Slow n Sear

[Sam Bee]

Hi Jamie, what are your thoughts on the Slow n Sear? Meathead of Amazingribs.com touts it as "the Single Best Accessory For The Weber Kettle Ever." I've used it a couple of times and I think it's really convenient but not necessary. Also, is there a specific brand of charcoal you prefer? I'm really liking the Weber briquettes over the Kingsford but it does come at a premium price when not on sale. Thank you.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Great question about the SlownSear , I'm interested in this also

 

[Jamie Purviance]

Thanks for the question, Sam. I wish I could give my experince with that accessory, but I've never used one. While writing "Weber's Ultimate Grilling," I cooked with Weber briquettes exclusively and came to appreciate their advantages over some of the other big brands. They burn with really appealing aromas and I like the face that I am not cooking over nasty chemicals designed to assist in lighting or binding.

 

[Bob Correll]

Good to have you here again Jamie.
Guess I won't ask if you've tried the Vortex.

 

[Chris Allingham]

The general subject of third-party add-ons is so interesting to me. When I really got into this hobby in the late 90s, I'm sure there were a few third-party accessories, but for the most part Weber decided what accessories we should use with our Weber grills and they made them and sold them to us! Beyond that, a few of us would "build" our own mods like using a Brinkmann water pan or wiring a charcoal chamber to the charcoal grate to make an ash sifter.

But now there are third-party add-ons for everything, whether it's cooking grates and griddles of all sorts and materials for grills, alternative designs for charcoal baskets, wheels and locks and doors and hangers for the WSM, and on and on. I mean, grilling and barbecuing have always been popular, but there's been an explosion of all of these things and I'm not sure what to attribute them all to. Is it the "maker" culture that's become so popular? Is it hobbyists now having easy access to Chinese manufacturing? Is it Amazon making it easy for the little guy to have a storefront open to the world? All of the above?

As Spock would say, "Fascinating."