Operating Advice for the Summit Kamado

[M Stenberg]

That's why I have a gas grill.

Let me know if you need one. I might know a guy

Me too, though I have been using my Summit gas grill much less often now that I have the Summit kamado. Once it gets cold out, I will probably be back to the gas grill for a few months.

 

[M Stenberg]

Billows on WSM makes sense. I wouldn’t challenge that thought or use. On the WSK, you’ll see how stable it is and billows not needed. Looking forward to seeing your success.

Billows on WSM makes sense. I wouldn’t challenge that thought or use. On the WSK, you’ll see how stable it is and billows not needed. Looking forward to seeing your success.

Smoked the ribs this weekend, turned out great. It does use much less fuel than expected, had it going for 5 hours and this is what I had left, easily 8-10 hours with just the middle filled. I bet if I filled the whole bottom I could get 24 hours, not that I would ever need that. As for temps, it did hold much steadier than the WSM. Moved up or down very slowly, but I still had to adjust the top vent every 30-60 minutes to keep it around 250. Maybe I am not as good as you at getting it dialed in, but it was either going up or down, never holding steady. I am going to order the billows just to try it out, I like gadgets anyway. Would be helpful if I want to run it overnight and not have to wake up to alarms.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Smoked the ribs this weekend, turned out great. It does use much less fuel than expected, had it going for 5 hours and this is what I had left, easily 8-10 hours with just the middle filled. I bet if I filled the whole bottom I could get 24 hours, not that I would ever need that. As for temps, it did hold much steadier than the WSM. Moved up or down very slowly, but I still had to adjust the top vent every 30-60 minutes to keep it around 250. Maybe I am not as good as you at getting it dialed in, but it was either going up or down, never holding steady. I am going to order the billows just to try it out, I like gadgets anyway. Would be helpful if I want to run it overnight and not have to wake up to alarms.

Nice amount of fuel left over....this bbq is efficient as heck....I love that about it.

Now in terms of adjusting temps....it takes forever for an adjustment that is not going from 250 to 400.....that goes fast and is easy to do.
I find I have to make an adjustment and look for a temp swing in about 30 minutes or so...moving to lower the temp is more difficult than going up.

Also the E6/S6 works exactly backwards in air flow for heat adjustment.....when using my 22" performer the top vents at all times stay open 100%.
Closing them down half way doesn't seem to have any effect.....the bottom vent is my heat control.
I use the performer as my go to bbq for most cooks...about 75% of them....I would say...it is much easy to clean and keep clean.

The E6 when being used for low n slow I keep the bottom vent basically closed and adjust the top vent for heat control.
Took me a few times to get that straight.....was frustrated with not being able to maintain a nice low temp.
Once that was obvious the things got easier.......
The pic above of Brett's temp guage is basically where mine will smoke at.....
It seems they all have a mind of their own....I think Dan's will hover at a bit lower than mine will...but 15 degrees really isn't going to change much.
If I leave the lid open to long to do something while mid smoke the temp will rocket up.....this is no good so I try not to do that....bringing the temp back down is a bunch more work than I want to do.

You will have this down in no time...have fun....

 

[Jacob]

I’ve been using my S6 for a few months now, not as much as I would like (work has been crazy), but I really love it. It’s crazy how little fuel it uses. I did buy a Billows and really like it as well. I don’t use it all the time, but definitely for overnight cooks or longer cooks where I don’t wanna mess with anything. I don’t trust myself, I guess. I use the minion method for lighting my charcoal, then turn on the Billows, and it usually gets up to temp like normal and buries at whatever temperature I want. And I’ve used it anywhere from 200 to maybe 325.

Only thing I’d say is that it doesn’t seem to put as much smoke flavor into things as my WSM or even my pellet grill. That’s okay with me, since I don’t want too much smoke flavor, but I’ve been thinking of increasing my smoke wood chunks from 3 to 4 or 5. I’m afraid of putting too much smoke on, though, so maybe I’m doing something wrong. I don’t bury them in the charcoal. I like them on top so that they light up and get smoking pretty early so that I can put as much smoke as possible on the meat while it warms up.

One question. Has anyone found any good videos online of people cooking on the WSK? I’ve found some, but they’re pretty old. I’d like to find a few newer videos of people using it for various cooks. I read a lot on here and look at pictures, but I’m the type who feels better if I can see people actually doing it.