Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Introduction: I bought the Slow N Sear Plus a couple months ago. I waited until I had used it a few times before writing a review. On the slow side (225 degrees) I've cooked 2 pulled chuck roasts, one pulled pork shoulder, and ribs. On the sear side (hot as you can go) I've cooked super thick steaks with the reverse sear method and some thinner ones (just searing the hell into them). I also did a lamb roast at about 350 degrees F. I also grilled a bunch of chicken pieces with the lid off at no particular temperature. Accurate temperature is key for slow cooks. For the first two cooks with the Slow and Sear I made do with temperature estimates with a Thermapen through the exhaust hole. I think, if you are considering this, you need a good thermometer too. I now have a Maverick thermometer. It took me a while, but now I know how to control the temperature with this thing. I get 5 hours before I have to touch the fire fuel. I'm still having one problem - I need to stir the ash very well to get it to fall through, otherwise the ash kills airflow and kills the fire. However the act of stirring that hard can also kill the fire if you don't have enough stable coals. I actually killed the fire once and had to relight. (I don't know if this is exacerbated by the floor on the Plus model or not. See also the regular SNS for comparison. I'd like to try them both and compare.) I'm still working on that issue but it's going to be solved by technique. I could check the fire more often, for example. The Review: Slow side: The pulled beef and pulled pork were perfect. I could talk about my previous offset smoker for a while at this point but who cares? I don't need it anymore unless you are talking sheer volume of meat. The ribs, also perfect. My daughters said it was better than the smokehouse in our town. They were probably gearing up to ask me for money though. Medium heat roasting: The lamb roast was excellent as well. I held it at 350 degrees. This is a different technique than 225 but I just followed instructions on the ABC barbecue site. It wasn't difficult. Its just a different size fire and different vent placements. I'm thinking I'll try the Thanksgiving turkey this way. Put a drip pan down and get ready for gravy. Grilling chicken pieces: The reason the chicken was better is that the fire stayed away from the chicken skin and I got no flare ups. I moved the chicken over the fire for brief periods, and then over to the other side of the grill for the bulk of the cooking. You could get this same result with a couple bricks or a weber coal basket of course. But I don't think I'm ever going to take the Slow N Sear out of my grill. It does everything. (Or wait. Its ME that does everything. But the SNS sure helps.) Sear: The steaks. Have you ever had bistecca alla fiorentina? I think it's the pinnacle of steak. I like bone-in ribeye but it's traditionally porterhouse. Sometimes I will crush garlic onto a plate big enough for all the steaks. Add some salt and pepper to that. Put the finished, hot steaks directly onto that. Turn them over after a moment. Top it with a hit of olive oil. Holy cow. Back to the cooking part . . . My steaks were CRUSTY on the outside and medium rare on the inside. They, too, were perfect. I will admit that the steaks I did on the sear were better than any I'd made previously. You can't get this hot without trying. Forget gas grills. Even a charcoal grill needs a heat push for world class steaks. This is it. I think this product works as advertised and if I ever buy a Weber grill for someone I would have to include one of these with it.