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The Searzall by Dave Arnold

weinoo

By weinoo
in Kitchen Consumer

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Unpopular Poet

Unpopular Poet

Posted
Posted

On Friday night I had the good fortune of coming across some beautiful bone in strips.  I put them in the bath for a good hour and change and then went at them with the Searzall.  I think it was my first fail.  I could not get the same results as previous and trying to work on 2 steaks proved almost comical.  I should note that these steaks were beautifully marbled and I brushed them with clarified butter while seazalling.  The fan on my hood was on full blast and the kitchen was still pretty smoky.  I loved the results on 1 rib steak and some other items (*glepore -- I did have good luck with salmon skin btw) but the 2 steak were less than ideal.  Maybe I need to be more patient.  I also did run into the slightly gassy flavor on the NY strips.  I have to say that a rip roaringly hot mineral pan with smoking clarified butter does the job much better, and with about the same amount of smoke.  I am still a fan, but will not be relying on it for steaks moving forward.

  • 3 weeks later...
torolover

torolover

Posted
Posted

I just ordered the Searzall and the benzomatic TS8000.

 

What brand of propane tank do you guys use?  They recommend using 16.4 ounce camping tanks of propane.  Where can I buy this?

 

THanks!

Young Turk

Young Turk

Posted
Posted

I just ordered the Searzall and the benzomatic TS8000.

 

What brand of propane tank do you guys use?  They recommend using 16.4 ounce camping tanks of propane.  Where can I buy this?

 

THanks!

Don't buy propane if you can.  I have two benzo's and you want to be burning MAP gas.  It's the yellow tanks.  It burns much hotter than Propane. It would diffuse nicely from the Searzall. 

scubadoo97

scubadoo97

Posted
Posted

MAP gas will burn out your screens, per Dave Arnold.

That was also a concern of mine with the tank of MAP seeing as you had to season the screen or it would burn out. Figured it was the weak link in the system. My initial thought was that the Searzall contained a ceramic plate behind the screen which retained and radiated the heat from the torch. I was surprised to see the unit was nothing but a double screen to diffuse the flame and a containment hood

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

MAPP gas hasn't been manufactured since 2008.

MAP/Pro replaced MAPP

I can't see how that Map/Pro stuff is worth the extra cost.....often more than twice the cost of propane.

Manufacturers are just taking advantage of the fact that MAPP is no longer made by selling something with a similar name....and I think folks just assume that is if costs more, it must be better.

According to Bernzomatic MAP/Pro is only 130 degrees hotter than propane in air.

Flame temperature in air....

Propane 3,600 degrees

MAP/Pro 3,730 degrees

  • Like 1

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

pbear

pbear

Posted
Posted

Conversely, if propylene (Map/Pro) isn't much hotter than propane, it shouldn't be much harder on the screens.  Does anyone have a cite for where Arnold says it is?  FWIW, I assumed the issue was the shape of the bottle, not the heat of the gas.

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

From the manual.....

"Using the Searzall with a 14.1 ounce or less “handheld” size cylinder may create a tipping hazard resulting in an accident."

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

Does anyone have a cite for where Arnold says it is?  FWIW, I assumed the issue was the shape of the bottle, not the heat of the gas.

 

It's in the manual.....

"DO NOT USE:

14.1 oz propane tanks (tall cylinders, typically blue)

14.1 oz MAPP or MAP-Pro cylinder tanks (tall yellow

cylinders, typically yellow)

Iwatani Torch

All other tanks or torches not mentioned here."

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

btbyrd

btbyrd

Posted
Posted

I still don't know why the longer slimmer bottle is not advised. From a handling or weight problem I don't see the issue

 

Even the fatter camping bottles get a bit tipsy once they're running low on gas. I definitely wouldn't use a taller, slimmer bottle even if they didn't explicitly warn against it.

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torolover

torolover

Posted
Posted

What are people's experience while pre seasoning the Searzall?  While pre seasoning, the flames got really big and scared the crap out of me.  They were so big they were close to touching my hand.  I still pre seasoned it for 2 minutes, but did anyone else have this experience?

 

Now I'm wondering if my Searzall is defective, or if I did something wrong.  On the benzomatic T8000 torch I turned the valve completely counter clockwise until it stops.  I followed the Searzall instructions very carefully.

 

After I pre seasoned the Searzall when I use it the flames don't get that big like they did during the pre seasoning process.  I also noticed the wire mesh is a little warped.

 

Is this normal?

 

Thanks!

scubadoo97

scubadoo97

Posted
Posted

Mine also had flames rising up the sides of the device past the connector. I admit to taking my finger off the trigger for a second or two wondering if this was normal but continued the 2+ min seasoning. Also my screen is no longer flat. Seems to work fine though

btbyrd

btbyrd

Posted
Posted

When you do the initial seasoning, you're burning off the binder they use on the insulation and that's why the flames are larger than during normal use. After seasoning, it's common for the screen to bulge outward a bit rather than being completely flat.

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  • 4 months later...
Junkbot

Junkbot

Posted
Posted

I am finding this device more and more appealing to me considering I live in a studio apt with no range hood. Searing steak in a ripping hot cast iron skillet is great and all, but the smoke is outrageous. How much smoke does this put out for searing steaks?

  • Like 1
Ozcook

Ozcook

Posted
Posted

I am finding this device more and more appealing to me considering I live in a studio apt with no range hood. Searing steak in a ripping hot cast iron skillet is great and all, but the smoke is outrageous. How much smoke does this put out for searing steaks?

 

None that I have ever noticed.

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