SnS and one thing I particularly like is that there is enough room left for a half pan underneath each roast to catch the drippings.



The roasts went on at 11:00.  One of my goals was to see how easy it was to maintain my temp because, unlike with my rib cook, I do not spritz the roasts during the cook.  My goal was to stay between 225º-250º and I was able to attain that goal.  It will take a few more attempts, though, before I feel confident that I can leave to run errands because I did need to adjust the ash sweeper several time to keep the temp in my range.



Here's a look at about 5 hours (4:00 pm):



This is also when I felt like I needed to add some charcoal:



At 5:30, I pulled them both to pack them up for the trip over to my parents' house.  When I pulled them, their ITs were 163º & 171º.  I had to make a stop on the way to my parents' house, so they didn't get into the oven until almost 7:00.  ITs had dropped to 154º & 149º.  Another hour had them up to 208º & 205º and just falling apart good.



It's hard to see because I sauced them with their brazing liquid before I took the picture, but there was a beautiful smoke ring.

The Slow 'n Sear performed admirably.  I was able to maintain my temp fairly easily and I'm confident that with a few more uses I'll get that bottom sweeper dialed in.  I would have likely gotten six hours of cook time on the original load of briquettes, which is pretty good. And the ability to have two drip pans is a huge bonus for me.

BTW, both entries were judged to be excellent, with Steak It! carrying the day because it packed a little more punch.





BD

[austin87]

Those look great! Nice that you are dialing in the SnS and holding temps where you want them!

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Awesome cook!  I like having being able to put water in the SNS so I don't have to put water in the drip pans and can then use the drippings for gravy, braising, etc.  Did you have your top vent partially shut like the SNS instructions say?

[3sSecurity]

Those look awesome. I've been having issues holding temp with my SnS in the 26, but I recently found one of the wings on my one touch vent was bent and letting in air when I thought it was fully closed. This makes me want to give the SnS another shot in my 26.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Big Dawg]

@MikeRocksTheRed, On my kettles as well my WSMs, I've always kept the top vent open and have been able to control temps with the bottom.  And, I felt pretty comfortable with the temps, just a little disappointing in the fuel consumption.

But, that could be the one thing that clicks everything else into place.  So, even though I'm a stubborn SOB, I will give that try next time.





BD

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@MikeRocksTheRed, On my kettles as well my WSMs, I've always kept the top vent open and have been able to control temps with the bottom.  And, I felt pretty comfortable with the temps, just a little disappointing in the fuel consumption.

But, that could be the one thing that clicks everything else into place.  So, even though I'm a stubborn SOB, I will give that try next time.



BD

Interesting.  I also ALWAYS run my top vent wide open (and just updated my profile signature).  I think I need to clean out my 26er really good and take a close look to see if I need to tweak some of the vent arms.  I have to pretty much shut down my vents will running a 3x2 snake to keep it around 228-236.  If I set it where I set my 22 it gets up to 285-300 pretty quick.  As I'm typing this out I'm realizing that I have to have a leaky vent!  LOL

With the SNS, bottom barely cracked and the top wide open it was tearing through coals and running pretty hot.  I think you might be right about closing the top a bit to slow down the rate of fuel consumption. 

I'll let you know how my 26er investigation goes!

[WNC]

Looks great!

I imagine all the extra volume in the 26ers make the coals burn up a little faster

[SixZeroFour]

Great looking cook Big Dawg! I'm officially starving. 

[Big Dawg]

@WNC - I thought that as well.  But when I emailed David at ABCBBQ, he said that, while they didn't intentionally track it, their side by side comparisons between the 22 & 26 did not show a noticeable increase in fuel consumption.

I've always been a believer in leaving the top vent open, nut I think that I'm going give @MikeRocksTheRed 's idea a try and partially shut the top vent for a while on my next cook.





BD