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Kamado Joe

Ugly pumpkin said:
$9400 :eek:
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I know! I can't believe they sell any of these things. They're beautiful, but Jesus.

I have a Yoder pellet grill and a 22" or something Weber charcoal. Between those two things, I feel I'm pretty well covered. I'd like to try a Kamado, but never have. My concern is the whole pulling all the guts out of it every time you start it. I absolutely love my Yoder, but the reason I don't grill steaks on it (it's very capable of that) is that I don't want to pull the grates off, deal with the exceptionally grease-and-foil covered drip plate, and set that stuff aside for grilling. Instead, it's just a full-time smoker, and the Weber is a full-time grill. Either one can be set up for both, it's just a little bit of effort. And on a weeknight, I'm not in the mood to mess with the cooker for 15 minutes before I can start heating it up. Lazy always wins for me. Same reason I don't ever use the Blackstone during the week. You can make a great steak on it, and outstanding burgers. But I don't want to mess with the cleanup on a weeknight.
 
I like the BGE so much I got 3 of them.

Mini-Max
Large
Extra-Large

It can cook anything. I frequently do pork butts, pizza and burgers.
 
Fishbone333 said:
Thanks for the input. Im going to get an 18" joe cassic II and see how it works out.
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Do it! I bought one a few years ago, and it was the greatest purchase for tasty noms ever. Seared ahi at 700 deg, pizzas, all the way to slow cooked for 20 hr at 200 deg. I love the thing. I feel like the rec tek might get you more surface area for the smoke, but the kamados are the best versatile tool out there.

I think the Kamado joe is about the best value for what you get in the Kamado field. If i were buying today, I would get the XL joe III....i use it enough and think the value is there to pay the premium. Since I already have one though, i am more likely to get a second one, a Joe Classic II. Then i can slow cook and sear all at once :flipoff2::lmao::lmao:
 
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I can't add anything that's not already been said here. I think the KJ is a solid choice, the only thing I would say is get the largest you can afford especially if you are wanting to do a full packer brisket. This is why I went with the Primo oval XL. That and made in America with a great warranty.

You may want to spend some time here- https://www.kamadoguru.com
 
I just sold my big green egg. Didnt love it. It held the heat steady but it got annoying to have to disassemble the whole thing and clean out all the ash after every cook. It also wasn't big enough to do 3 racks of ribs without cutting them.

Can't be mad at it though. Bought it virtually brand new from an old man who had double shoulder surgeries and couldn't lift the lid after only using it once or twice. It was immaculate and had every accessory offered. All for $400. :flipoff2:

Sold it to a good buddy so I can still use it if neede . :laughing:
 
45acp said:
I clean mine out maybe every 10-15 cookings :confused:
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I use my Kamado Joe 2x a week. I just dump the ash tray (like on every real grill) 1x every week or two. I take the thing apart to clean 1x a yr :lmao::lmao:
 
I use a pit barrel and it kicks ass. I have a very cheap offset smoker that I use wood in and it does brisket very nicely. All the traeger fags are cheating. The real pellet smoker is the woodwind.
 
Aggie06 said:
Build your own. :flipoff2:

I can’t speak to the ceramic coated grills.


Traeger grills are nice because you can set it, and pretty much walk away. I haven’t been that impressed with temperature control on the one I have used.

I prefer to do brisket, pork butts, etc. using a wood fired smoker. Built the one I have using 1/4” thick pipe a few years back. The fire box is starting to show its age, so I will probably end up redoing that part in a year or so. There are plenty of online tools that allow you to calculate air flow, smoke stack size, etc.
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I loved the meat I'd get from our offset smoker but got tired of tending to the fire - especially while mowing. That led to temperature drops, which led to longer cook times.

Decided to try a pellet smoker.

Was going to get a Traeger (everyone on PBB used to rave about them), but found that a local company, RecTec, makes pellet smokers with PID controllers.

Ended up with their BFG. Set it and forget it. Temp does not fluctuate.
 
Fishbone333 said:
Wow, thats a real nice unit! :smokin:
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They're the best shit I've seen. The PID temp control is the best on the market.

The customer service rocks as well. Six year warranty, but I've seen them replace shit for folks that are outside of their warranty period. Hell, they replaced a guys smoker that was damaged in a tornado.

We have the BFG. Amazing unit.

Got the big one because there are times when we'll have folks over and I'll need to have room for a lot of stuff to cook.

Had 20+ folks here last November. Had 16 racks, 4 butts, two pineapples, a tray of beans, and other stuff on it.

I use about a pound of pellets an hour at 225. Flavor is great.
 
Slammed&cammed said:
I have a Kamado, it smokes way better than it grills. Cold weather it's a little bit harder to keep temps. I used the Cowboy hardwood charcoal and whatever flavor hardwood chunks and have done many mouthwatering meals on it. I use the Gas grill for burgers and steaks. I highly recommend it. More work than a pellet grill but more time to drink beer and, "cook." Have had it going on seven years, replaced the main seal once...took ten minutes.
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You need to add a leaf blower. I cook tri-tip in 7-8 minutes at 1400°. Granted, it has to rest for 15, but it comes out awesome. I've also slow smoked salmon candy and bacon explosions, and if you add a stone, pizza is a breeze.
 
For those of you using a BGE or similiar look at the kick ash baskets. They make restarting old coals and ash cleanups a lot easier.
 
This thread is timely. I have been considering a BGE for some time now. In doing research it seems that the KJ is a better product at the price point with the only downside being not quite as good a warranty.
 
Bacho said:
This thread is timely. I have been considering a BGE for some time now. In doing research it seems that the KJ is a better product at the price point with the only downside being not quite as good a warranty.
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Thats my take on things too. Now I'm hoping the KJ goes on sale for fathers day.
project twin had to post that badass rec tec pellet smoker, and I've realized I need one of those too! Baby steps, hahaja
 
I came to same conclusion and why I went with KJ- best features/product for the price point and I could only find people raving about their customer service and warranty. Upon opening my KJ and assembling it, the handle on mine had a hairline crack in it. Probably was not an issue, but I just paid a decent chunk of money and I wanted it perfect- contacted them and 2 days later I had a new handle.

If you are not in a hurry to get it, the only way to find a "deal" on a new KJ is catching them at a Costco roadshow or search for a used unit... I waited 4 months for them to swing through CO before I bought mine- basically I got the grill for list price and they threw in about $300 worth of stuff- cover, large bag of charcoal/box of starters, etc.

Good luck in the search and have fun learning a whole new world of cooking!
 
Fishbone333 said:
Thats my take on things too. Now I'm hoping the KJ goes on sale for fathers day.
project twin had to post that badass rec tec pellet smoker, and I've realized I need one of those too! Baby steps, hahaja
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Get the Rectec and you'll not want an egg.
 
I have three BGEs so I am both stupid and qualified to provide advice.
- XL
- L
- MiniMax
- All the goddamn nests, ash scrapers, ash catchers, plate setters and every other fucking Barbie BBQ accessory they have screwed me for.
- 3rd party temperature controllers because, face it -- the thing cannot maintain temperature without constant intervention, fiddling and fucking with the daisy wheel
- I also like building my own temp controllers out of things. I'm building a dual pit / dual fan controller. I'll get it posted to Github if anyone is interested. I need some help on the UI.

The only reason you should / would want to buy a BGE is because you want to say you have a BGE.
There is absolutely nothing that your BGE can do that your BBQ Guru / Primo / KJ / Your grandpa's old Komado can't

Facts about BGE:
- They have a full-on retarded marketing model. Any time a company is too snooty to sell online or quote prices over the phone, they can eat a dick.
- They have no dealer coverage. I do not want to go to Ace hardware. I want to buy it on the internet.
- They cost too much. It's pottery. Not steel and electronic clockwork. Not something with evolving R&D. It's mexican clay. From mexico.

BGE is a tired design
- 30 years later and you still cannot add wood chunks without disassembling the entire pot. You are double-fucked if you have a plate-setter installed.
- Factory felt dries out and allows unmetered air into the pot. They need to include the neoprene gaskets from the start.
- Cleaning ash is about a level 10 on the fuck-this-shit-o-meter
- Open the lid and your daisy wheel flops open, messing up your temp
- Those goddamn bands that will never align.

On to the good...
- You can get temps down low. It's not impossible to smoke at 225*
- You can smoke for a long time on one pot of charcoal. If you get your temp stable, you can smoke a full packer on one pot of charcoal
- You can cold smoke. I hook a dryer vent to the top vent of one egg over to the lower vent on another. It makes GREAT cold smoker.
- You can get the pit past 600 degrees. Great for reverse searing. A BGE will get hot enough you can split your own atoms if you really want to.

I also have a Traeger lil' Pig. Poinless but fun at BBQs.
 
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