"Poor man's BGE" ?

[dillywe]

I've used a basic 18in Weber for the past 4 years and it has served me well and I've thoroughly enjoyed my new PBC for the past few months (Thanksgiving turkey was a hit!).

But I'm ready to upgrade my grill, size has become a limiting factor in recent months and I'd like to add a searing capability. Originally I was intrigued by the BGE, but I really have enjoyed my Weber and I found a 1 year old good condition Weber Performer for $175 on Craigslist. Combine that with a SnS, it seems like I achieve most of the capabilities of a BGE without the sticker shock? Agree, disagree?

[David Parrish]

Agree. You'll be very happy with the SnS in that Performer.

[jholmgren]

I think you are comparing a little bit of apples and oranges. I admit I'm no expert of any kind on the Performer, but it looks to me like nothing more than a standard kettle with a cart plus a burner to ignite the charcoal.

To me nothing beats the heavy ceramic insulating properties of a Kamado and the airflow design that let's you cook for well over 12 hours at 225* or open the vents and sear at over 700*.

Don't forget - there are other Kamado's beyond the BGE, some more cost effective but all of the same basic design. I love my Kamado Joe and the Primo and Broil King get good reviews on this site.

http://amazingribs.com/bbq_equipment...d_function_tid[0]=28&&&field_primary_capacity_value[1]=0&field_primary_capacity_value[2]=0&field_primary_capacity_value[3]=0&field_primary_capacity_value[4]=0

[CeramicChef]

dillywe - I have to agree with jholmgren above. I've owned BGEs, an Akorn, a couple of Primos, a couple of Komodo Kamados, and a couple of Weber Kettles, one a Performer. If you can get a Performer that's in really good shape for $175, jump all over it!

Cooking on a ceramic kamado is an entirely different experience than anything you've experienced to date from what I gather. Just because the final products look familiar, don't think that the cooking experience will even remotely be the same.

When cooking low-n-slow on my kettle, I had to tend the fire, add smoke wood, mind a water pan, spritz and/or mop the cook. Cooking butts, ribs, etc. was very labor intensive and took a lot of effort. There were many nights that I set alarms every two hours to get the results I wanted to achieve.

When I was introduced to ceramic kamados over 20 years ago, I couldn't believe how easy it was to produce very high quality BBQ with a minimal amount of effort. I slept through the nights when doing butts. There is no need for a water pan, the fire stays lit for hours beyond the duration of the cook. Temperature transients essentially are nonexistent.

I could go on and on about the differences between the cooking experience between a kettle with a SnS and a kamado, but until you've experienced a series of kamado cooks, it's nothing but words. To be absolutely certain, there has been and continues to be a lot of great BBQ produced on kettles. The same is true with kamados. The same holds true with PBCs, gassers, stick burners, etc. but the fact remains that in a lot of folks opinion, the kamado experience is significantly different than any of the previously mentioned cookers.

If you are anywhere near Oklahoma City, pm me and I'll give you a demo of what a kamado can do over a weekend. I've got a spare room you're more than welcome to use.

Here's to continued great cooks and even better memories with family and friends!

[Huskee]

When I was introduced to ceramic kamados over 20 years ago, I couldn't believe how easy it was to produce very high quality BBQ with a minimal amount of effort. I slept through the nights when doing butts. There is no need for a water pan, the fire stays lit for hours beyond the duration of the cook. Temperature transients essentially are nonexistent.

I could go on and on about the differences between the cooking experience between a kettle with a SnS and a kamado, but until you've experienced a series of kamado cooks, it's nothing but words. To be absolutely certain, there has been and continues to be a lot of great BBQ produced on kettles. The same is true with kamados. The same holds true with PBCs, gassers, stick burners, etc. but the fact remains that in a lot of folks opinion, the kamado experience is significantly different than any of the previously mentioned cookers.

Do you own a Slow 'N Sear CeramicChef ? You are comparing a naked kettle to your BGE, and this is not a fair judgment of the Slow 'N Sear. One shouldn't remark on on a device unless they've used it, to be blunt and fair to the topic at hand.

The SnS gives you 8-10 hrs of hands off time with a single chimney of coals (80-90 briquettes), and 5hrs of no refilling on the water reservoir. It is designed to be a 2-zone device even without using water. The indirect side becomes an oven, even Meathead and Chef Ryan have baked bread in theirs. Certainly the BGE or kamado trumps the kettle in this regard, but it's possible nonetheless. The SnS trumps reverse sear and ease of use.

To be fair, there is NO comparison between a BGE or any other kamado, and a kettle with an SnS. That would be trying to compare a semi with a car. They're 2 different animals, both good at things the other can't touch. If price is a big deciding factor for you dillywe then start small. If (and unlikely) you decide the kettle and SnS doesn't thrill you, then you're not out hundreds upon hundreds of dollars. If you get a kamado, you'll love it, plain & simple. But you may be missing some very valuable cooking capabilities by going big first and not trying the kettle with the SnS. I know fuzzydaddy owns both, let's see if he can chime in.

[CeramicChef]

Huskee - I have just recently seen a SnS in action and had experience with one. I will admit it is a major step forward in making a kettle a much better cooker than it has been in the past. And I will admit that the SnS trumps the Smokenator, which I have used as well. And I too have baked bread in my kettle LONG before even the SnS and Smokenator existed. That's not big deal at all. Last I checked, 5 hours of use before refilling water doesn't get you through the night.

But the SnS does not a kamado make. Of that I am certain. The SnS is a good step ahead of the Smokenator, but it still doesnt come close to many of the advantages of a kamado. I notice you dont address temperature transients that are all too endemic to kettles of all stripe. I notice in your signature that you have a number of cookers, none a kamado. You have no problem addressing my inexperience with the SnS. What about your experience with any type of kamado; how deep and wide is that experience? There's a heckuva difference between thinking and knowing.

I thought I had had enough experience with kettles, stick burners, kettles, and kamados to offer an informed opinion. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I'll not make that mistake again.

Here's to great cooks no matter the equipment employed!

[DJ DeSpain]

To quote Clint Eastwood in "Magnum Force,".... "A man's got to know his limitations."

A well apt line for what you buy, or make, to smoke, grill, or bake outdoors. From digging a hole in the ground for a luau pig roast, cooking on a spit over a campfire, backyard BBQ's, and up to the top of the line competition smoker, you have to know how to make it work to get the results you're aiming for in a cook.

[Huskee]

CeramicChef Your opinion is much appreciated and respected regarding the experience you have, thank you for sharing all that you have. I do not own a kamado, this is correct. I do not need to own a kamado to be able to address its strengths, which I have done in this context. I am not knocking kamados, that would be silly and ignorant of me. I do however own an SnS and can speak for its strengths, regarding it being making a kettle a "Poor man's BGE". And its strengths I have addressed in my post.

[Mosca]

Get a Char-Griller Akorn for $349, right now at Home Depot Online.

Kettle and kamado are very different. Kettles are stoves that can be used as ovens; Kamados are ovens that can be used as stoves. Many BBQ recipes need to be adapted for the kamado; you look through a cookbook and think, okay, how do I do this on the Egg? Once you have a season's worth of experience it is pretty easy to figure, but the first few times around it can be pretty frustrating. Times are different, cooking temperatures can be different especially on longer cooks because of how well moisture is controlled, setup and fire control are different.

Now... better? Nope. Is a screwdriver a better tool than a crescent wrench? Of course not. They're tools. Just like kettle and kamado. They are tools, with their own sets of compromises and workarounds. Different compromises suit different users. And make no mistake about it, price is a compromise that some will make and others will not. But at that price point for consumer mass marketed kamados of around $900, I would say that they are the most versatile tool available. Once you've decided to spend that amount, it would be hard to look in another direction.

[CeramicChef]

Musca - truer words have never been spoken. I had an Akron on a trial basis. It was a solid cooker. I gave it to a troop of Scouts. It's about run its useful life.

If you shop hard at the end go the BBQ Season (there are folks who don't BBQ year round!) you can get Akorns for something under $300. Lots of good food has been done on Akorns.

[cdd315]

Well spoken Mosca

[LA Pork Butt]

It seems to me that ever cooker has it's own unique strength, and people make their choice based on what is important to them. It also seems to me that the best comparisons of cookers are within types of cookers not across different types of cookers. Even when you can cook everything imaginable on a cooker some things are easier on some types of cookers verses other types. I have been fascinated by the descriptions of the SlowNSear and will be giving my son one for his 26" kettle. I don't own a kettle otherwise I would be buying one for myself. While I haven't used one I would imagine that it's geatest strength is the ease of doing a reverse sear. That isn't to say you can't reverse sear on a kettle without it, because I have done it on my son's. But it sure sounds like it would be easier with the SlowNSear. I am anxious to find out. I cook on a Big Green Egg for my own reasons. In spite of what some have written I can do a reverse sear on my egg, but I suspect the reverse sear with the SlowNSear would be easier. I hope we can all recognize that even though we can cook everything on our cooker the ease of what we are cooking varies from cooker to cooker depending on what we are cooking. That and the price influences our choices. It doesn't make one choice better than the other. It only makes them different and chosen for the ease of doing what we care about and what our budget can justify.

[Huskee]

Well said guys Mosca LA Pork Butt. Hard to compare when someone asks which cooker they should get. I think we all look at what we can afford first, then what we can do with what we can afford. Sine the question here is about a kettle with SnS being a Poor man's BGE, it's safe to say it can be just that. A kettle with an SnS cannot be a better kamado than a BGE though, this too I think we all will agree on.

[cdd315]

I don't know what the weather it like in Chattanooga but for me up here I wouldn't go with anything else but a ceramic cooker. I have a BGE that I use in the winter time because it just works wonderfully. In the warmer weather to be honest I use my kettle and SnS probably 80% of the time. Really you can't beat that combo for cooking .. relatively cheap and just work great together. Winter time or colder temps you need the insulation like a ceramic can give you though. At the risk of flaming (pun intended), I'd rather be cooking on the kettle/SnS .. way more fun

[dillywe]

This is all really helpful stuff, weather consideration, comparing across smokers/mouse traps, etc.... and thanks for the OkC offer CeramicChef - I've never ever been to OK but I'll look you up if I make it.

I have not had any in-person experiences with a ceramic cooker, but I recently met a guy who has both a PBC and BGE - I may ask for a demonstration of the BGE. In the meantime, I'm checking out this Performer on Saturday to see what kind of condition it's in. This is still a relatively new "hobby" for me, so I'm hesitant to "take my talents to South Beach" and spend the pretty penny on a BGE, but I think I've got some more reading and youtubing to do on both the SnS and BGE fronts

[Mosca]

I'd get that Perfomer AND a kamado, truth.

[David Parrish]

This is all really helpful stuff, weather consideration, comparing across smokers/mouse traps, etc.... and thanks for the OkC offer CeramicChef - I've never ever been to OK but I'll look you up if I make it.

I have not had any in-person experiences with a ceramic cooker, but I recently met a guy who has both a PBC and BGE - I may ask for a demonstration of the BGE. In the meantime, I'm checking out this Performer on Saturday to see what kind of condition it's in. This is still a relatively new "hobby" for me, so I'm hesitant to "take my talents to South Beach" and spend the pretty penny on a BGE, but I think I've got some more reading and youtubing to do on both the SnS and BGE fronts

dillywe it boils down to this... irrespective of cost, for grilling and smoking the kettle with Slow 'N Sear is definitely the way to go. If you're wanting to bake you can't beat the BGE.

There are a few comments above that talk in general about kettle operation, or kettles with accessories like the Smokenator. These comments are not relevant to a kettle with Slow 'N Sear (SnS) discussion. The SnS increases the efficiency of the kettle as well as greatly reduces temperature fluctuations when you're smoking. It also greatly increases the heat generated by the sear zone. Meathead feels it's the hottest sear zone he's ever tested.

I'd suggest everyone read this article on the SnS and this article on kamados to understand the ups and downs of both. Meathead has done a great job of covering all the bases.

[LA Pork Butt]

[QUOTE=Pit Boss;n126852]

Guest it boils down to this... irrespective of cost, for grilling and smoking the kettle with Slow 'N Sear is definitely the way to go. If you're wanting to bake you can't beat the BGE.

I am a fan of the Slow N Sear, but to suggest that the choice is between baking on a BGE and the grilling and smoking on the Slow N Sear seems unfair. For ease of reverse sear I would vote in favor of the Slow N Sear. While I am convinced that Slow N Sear can smoke on one load of charcoal for 8 to 10 hours, I routinely do 10 pound Boston Butts for 12 hours plus. In addition, I have cooked 40#s of Boston Butt for 22 hours on one load of charcoal. While no one else may need to to cook that long on one load of charcoal, it would seem to me that doing so qualifies the BGE for more than baking. As I suggested earlier in this thread it is best to compare cookers within types rather that trying to compare them across types. This isn't a contest. We are on line to share our learnings and likes. Clearly we can answer questions from those perspectives, without making comparisons. In the future, I think it will help if we can keep our comments to what we like and what we do or have learned while letting the reader make their own value judgement.