PK Grill Owners - I have a question

[billg71]

David,

I'm late to the party as usual but I voted #2 which doubled the "No" vote. Doesn't look like many people own the PK or maybe they all just want to be like Huskee...

The PK is my go-to for grilling, it's excellent for that. The coals are close to the grate for good searing, it's long enough that you can reverse-sear on it easily or you can spread coals full length and burn a bunch of burgers in a hurry. I guess you could use it as a smoker, they advertise that capability but I'd think it would be for meats that would cook quick, it doesn't really have the charcoal capacity on one side for a low-n-slow cook. But I've never tried so take that with a grain of salt.

A SNS would help with that but I think you need to consider if the potential market would justify the tooling up and production run costs. While we PK fans are enthusiastic, I don't think there are a lot of us out here compared to Weber kettle owners. And we may have other setups for smoking already. I could be wrong...

I use the PK for grilling, the Weber/SNS combo for small smokes and the Smokey Mountain for larger smokes.

I just don't think there would be enough demand to justify the costs unless maybe you could hook up with the PK makers and get them to market it as an accessory.

My thoughts,

Bill

[David Parrish]

Bill I appreciate the detailed reasons for your vote. When I set up this poll I was (and am) thinking about creating a more grill neutral SnS that will fit just about any charcoal grill, to include the PK. I'm still thinking about it but haven't gotten very far. I agree with you though that the PK alone wouldn't support all of the costs in developing a dedicated SnS.

[Don Jr]

I just got a PK Grill today and it's going to be a solid 4 or 5 days before I even have the time to assemble it. I hope it's not too late to answer your questions. I do know that PK suggests you keep the coals away from the sides and the SnS would provide that convenience. I can tell you that I would buy one if someone told me it worked well with the PK.

[David Parrish]

I just got a PK Grill today and it's going to be a solid 4 or 5 days before I even have the time to assemble it. I hope it's not too late to answer your questions. I do know that PK suggests you keep the coals away from the sides and the SnS would provide that convenience. I can tell you that I would buy one if someone told me it worked well with the PK.

It doesn't surprise me that they recommend you keep coals away from the walls. Because the PK is made from aluminum it probably has a melting point in the 1,150 F range, so if you got enough hot charcoal blazing next to the aluminum you might melt something.

[sfrancis353]

I'd have to look at this from the business side of things. How many PK grill owners are there and of them what %-age of them would you sell a SnS to? The numbers don't seem to be there to justify your cost to add another SKU.

Webers are a no-brainer because a huge population of the grilling world uses a Weber and this is an inexpensive add on in order to turn a Weber into a dependable smoker.

Although there would be cool points in having a SnS for multiple types of cookers, you have to look at the business side of things. With napkin math, I'd assume a PK grill SnS would be a money loser alone with development and fab costs. I don't believe you'd get the volume you'd need for any discounting, so you'd probably have to sell at a premium and you'd have to create a decent inventory that you would potentially sit on for a while

[Don Jr]

It was sprinkling when I got home tonight and the lawn service laid down an application so I couldn't mow the lawn tonight. I made some pickled red onions for Yucatan Pulled Pork Tacos I'm making on Sunday and assembled the new PK Grill. I bought the PK Grill package that they created for Amazing Ribs, which adds the Littlemore Grid and the cover for $30 which is a savings of $30. The reason I did this is because where I live, the cover is a must and as far as I'm concerned, so is the additional surface area that the Littlemore provides. My apologies for the photos being oriented incorrectly but if you click your cursor on them they should right themselves.

The grill assembly was fun and easy. The packaging was excellent with thick cardboard. The box that the grill came in looked like they drove it here in the back of a pickup from the factory. No signs of wear and tear whatsoever. The instructions were simple and the grill assembly was completed in about 40 minutes which included removing from the packaging and reading the instructions . I have a lot going on this weekend but will get a chance to cook Meatheads jalapeño Poppers on Sunday.

I would buy the SnS for this grill if I felt it's needed but I'm not sure yet because I haven't cooked on it. I know there must be a lot of owners on this forum. The grill isn't that expensive. For the price everyone should have one if they have the means. I'd like to see the price for this grill at $300 but I appreciate the fact that it's made in the U.S. If these factory workers make a good wage and can feed their families and save for retirement too, then I'm happy with my purchase.I'll post an update once I get some use behind me. I've been preparing for the summer. All I have left is a bulk lump purchase for my Kamado and I'm ready to start cooking like crazy.

[martybartram]

Well said about the price and U.S. made.

[Smoke Dawg]

the company says they are making a larger PK grill, that would probably be a perfect match for a SnS.

[billg71]

Where does that info come from? I'd love a supersized PK!

[Smoke Dawg]

I called the company a couple of months back.

[cashelton]

This was a fun read!

[mrteddyprincess]

Feedback: I currently have a PK360 and I find an excuse to use it about three times a week. I currently form my own charcoal basket out of hardware cloth. It would be nice to have a basket attached to a water bath. I think I would like it to be stainless steel. The charcoal part would need to hold a full chimney of charcoal. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

Brian

[tiewunon]

- For people that own The Burn Shop charcoal baskets there are enough detents along both sides of the basket that you could hang a water trough in numerous configurations if the trough was available.
- Cost effectiveness is not possible to calculate in my miniscule wheelhouse.
- All those detents in the basket got me thinking that a second divider maybe able to be used as a rudimentary knock off rectangle vortex. I had a second divider included in my purchase but have never tested my hair brained idea.