Kamado for Christmas.?

[awesselbaum]

Looks like santa is going to be good to me this year.

I'm thinking the Kamado Joe classic is the way to go.

Does anyone have strong thoughts on this choice? Anybody know the cheapest place or have a discount code?

If you had the choice between this and a Pellet smoker, which would it be?

[Tiny]

Now that is a dilemma.....but.......I think on balance my next wanter needer is a pellet smoker.

If you look at the sig block then you can see I have dabbled with most and enjoyed them all in their different ways, I would say that my favourite beastie is now the Weber Kettle, I know, I know how stereotypical, but this sort of thinking only leads 1 way next and that is the WSM.

But then I muse "have I used the weber that much this summer?" and the answer is not so much as my time is pulled in different directions and whilst I love all the theatre of charcoal the sheer unpredictability of it precludes its use except for that free day.

So I use the gass more, but that lacks the flavour of the charcoal and hardwood so logically I know where I must go........somehow I have to get it past mrs tiny though.......


But if you choose the joe sure you will be very happy
Cheers
Tiny

[nickyp]

I started smoking this summer on my webber and after doing some good cooks on it I've caught the bug and im now looking to buy a kamado style cooker so I can carry on cooking through the winter, the kamado joe classic seems to be the best value cooker of that style on the market, there where some ex display ones on eBay for under £600 which I just missed out on.ive been scouring the web to try and find a bargain but there doesn't seem to be much about, if I find anything il let you know , and if you have any joy let us know.
Happy hunting !!

[Swindon_Ed]

If you had the choice between this and a Pellet smoker, which would it be?

How many BBQ's are you going to be allowed in the long run

Seriously, if you're only going to have one BBQ that you want to be able to do everything with, get a KJ.

If you bought a pellet cooker, you'd still want a grill to cook a be able to cook decent steak steak on.

[Chris__M]

I have both a pellet grill and a kamado. I keep saying I need/want to play with the kamado more, but the fact remains that the pellet grill is doing everything I want to do at the moment. Apart from a burn-to-clean, I didn't even light the kamado for much of this year.

Earlier in the year I bought some GrillGrates for the kamado, but found that putting them in the pellet grill, with the grease tray and flame defuser temporarily removed, gave me seared steaks with ease. In various different configurations, the Traeger is giving me slow smoking - like pulled pork and brisket; burgers either slow smoked or hot grilled; fantastic steaks and sea food; and with a pizza stone in place, excellent bread and pizza.

[noxskuses]

Same with my GMG Danny Boy Chris. Wack up the heat for great steaks. Makes amazing pizzas and bread too. No hassle or faffing about with charcoal on long cooks. Fire and forget with consistent temperature and results every time. That's what I love about my pellet grill.

Pete

[Steve]

I'd probably go with a KJ.

Don't get me wrong I do like pellet smokers, I've previously owned one and do on occasion miss it. I think you'll find whatever choice you make, you'll be happy with your cooker.

I do think that the ceramics offer a slightly better all-round flexibility. You can get a pellet grill to do everything a ceramic can do but I feel when it comes to the higher temperature jobs, the ceramics do them that little bit better.

Pellet grills are great for being fire and forget, but if you run forced draft on a charcoal cooker it will also be fire and forget. My WSM can hold 250 for over 24 hours on a single load of lump wood charcoal. If you're having to faff you're doing it wrong

I guess the only more involved thing is lighting it up, that's a bit more effort than pouring pellets into the hopper.

[noxskuses]

I've no doubt I was doing it wrong when I had an offset smoker using charcoal Steve, but I guess my point is pellet smokers are so easy to use, I got perfect results from day one and continue to get perfect results every time since.

But I agree with you that both will do the job admirably.

Pete

[aris]

I'd probably go with a KJ.

Pellet grills are great for being fire and forget, but if you run forced draft on a charcoal cooker it will also be fire and forget. My WSM can hold 250 for over 24 hours on a single load of lump wood charcoal. If you're having to faff you're doing it wrong

Are you still using your home made forced draft system? If so, how is it working out?

[Steve]

I feel guilty but I've just ordered a guru

The homemade draft system is great. Ed even borrowed it for a job and it served him well.

I bought the guru because I want a network enabled controller quickly for a project I have coming up. I've got a raspberry pi based project underway in my man cave but god knows when it will get finished.

Back on the pellet topic. I just want to be clear I have no beef with pellet cookers but the advantage they once gave over charcoal cookers is no more with the advent of reliable forced draft.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying a pellet pooper but a charcoal cooker can be fire and forget too.

Obviously stick burners are a completely different story. They're a labour of love.

The one thing I don't get is why our pros are missing a trick and putting FEC's into restaurants. I'm amazed given how well American BBQ Co have done that no-one has started to bring southern pride or ole hickory pits in for restaurants.