Competition sparks innovation...

[Uncle Bob]

Since I've bought outdoor cooking equipment from Home Depot in the past I get emails from time to time on related stuff they want to sell. Most of it is mundane, run of the mill big box stuff that I have no interest in, but today was different.

Looks like LoCo has gotten into the kettle market slot with what looks to be a feature laden cooker. I suspect the $150 discount is an introductory price to kick off initial sales. 22.5 in. SmartTemp Kettle Charcoal Grill in Black with Cart There's an imbedded video in the expanded photo link that pretty much shows it's features. Given that it copies the Weber kettle format many aftermarket accessories could expand functionality. What's interesting is the electronic temp control. In function it sounds like the Spider Grills Venom attachment, though it might be a bit lighter in total features by comparison.

Perhaps Max Good will be getting one for testing in the near future. Meanwhile, it's well priced for the features if the quality is there, at least with the current discount. BTW, if you're a veteran registered on HD vet discount program you can get an additional 10% off that sale price as well.

[CaptainMike]

That's a nice little ride.

[Jfrosty27]

That’s a pretty cool looking kettle. And the discounted price is killer! I have a Weber Performer Deluxe that is in great shape but it could easily be replaced with this bad boy. Hmmm 🤔

[RonB]

Some good ideas here.

[OC Sandy]

Doggone it Uncle Bob, I've been wanting to buy a kettle for a while and I keep resisting the urge. This is not making it easy.

[Uncle Bob]

It's what I do best....

[Jerod Broussard]

I suspect the $150 discount is an introductory price to kick off initial sales.

Or, it never was $399, and some might think this thing has been on the market for years and it is now a steal. RecTeq has had their stuff marked down for years.

Neat little kettle.

[jfmorris]

That is intriguing.

What I don't like is that there seems to be NO manual bottom vent control, meaning ALL cooks rely on the blower, unless I missed something. The other is that if you want to use their built in starter capability, you HAVE to pile your charcoal in the middle of the bowl, as the starter cube/tumbleweed goes in that little drawer underneath. They also don't show a good photo of the interior, so I am curious about the charcoal grate, or if you pile stuff directly in the bowl. Looks like there is a stainless deflector above it maybe?

It says it holds "up to 5 pounds" of charcoal in the "oversized bowl". That is not much. As a comparison, I think you can fit 7-8 pounds of briquettes in a SNS insert.

[jfmorris]

Ok, found more details in the videos on the HD website.

Here is the fire bowl:



So it has no actual lower charcoal grate like a Weber or SNS kettle, opting instead for a perforated basket in the very bottom. That makes sense, as I was questioning the distance from the little access door for the starter tray, and the distance to a conventional charcoal grate. They hang a deflector down near where a charcoal grate would be.

This means that add-ons like the SNS or Vortex would not be usable in this kettle.

[Finster]

That last part sounds like a challenge.
Not to me because I'm not handy at all...but, to someone...lol

[OC Sandy]

jfmorris Thank you for this information. It is helpful.

[jfmorris]

Finster the challenge would be to buy and set a charcoal grate at the same distance from the cooking grate as the one on the Weber or SNS kettles, in order to use the Vortex or SNS. Then you need to worry about the curvature of the side wall and whether a SNS would actually fit up against it or not. I feel looking at it that the side walls may have a different curvature than the SNS or Weber kettles.

The hinged and attached lid also precludes use of a rotisserie or pizza oven ring.

[jfmorris]

Note that I am not saying this is a BAD kettle at all. I am just pointing out that there are enough differences in the design that I feel most accessories for a 22" Weber/SNS kettle will not work out of the box. But if you want temp controlled charcoal smoking and grilling, and 5 pounds of charcoal is enough for your cooks, this may be perfect.

[johnec00]

Here's a quite extensive youtube review. Guy was not impressed . . . 3 hours assembly, would not hold temperature, a number of other negative comments. Looks like DON'T BUY.

Like Uncle Bob said in the OP, maybe Max Good will take a look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLhUJ2q9nng

[Jerod Broussard]

Looks like they dropped the price after this guy's review. Uncle Bob

[Jfrosty27]

Thanks for sharing. You just saved me some money. 👍

[Uncle Bob]

@johnec00 thanks for taking the time to search out the vid.

I'm of two minds on Horsman. He's built a nice side hustle buying/receiving a wide variety of cookers for review. First, sometimes I enjoy his vids and often my experiences are similar to his. Second, I've seen him do some mods that were pretty sketchy, either being of nebulous value or mickey mouse level execution. He gets points for making the effort but loses some for value of opinion/execution.

His complaints about the price seem weird to me. While he has the no shelf version, the shelf version I started with is roughly comparable to the lowest price Weber performer which sells for $349 without the lid hinge, lid latch, lid gasket, deflector plate, and temp controller (ignoring the value of those upon inspection/usage for now). Since he made the price complaint before he tested the usage value it calls his perspective into question. The assembly time is another thing I'm always dubious of, not just with him, as it has so much to do with mechanical aptitude and sometimes tool availability.

His actual review process was informative from the standpoint that a viewer can see many of the details/features with careful scrutiny. Based on what the prospective buyer might value, those insights have some value. And the views of leakage and difficulty of the "controller" to control are very informative. Those two things would probably tout me off from purchasing if I thought I wanted one but not everyone shares my values. The LoCo griddle had some dubious claims for thermostatic temp control of the griddle surface that were shown in numerous user situations to be overstated so this one being shaky in performance runs to form.

[Max Good]

Loco has been around a few years now. Seems like they're stuck on one level in between going away and catching on. We'll keep an eye on them, but no plans to review currently.