Added a PK 360 charcoal grill/smoker to the lineup

John K BBQ · Mar 15, 2021

Kyle, nice thread here on the PK360. I've got about a years worth of use on mine. I love it for grilling steaks and just about everything else I would grill. I've smoked pork butts, chickens, and chuck roasts. It will hold a stable temperature for several hours once you figure out how to build the fire correctly for low and slow. I run a thermowork probe wire right between the base and lid. I can't bring myself to drill any holes in that pretty aluminum. The bolt on side tables have held up well in most ways. The material is a proprietary reinforced plastic, and so far no scratches or burn marks. I like the cover they provide with the grill. The PK360 looks cool and is a nice conversation piece, it looks sort of like a UFO or robot out of an old comic book.

As you said, the Weber 1 touch wins big on ash removal. I've used mostly lump in my PK mostly so I don't have to clean out the ashes so often. I miss using the Vortex in the kettle. I've found it hard to keep the side tables looking clean and new. The fine texture grid they molded into the plastic tends to trap ash, grease, and dirt in general. PK says it's easy to clean.... this is pure

. I wish the wheels on the base were a little larger, and the leveling legs are a bit too short for my patio which may have a little more aggressive slope for drainage than most.. I have a few other nit-picky things I could say but I won't. My biggest beef is really the side tables. If you have heard any tricks for getting them clean I'm all ears.

Nice job on your ash basket by the way. I tried something like that and totally goofed it up. I'm not the handiest guy around but I will smoke a butt once in a while

Kyle in Woodstock · Mar 16, 2021

John K BBQ said:
Kyle, nice thread here on the PK360. I've got about a years worth of use on mine. I love it for grilling steaks and just about everything else I would grill. I've smoked pork butts, chickens, and chuck roasts. It will hold a stable temperature for several hours once you figure out how to build the fire correctly for low and slow. I run a thermowork probe wire right between the base and lid. I can't bring myself to drill any holes in that pretty aluminum. The bolt on side tables have held up well in most ways. The material is a proprietary reinforced plastic, and so far no scratches or burn marks. I like the cover they provide with the grill. The PK360 looks cool and is a nice conversation piece, it looks sort of like a UFO or robot out of an old comic book.

As you said, the Weber 1 touch wins big on ash removal. I've used mostly lump in my PK mostly so I don't have to clean out the ashes so often. I miss using the Vortex in the kettle. I've found it hard to keep the side tables looking clean and new. The fine texture grid they molded into the plastic tends to trap ash, grease, and dirt in general. PK says it's easy to clean.... this is pure . I wish the wheels on the base were a little larger, and the leveling legs are a bit too short for my patio which may have a little more aggressive slope for drainage than most.. I have a few other nit-picky things I could say but I won't. My biggest beef is really the side tables. If you have heard any tricks for getting them clean I'm all ears.

Nice job on your ash basket by the way. I tried something like that and totally goofed it up. I'm not the handiest guy around but I will smoke a butt once in a while

I appreciate the comments. There really aren't too many forums that talk about the PK Grills, well there is one, but you have to pay to be a member

I'll keep an eye on the side tables. I don't plan on buying the cover and usually just use my blower to blow off any dust or pollen on the grill before firing it up. I can see how the texture on the tables might be a dirt trap magnet. Have you tried spraying with some Simple Green and scrubbing with a plastic brush? I think doing that, then spraying off with a hose would make it come clean.

I plan on keeping my big wheeled Performer and also my 26" kettle on my downstairs patio. I'll likely use those for Vortex wings, smash burgers/breakfast on the Hunsaker and long low and slow cooks. Oh and will def use the GBS grate on the Performer for the Wok cooks too.
PK will do pretty much everything else; steaks, chicken breasts, pork tenderloin, burgers, hot dogs, etc...

I barely had to adjust the legs on my 360, so you must have a pretty steep slope. I've seen where people have replaced the wheels and also added wheels on the leveling side. Maybe that could be an option for you.

As for drilling a hole, what if you just uninstalled the thermometer and used that hole to run a probe through?

Rich Dahl · Mar 16, 2021

Joe Anshien said:
Rich,
Can you use a pellet grill or something like a Masterbuilt gravity feed 1050 out of curiosity?

The fire district has a list of things that can't be used, such as weed eaters, chain saws, campfires and fire pits, charcoal grills, Tiki torches, welders outside etc.
Pellet grills and gas grills aren't listed so I assume they are okay.

Kyle in Woodstock · Mar 18, 2021

I recently got a new phone, a Samsung S21. It takes AMAZING pictures, but whenever I go to upload them here, it always says the file is too large. So posting pictures is a little tricky, having to save them to computer and resize them before uploading. I might have to tweak the settings on my phone to take smaller sized photos.
Anyways.....

First cook on the PK was just basic burgers. I didn't take pictures. Also cooked some chicken breasts shortly after....but here are some pictures of my first steaks on the 360.

This was from a couple weeks ago, I used the GrillGrates from my kettle. Since then I've sold my kettle GrillGrates to a TVWBB member and bought a set of PK360 GrillGrates from another member!

It sure is nice having tables on both sides. And having the hinged lid is SO nice. Really gives you access to the entire grate, which I really like.
All 4 vents were wide open, so not a complicated cook. I just did the traditional sear and then indirect steaks....haven't quite mastered the reverse sear method. The old way of searing first is just so much easier to me and still tastes great.