possibly my next grill??


 

LMichaels

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
So a recent trip to Sam's Club and while I was doing my self checkout with my phone app I found myself standing next to this https://www.samsclub.com/sams/kamado-b-series-w-grill-2017/prod20943283.ip?xid=plp:product:1:1
I have always been a little curious but also a little skeptical of this type grill mostly because of the cost and single use type of product it appeared to be. But this one really intrigues me. Could easily replace most if not all of my current gas grill functions AND have the ability to a nice low/slow brisket, chuck, shoulder, ribs what have you when I like.
Not for sure sold on it but it sure looks interesting and may just catch me in the right mood
 
I have always been a little curious but also a little skeptical of this type grill mostly because of the cost and single use type of product it appeared to be
You might want to check out Char-Griller Akorn grills.

I have the JR, and I am quite pleased with it. It's cook area is 153"
The Kamado's cook area is 314"

I've ran my Jr as low as 225 degrees and > 700 degrees and you can set it to cook at anything between. It is very stable. I'm not a fan of Lump in my Weber Kettles nor my Weber WSM's, but I am a fan of using Lump in my Jr.

You can get the Jr at wally world for $146, and if you open an account, they'll knock $25 off your bill
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Akorn-Kamado-Jr/52497353

You also can get the Kamado at wally's, it goes for $288, again they'll knock of $25 off your bill if you open an account
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Char-Griller-Akorn-Kamado-Charcoal-Kooker/40267083

I would probably get the Kamado too, if I didn't have a wife who's proficient with a Glock-19

How the Char-Griller grills compare to the Vision Grills is unknown to me, but in my mind the Jr is well worth the $121 price of admission and as mentioned the Kamado appears to also be a really good bang for the buck at $263
 
The think that really intrigues me on the Kamado from Sam's is the ability to go from charcoal to gas by just a quick switch of a simple internal. Re, lump vs briquettes. I never use briquettes (currently only have a Weber kettle) as imo everything cooked over them takes on the flavor of an oil refinery no matter how long they burn (and no I never use light fluid only newspaper or the little fire starter cubes or my turkey fryer). I have seen on occasion some briquettes that use no mastic or petro chemicals but they're VERY hard to find so I have not tried them though I have to admit I use so little coal that a big bag of lump lasts me all season though I think if I used this Komado I could see myself doing more charcoal cooks
I don't know maybe when I have about $600 burning a hole in my pocket it may be the next thing. I guess if I sold the Wolf and maybe the Summit.....................hmmmm
 
My BIL has one and he loves it, so much that he sold me his 2012- 22.5" WSM for a great deal.

Tim
 
Kamado grills and other options

I am a Green Egg owner (large). I have it because my old boss gave me it as a kind of bonus when he sold out to a private equity firm. Anyway, I do think they are awesome for something like pork shoulder, where their ability to go 14 hours plus on one fill of lump charcoal with little more than an occasional nudge on the vents makes them a joy to use.

On the other hand, my so-called large is about the size of a 18 inch Weber kettle. I have upgraded to a stainless grate and have the second tier grate, but it is still not the same as having one larger grill space. My standard kettle with the slow-n-sear has more space and at least a very decent cooking time before refilling. A 26 inch kettle would be much bigger and I think an awesome rib machine. My large Green Egg can only do a couple racks that have been trimmed or cut in half.

Since alternatives to gas has come up as a topic here, I would also say that the Rec Tec pellet grill sure looks enticing. Rec Tec seems like a genuine family company that is continually improving their product while offering it at a fair price. I think Rec Tec has a better pellet grill than Traeger and the other middle range competition. I have said this before, but I am convinced you will be seeing a Weber pellet grill sometime in the not too distant future. I have never used one myself but they seem to have a lot of positives.
 
Not really looking for an alternative to gas but the fact this unit CAN use a gas conversion makes it a real opportunity here. As much as I like charcoal I do find it a pain at times. But this model has a removable ash catcher to ease clean out and that abiliity to use gas when I would not want to mess with coal while still giving the advantages of heat retention and "fuel economy" so to speak
 
Not really looking for an alternative to gas but the fact this unit CAN use a gas conversion makes it a real opportunity here
It's always been my opinion that the "best of both worlds" has really never been the best (imho) Who knows, maybe this dual fuel source grill might just be the ticket. IF you do get it, I'll be paying attention to your analysis of it's abilities
 
Not really looking for an alternative to gas but the fact this unit CAN use a gas conversion makes it a real opportunity here. As much as I like charcoal I do find it a pain at times. But this model has a removable ash catcher to ease clean out and that abiliity to use gas when I would not want to mess with coal while still giving the advantages of heat retention and "fuel economy" so to speak

Larry,
I am not seeing the gas conversion part and to be honest would be pretty skeptical of how that would work on this type of grill. (Weber gas Kettle :( comes to mind.) This does look like a really good deal for a Kamado cooker, but if I were in your shoes I wouldn’t part with a Wolf to get it. I would loook for a used Green Egg or a similar cooker if you wanted to augment what you already have. I am not a Green Egg only person since there are clearly other good kamado style cookers. I do think the Green Egg company is a good customer service operation even if their prices are very high. Their product is certainly one of the best ones and with good care will last a lifetime with only a few part replacements. I have seen an occasional great deal on used ones.
 
Here https://www.samsclub.com/sams/quick...ople-who-viewed-this-item-ultimately-bought:5 is the gas conversion.
While the Weber Kettle gas grill was an awful product the potential was there if Weber had put just a little more thought into it. I think that product was a stop gap product just to get their foot in the market of gas grills as it came at a time when other companies were running rings around Weber. AT the time CharBroil, CharmGLow, PGS, BroilMaster and a raft of others were cleaning Weber's clock. Seems just about every other home you'd walk up to had one of those grills stuck in the ground right next to the back door. So Weber cobbled together what they could with the tooling they had on hand until they could come out with a better product.
IIRC they even make a conversion now for the Kettle but only for our friends down under.
As for giving up the Wolf as much as I love it, it's got the potential to be a $$$$ pit. While they show no signs of it I can only imagine what those burners cost of they burn out, I looked up the cost of that IR burner on the back and it's something in the order of $600! Of course we're talking about a grill that retailed for $10K for just the "head" and another $3500 for the cart!
NOt sure I want to make the kind of investment in a BGE they demand when after seeing both I can say the Komado is truly a superior product to the BGE. Jury is out and will be for a very long time because I don't see $750 falling into my lap any time soon to buy one of them and the gas kit. This fixed income living is a ***** when you're trying to preserve your portfolio and savings especially when the property taxes here are going up and up and up and are now higher than my mortgage yet my house has lost over $70k in value through no fault of anything other than where it sits (in Illinausea) the land of corruption and more ex guvs in prison than any other.
 
I just read a piece in Consumer Digest on gas grills and Nexgrill got some pretty high marks. Of course Weber got good marks too, but when you compare the prices, Nexgrill was much less than Weber.
 
The think that really intrigues me on the Kamado from Sam's is the ability to go from charcoal to gas by just a quick switch of a simple internal.

I must've missed that part.

Did you see the akorn/performer hybrid?

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00EBWBE80/tvwb-20

61WcXCMf3UL._SL1000_.jpg
 
I don't understand why it's called a hybrid. But look at the specs. It's all powder coated steel like the rest of the stuff they sell. Look at the one at Sam's and there is nothing there to rust away. It's either ceramic or stainless. For the cost difference the Sam's Club model has it in spades. Also if you look at Craigslist you'll see tons of CharGriller products with photos showing them all rusted away into total junk. $300 crappy vs $549 Top notch no contest
 
Now I see what you're looking at - I missed that link in post #11. Expensive add-on @ $269 but definitely nice to have available. When I said komodo/performer hybrid I meant a komodo in a performer-type cart.
 
Well if a person had no grills or smokers to start with it wouldn't be a bad investment but at this stage it would only burn $ to replicate stuff I already have,now I am waiting for Weber to come out with a pellet grill that I can afford :) ,
 
"I am waiting for Weber to come out with a pellet grill that I can afford"

The word afford does not fit in a Weber vocabulary LOL. Look at everything they're putting out now. Seriously lower quality and seriously higher prices. Bruce, the brand CharGriller is not a quality product. Their stuff is mostly powder coated mild steel, rusts out like no tomorrow. Like I said look again at the link for that one at Sam's but the real deal is look at it in person especially after looking at a BGE. The difference in quality against a so called "standard" of quality is amazing. and at half the price and twice the versatility (thanks to a gas accessory). Trust me I am NOT going out to Sam's this week or even this year to get one. Just sayin' it's a darn cool grill and if I wanted a type of "do it all" it would really be on my VERY short list
 
Here https://www.samsclub.com/sams/quick...ople-who-viewed-this-item-ultimately-bought:5 is the gas conversion.
While the Weber Kettle gas grill was an awful product the potential was there if Weber had put just a little more thought into it. I think that product was a stop gap product just to get their foot in the market of gas grills as it came at a time when other companies were running rings around Weber. AT the time CharBroil, CharmGLow, PGS, BroilMaster and a raft of others were cleaning Weber's clock. Seems just about every other home you'd walk up to had one of those grills stuck in the ground right next to the back door. So Weber cobbled together what they could with the tooling they had on hand until they could come out with a better product.
IIRC they even make a conversion now for the Kettle but only for our friends down under.
As for giving up the Wolf as much as I love it, it's got the potential to be a $$$$ pit. While they show no signs of it I can only imagine what those burners cost of they burn out, I looked up the cost of that IR burner on the back and it's something in the order of $600! Of course we're talking about a grill that retailed for $10K for just the "head" and another $3500 for the cart!
NOt sure I want to make the kind of investment in a BGE they demand when after seeing both I can say the Komado is truly a superior product to the BGE. Jury is out and will be for a very long time because I don't see $750 falling into my lap any time soon to buy one of them and the gas kit. This fixed income living is a ***** when you're trying to preserve your portfolio and savings especially when the property taxes here are going up and up and up and are now higher than my mortgage yet my house has lost over $70k in value through no fault of anything other than where it sits (in Illinausea) the land of corruption and more ex guvs in prison than any other.

We had one of those CharmGlow grills in our back yard. The post finally rusted through and then despite being told all my life that there wasn't gas running through it, I found out gas was running to it. Made the mistake of calling the gas people instead of a plumber and they came and just took the meter until we got our gas up to code. It was a good time! That thing was probably there since the late 70's early 80's. I never remember it being used.
 

 

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