Help deciding on kettle or akorn


 
F

FRocco

New member
Hello,

I am a new user and have not grilled in years.
I want to use lump charcoal and am going back and forth between the weber performer deluxe and the chargriller akorn.

I will do just basic grilling at first, but may try ribs or brisket down the road.

I like the akorn for the cast iron grates and the insulation.

Weber seems better at two zone cooking, but I do not know if that is needed with the akorn.

Since I have not used any grill in years, I need opinions.

The weber cost about a hundred dollars more, but has better warranty.

Thanks
 
I had an Akron and it leaked horribly, but others have had much better luck with them. The Akorn ash pan is a rust-away item you have to order directly from chargriller. If I were to buy another kettle style grill at that price point I'd go with the 26" weber kettle.
 
You can do two zone cooking on the Akorn, but you need to buy a grate to raise the level of the charcoal up to sit on the tabs in the steel bowl. When look at the Akorn you'll see what I'm talking about. IIRC I bought an 18" weber grate that fit perfectly.

The uncoated cast iron grates have to stay coated or will begin to look like they came out of the bottom of pond. Its easy to do though. The cast iron grates are not heavy-duty and can break if not handled carefully. Then you're SOL, until chargriller ships you another set.
 
With Weber, you're buying a top-of-the-line grill that you can use to cook virtually anything, and with care, it will last for years and years. With the Akorn, you're buying an entry-level kamado that you probably will be replacing in three to five years.
As for a cast-iron cooking grate for your Weber, there are several options.
 
I have both & they both have their strengths & weaknesses.
While you can smoke , grill & cook pizza's on both , the weber is a better grill & the akorn is an easier smoker & better at high heat pizza's.
My Kettle is 14-15 years old & beginning to show problems with the bowl.
My Akorn is 3 years old & other than the gaskets burning up holding up OK.
I grill 4-5 days a week & smoke only 2-3 times a month so the kettle for me gets much more use.
By the way both work fine with briquettes , if I didn't get Kingsford on sale @ Memorial Day & Labor Day I couldn't afford my charcoal bill.
 
Can I use lump charcoal in the weber?
It sounds like my first grill should be a kettle.
I do like wood fired pizza also.
Guess the weber can do that as they sell a pizza stone.
 
The Akorn is sort of a Green Egg/Bubba Keg hybrid, and while I do I have both those grills, I don't own an Akorn. *If* price weren't a factor I would recommend the newest iteration of the Bubba Keg, the Broil King Keg "5000". It's not much different from the original Bubba Keg I paid $299 for 5 yrs ago, except the price now approaches $1k, which is insane. There are many good options in that price range.

For the features it offers at its price point, I don't believe the Akorn is a bad option. I believe Chargriller has worked out some of the quality issues it had with the earlier models, and there are several forums, sites, blogs dedicated to it. However Chargriller support doesn't have a great reputation for good customer service.

Based on your statement

I will do just basic grilling at first, but may try ribs or brisket down the road.
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I would recommend the Chargriller as it will make brisket cooks, even larger packers, a set-it-and-forget-it affair. With the performer, ribs and brisket are possible, but far from hands off. And though I have gotten 12+ hour cooks on a Performer at 240-255 without adding a single coal. the heat wasn't exactly evenly distributed. Briskets and pork butts are doable on a Performer, but MUCH easier on a kamado loaded with lump, lit minion method with a diffuser in place.
 
FRocco said:
Can I use lump charcoal in the weber?
It sounds like my first grill should be a kettle.
I do like wood fired pizza also.
Guess the weber can do that as they sell a pizza stone.
Click to expand...
You can use lump with any charcoal grill & it'll work fine.
 
Kettle Pizza

Pizza on the Weber can be great with the Kettle Pizza system (www.kettlepizza.com/). I've used several times with great success, but need additional charcoal basket and pizza stone to get high enough temp.







 
Saw a vision kamando on sale for 550.00
But since I have not grilled in years, I am leaning towards the kettleman or weber.

Thinking that if I really enjoy grilling, I can get the vision next year.

Maybe I will like the weber so much as to not need the vision.
 
FRocco said:
Hello,

I am a new user and have not grilled in years.
I want to use lump charcoal and am going back and forth between the weber performer deluxe and the chargriller akorn.

I will do just basic grilling at first, but may try ribs or brisket down the road.

I like the akorn for the cast iron grates and the insulation.

Weber seems better at two zone cooking, but I do not know if that is needed with the akorn.

Since I have not used any grill in years, I need opinions.

The weber cost about a hundred dollars more, but has better warranty.

Thanks[/QUO

Nothing but the Weber. Just my 2 cents.
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>>Nothing but the Weber. Just my 2 cents.<<
Can you explain why?

I was told that smoking ribs or brisket is more work on a kettle vs kamando.
I have no idea if this is true.

Weber one-touch at 200.00 or vision kamando at 550.00
I have not grilled in years, so I am open to suggestions.

Thanks
 
They'll be a similar amount of "work", unless you invest $150+ in a temp controller for the egg style cooker. However for the $700 you'll have tied up in the Kamado you have better options. You could buy a $400 Weber peformer platinum to $150 Weber OTG, and a $300 Weber Smokey Mountain 18 (which is easier than either grill to smoke on).
 
I have not heard that a temp controller was needed on a kamando.
I did look at the performer deluxe and liked it, but felt the 200.00 master touch offered a lot for the money.
I was thinking on the vision kamando because it is 100.00 off from 650.00.

I am getting too caught up in emotion over this and maybe I should just get the weber and later if I really get into it, a kamando or WSM.
Is there really that big a difference in a kamando over a kettle?

I even looked at a 129.00 char-broil kettleman.
 
FRocco said:
I have not heard that a temp controller was needed on a kamando.
I did look at the performer deluxe and liked it, but felt the 200.00 master touch offered a lot for the money.
I was thinking on the vision kamando because it is 100.00 off from 650.00.

I am getting too caught up in emotion over this and maybe I should just get the weber and later if I really get into it, a kamando or WSM.
Is there really that big a difference in a kamando over a kettle?

I even looked at a 129.00 char-broil kettleman.
Click to expand...

You are overthinking this!
Buy either one & it'll be fine.
If you hate either next season you can sell without losing a lot of money.
 
John Ford said:
You are overthinking this!
Buy either one & it'll be fine.
If you hate either next season you can sell without losing a lot of money.
Click to expand...

Yep! Buy a Weber chimney starter when you go out, and order a quality thermometer when you get back home.
 
I thought about buying an Akorn as something different to use. The problem is they rely on China to manufacture everything and can't keep up the demand for parts that damage easily. The cooking grate was the main reason I went with another Weber. It's a one of a kind that is never in stock.
 
Eric S. said:
Yep! Buy a Weber chimney starter when you go out, and order a quality thermometer when you get back home.
Click to expand...

good advice, yes, get a chimney and a good digital instant read thermometer. If you are that concerned about the costs of all this, start with craigslist for a used 22.5 kettle or performer - and i'm biased towards Weber, because you can get all sorts of accessories, as you will find out.
 
For the price of the Akorn, for a little bit more you can get a Weber 26" kettle (or for less, depending on which Akorn you're buying and where). Better construction quality, more versatile, and larger cooking area.

I've gone the route of buying the "cheaper" options and I'm pretty much done with it. The Akorn is basically a cheaper BGE. You get what you pay for. In 3-5 years, you're going to have to replace something in all likelihood, unless you're keeping it indoors when not in use. Among the many problems I've had with Chargrill over the years is they change their products and newer products don't have the same parts as their older products. Really hard to find replacement parts after a while. Weber does this too, but not as often, and the ability to get replacement parts is much easier. Their support is much easier to work with, too. Add on top of it that you won't have to use them very often if you take reasonable care of your equipment, and the Weber is tough to beat all the way around.
 
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If you are just getting into this, you may not know what you like until you start grilling. Why not search Craigslist and try to find a Weber kettle for $25 or just buy a new basic Weber kettle for $99. Try it out. See if you like it. If you like it and want to upgrade then you can get the performer. If you don't like using the weber, then you can go get the Akorn.

I don't have the Akorn, but I have had Char-griller products in the past, and they generally wear out after 4 or 5 years. I don't know if that holds true for the Akorn.
 
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