Nice catch Larry. With KJ now mostly owned by an investment capital firm that also owns Masterbuilt/Smoke Hollow, it would be interesting to know what drove this decision, and what the quality level will be. If it leans toward the original KJ attitude that would be a good thing, toward the other brand(s), less so. Two optimistic statements registered with me. First the notion of being a Weber Kettle killer, cute, but not very realistic. All the rip offs out there from various foreign makes to the SnS people are only nipping at the edges of Weber, there's a lot of historical momentum in Weber's favor. They likely will benefit from good history with KJ, "fan boys" as the guy called them, and if it's a good quality product in it's own right it too might siphon off some sales, but hardly "kill". Then there's the price point. Before the video guy mentioned "around $400" I was thinking it would be roughly half of it's all ceramic sibling at around $6-700, if they come in at $400 then that's potentially good value. Smart to choose the 22" configuration as they can "poach" on a wide world of existing accessories thanks to the Weber aftermarket from day one. I'd agree with the guess that the lid is on a siding bracket to operate without that "smoke roller", vortex/venturi insert, again, nice adaptability for existing accessories while still maintaining a hinged lid. Another shot of "competition improves the breed".
It looks like two neighborhood dogs accidently got loose and hooked up, to everyone's dismay. A nice dog (because they ALL are), but not a breed anyone was looking for.
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