No, I don’t have MCS. But I am curious: do you think the $800 PK360 alone is a better value than the $720 PK300 Aaron Franklin bundle, which includes a cover, charcoal basket, extra gill level, and a Tel-Tru?
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I had to go to their website to check out the PK300AF. They have it marked down to $599 right now. I love my new PK360 but unless you need the added cooking space that 300 looks especially good with all the add-ons at that price. I also have to admit I really like that teal color that’s available. -
Having owned a 360, I would jump on that AF deal. The 360 struggled to get hot and stay hot. Not sure the cooking space is that much added value.Comment
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au4stree, I could see your struggle you had with the way you got your fire going. Never started a fire in my PK360 that way. Always with a chimney and had no problem in getting a hot fire. Used lump once and got a really hot fire. Fire was so hot it warped the bottom metal vent cover. -
au4stree I second TripleB and others wrt to lighting technique. I too struggled at first getting temps above 250F on my PK300, before learning to start with more lit charcoal. Suggest for your next cook lighting half of the charcoal in a chimney, then dumping it on top of or beside the remaining charcoal unlit. That has worked well for me.
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Yeah, I don’t need the extra space. It’s actually a question of where would I put it. There’s no room for stuff now. The Weber Kettle would have to go. I really like the kettle, and I don’t think the PK is $700 worth of upgrade.Comment
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Matters on how you address the upgrade issue. I have a PK360 and believe it to be, hands down, the best grill out there. It will out last a kettle easily. Marine grade aluminum, durabellum shelves, stainless steel charcoal grate and cooking grate, tel-tru thermometer. Holds temp very well. You’ll be passing it down to your kids. However, I would not get rid of the kettle. The kettle + a vortex is a chicken roasting machine. -
Agree it’s not $700 worth of upgrade over your kettle. Much smaller for one thing, grate space is 21% less than a 22” kettle (300 sq in versus 380). The charcoal basket seems useless, impedes air flow. Per Henrik’s unfortunate experience, I’d consider a cover to be essential. Their cover is very nice, but the interior plastic liner on mine melted onto the handle and the metal snaps on it have rusted. Personally, I’d definitely not swap out a kettle for the PK300. Have both or the kettle only.
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Rather surprised the PK300AF does not come standard with a tel-tru thermometer. What the hay are “speed racks”? There’s a waste of money. PK should ditch the speed racks and put in the tel-tru.
also, did you notice in the PK300AF bundle picture there is a tel-tru mounted on the left side of the grill? With a pic of an unmounted tel-tru on the right, on top of the shelf.Comment
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Keeping track of PK pricing is a job in itself. For context, I paid $510 (excluding tax) for the PK300 and the Littlemore in Nov 2022. I bought a cover and a tru-tel thermometer from Amazon for a substantial savings over PK pricing.
Today pricing is $525 for the PK300, $600 for the AF300, and $800 for the PK360 with a free carbon steel griddle. Most of the time, the free accessory is a very overpriced cover. The PK360 was close to $1100 at one point.
I believe the AF version has historically been a $200 premium to the regular PK300. At a $75 premium, it is probably worth it over the PK300 if you want the extra shelf and teal color.
Both the PK300 and AF300 are much better deals than the PK360 for that small space premium, particularly if you add a Littlemore grid.Comment
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Oh. That’s not what I thought AF stood for…Comment
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OK. I guess I was thinking of the tailgate accessory. So only the pkgo can use the lid as a direct grill.Comment
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