New The Huntsman Kettle Kamado Grill from Spider coming.

[Paul Warner]

I think he tends to decide which one he wants to win and manipulates his bespoke scoring to suit. I would have the weber 26 inch as the winner for what its worth!

 

[Robbie]

I hope to give some updated evaluations in the coming weeks. My Huntsman needs to behave better in the now warmer weather.

Is it over shooting temps?

 

[Jon Tofte]

Hoping to try out again soon. Been too swamped with house and personal stuff. My problem in the winter was I could not get it up to temp, even with two starters worth of Kingsford Professional. I am hoping nice weather now will be more suitable for high heat grilling. I have not any issues doing low and slow, even in cold weather. The temp control has worked fine for me.

 

[Robbie]

Hoping to try out again soon. Been too swamped with house and personal stuff. My problem in the winter was I could not get it up to temp, even with two starters worth of Kingsford Professional. I am hoping nice weather now will be more suitable for high heat grilling. I have not any issues doing low and slow, even in cold weather. The temp control has worked fine for me.

That seems to be everyone’s biggest complaint. That the venom fan isn’t strong enough to get the huntsman up to, and maintain a high temp and the ambient temperature outside is preventing it from happening.

 

[Jon Tofte]

I believe that is the case. Next winter, I may try running WITHOUT the Venom and use the best lump charcoal I can find. But, in the end, it doesn't make sense to dump a barrel of charcoal into a Huntsman when I can pull out a Weber kettle, use my Recteq or gas grill and get all the winter grilling heat I need.

I am still in the trying stage, but summer grilling has to go better.

 

[BobH-SCW]

Jon, that is so unfortunate-it started out looking so promising, and it certainly should be capable of so much more at that price point. The ol' kettle is still tough to beat!

 

[Jon Tofte]

GIVING UP

After getting a talking to because I suggested using my Huntsman to grill pork chops last Sunday, I finally have thrown in the towel. My wife just cannot tolerate charcoal grilled food, so there is just no sense in me owning a high-end charcoal grill to just use a few times for myself. So, I have listed my Huntsman for sale. I wish I had bought the special “Black Edition” Recteq Bullseye Deluxe with the black porcelain body that was out at the same time I pre-ordered my Huntsman. I am not as keen on the stainless version of the Bullseye, although it is an excellent cooker. My wife at least will go along with pellet grill cooking.

While the Huntsman is not a good choice for high heat grilling in the winter, it performs wonderfully for low and slow bbq all year. It is built like a tank and is definitely an innovative design.

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[Bruno]

GIVING UP

After getting a talking to because I suggested using my Huntsman to grill pork chops last Sunday, I finally have thrown in the towel. My wife just cannot tolerate charcoal grilled food, so there is just no sense in me owning a high-end charcoal grill to just use a few times for myself. So, I have listed my Huntsman for sale. I wish I had bought the special “Black Edition” Recteq Bullseye Deluxe with the black porcelain body that was out at the same time I pre-ordered my Huntsman. I am not as keen on the stainless version of the Bullseye, although it is an excellent cooker. My wife at least will go along with pellet grill cooking.

While the Huntsman is not a good choice for high heat grilling in the winter, it performs wonderfully for low and slow bbq all year. It is built like a tank and is definitely an innovative design.

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Good luck Jon.

 

[Mike-GA]

Hope it sells quickly. Hope a Black Edition Reqteq turns up for you. You deserve that luck.

 

[Joe Anshien]

GIVING UP

After getting a talking to because I suggested using my Huntsman to grill pork chops last Sunday, I finally have thrown in the towel. My wife just cannot tolerate charcoal grilled food, so there is just no sense in me owning a high-end charcoal grill to just use a few times for myself. So, I have listed my Huntsman for sale. I wish I had bought the special “Black Edition” Recteq Bullseye Deluxe with the black porcelain body that was out at the same time I pre-ordered my Huntsman. I am not as keen on the stainless version of the Bullseye, although it is an excellent cooker. My wife at least will go along with pellet grill cooking.

While the Huntsman is not a good choice for high heat grilling in the winter, it performs wonderfully for low and slow bbq all year. It is built like a tank and is definitely an innovative design.

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Sorry to hear that. You may want to change the first picture to be the one of the grill instead of the chicken. The chicken one could be any grill IMHO;-)

 

[Jon Tofte]

Sorry to hear that. You may want to change the first picture to be the one of the grill instead of the chicken. The chicken one could be any grill IMHO;-)

A couple of us were talking about that and what FBM does. The lead and a bunch of pictures after that ARE of the grill. Only the last few are cooks. Apparently FBM rotates pictures others see even though you select one as the “lead” picture. Have I mentioned how much I dislike FBM?!!! I may just have to ditch the food pics and add more of the grill.

 

[Joe Anshien]

A couple of us were talking about that and what FBM does. The lead and a bunch of pictures after that ARE of the grill. Only the last few are cooks. Apparently FBM rotates pictures others see even though you select one as the “lead” picture. Have I mentioned how much I dislike FBM?!!! I may just have to ditch the food pics and add more of the grill.

I have only noticed the changing pics phenomena on items that I have saved. I usually see the same pics on the for sale page. I will have to check.

 

[Richard S]

GIVING UP

After getting a talking to because I suggested using my Huntsman to grill pork chops last Sunday, I finally have thrown in the towel. My wife just cannot tolerate charcoal grilled food, so there is just no sense in me owning a high-end charcoal grill to just use a few times for myself. So, I have listed my Huntsman for sale. I wish I had bought the special “Black Edition” Recteq Bullseye Deluxe with the black porcelain body that was out at the same time I pre-ordered my Huntsman. I am not as keen on the stainless version of the Bullseye, although it is an excellent cooker. My wife at least will go along with pellet grill cooking.

While the Huntsman is not a good choice for high heat grilling in the winter, it performs wonderfully for low and slow bbq all year. It is built like a tank and is definitely an innovative design.

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Sorry Jon, that is a bummer to hear this. I will say that the Huntsman does impart more smoke than any other cooker I have used. I love it, but it is not for everyone. Best of luck to you on the next cooker.

 

[Jon Tofte]

I loved the pork shoulders - well everything I did except trying to do high heat in the cold weather. I am just having to be realistic. I have enough kettles to do charcoal grilling the odd times I am cooking only for myself!

I see a Pit Boss Phoenix pellet kettle in my near future. Will it do like the Huntsman? No. It will at least be OK with my wife, though, AND it will accept 22" Weber grates and accessories such as the rotisserie attachment that I have.

 

[Jon Tofte]

OUT WITH THE OLD BOSS
IN WITH THE NEW [PIT] BOSS…
Hope I didn’t get fooled again!

So my Spider Huntsman has found a new home. A long road trip to meet up with the buyer, but it was worth it as he was as excited as a kid in a candy store!



I ordered a Pit Boss Pellet Kettle to take its place, and it was delivered and waiting for me when I returned.

I put it together and did the burn in yesterday. While this is certainly not a “lifer” grill like the Huntsman, it surprised me how heavy it is and in many aspects how well made.

I gave some thought to mounting the kettle/firebox/hopper assembly on a Weber SS Performer chassis I have. For now, I concluded that with all that hanging off the one end and the size of the SSP itself, this would have created an unwieldy, too long grill. Plus, it would require welding or other metal work beyond my skill level to support the heavy Pit Boss components.

The stock setup is actually pretty nice:



I tried my first cook using a cast iron diamond pattern grate I have been reserving, having never gotten to trying it out on the Huntsman. Sorry I failed to get pictures. More cooks to come. My steaks were OK, but I need to experiment more. I was overall impressed with the functionality of this $397 pellet grill.

MORE TO FOLLOW

 

[Bruno]

Very cool, didn’t even know that was a thing.
Looking forward to more cooks.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Your going to have to start a new thread so we can see what the Pit Boss Pellet Kettle can do!

 

[Jon Tofte]

Your going to have to start a new thread so we can see what the Pit Boss Pellet Kettle can do!

Good idea, Joe. I will do that. I guess I wanted some closure to my Huntsman odyssey. I will miss it, but hopefully a pellet kettle will work better for our household.

I will plan to start a new thread. To me this Pit Boss pellet kettle shows what Weber could readily do - and needs to!

 

[BobH-SCW]

OUT WITH THE OLD BOSS
IN WITH THE NEW [PIT] BOSS…
Hope I didn’t get fooled again!

So my Spider Huntsman has found a new home. A long road trip to meet up with the buyer, but it was worth it as he was as excited as a kid in a candy store!

View attachment 115503

I ordered a Pit Boss Pellet Kettle to take its place, and it was delivered and waiting for me when I returned.

I put it together and did the burn in yesterday. While this is certainly not a “lifer” grill like the Huntsman, it surprised me how heavy it is and in many aspects how well made.

I gave some thought to mounting the kettle/firebox/hopper assembly on a Weber SS Performer chassis I have. For now, I concluded that with all that hanging off the one end and the size of the SSP itself, this would have created an unwieldy, too long grill. Plus, it would require welding or other metal work beyond my skill level to support the heavy Pit Boss components.

The stock setup is actually pretty nice:

View attachment 115504

I tried my first cook using a cast iron diamond pattern grate I have been reserving, having never gotten to trying it out on the Huntsman. Sorry I failed to get pictures. More cooks to come. My steaks were OK, but I need to experiment more. I was overall impressed with the functionality of this $397 pellet grill.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Congrats! I knew you'd see it and get the Pitboss! Time for new adventures!