So, I’ve been lurking and ogling and trying to decide, but today it happened. I just ordered a brand spanking new PK classic, with the foldable ‘undercarriage’. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used the PK360 and think it’s great, but it ain’t portable. Those tiny tiny office wheels. Plus I’m kinda old school, and I like the classic, so that’s what I’m getting.
Pickup on Thursday next week.
Gonna do a big fat ribeye cook on it the first thing I do, to welcome it to the family.
I have a PK Classic (maybe 40 years old???) and I love cooking on it. I find myself using it more and more for direct grilling than my Weber. Stuff like boneless chicken thighs, burgers, thin steaks, etc. And I have done a few indirect cooks like tri tips.
Awesome choice. These things are built like tanks. I got mine used and the previous owners didn't really take care of it but the body of the thing is pretty much flawless. At some point I want to replace my grates but this thing will last for a long, long time.
Andrrr For direct grilling I like that the coals are a bit closer to the cooking grate than the Kettle. For that type of cooking I usually don't fill up the kettle either so the slightly smaller size is nice too. Still plenty of room for a couple flank steaks or a few burgers.
And I am a big kettle fan too. Got 7 of them in the collection right now.
I have a PKO that i picked up around august. I literally havent cooked in my kettle since, except for vortex wings. Ive done steaks, chuckie, thighs, sausages, whole chickens...its been amazing for every cook. With the PKO, i personally have found i dont even need to regulate temp for steaks. Full chimney of charcoal, steaks on the far cool side and then pull to sear at whatever temp you like. Ive had fantastic results every time. For a longer cook i will use a thermometer and adjust the vents.
I have been thinking more and more about a pk. I cooked on an original last year on vacation and really liked it. I could never justify the 360 but possibly an original...
Big Joe III
Big Green Egg lg
Grill Dome lg (at camp and it sucks!)
Gas:
Modern Home Products WNK
RecTeq Matador w/WOK
Blackstsones (at home & camp)
Yakatori: Konro XL
Electronics/Tools:
FireBoard - Original, II, and Spark
Fans - Pit Viper, Pit Bull, FireBoard
Temp measurement - Thermapens (all), DOT, timers, . . .
KJ rotisseries (L and XL)
Lots of cast iron, woks, etc.
GrillGrates® and SearMagic®
Sous Vide Water Immersion Oven
Kindling crackers (at home & camp), axes - Gransfor, other favs
Just like most everyone here, a lot of other stuff!
When Franklin heads into his backyard to cook a steak for dinner, he does so on a PK original. It is a steak cooking machine. I would risk divorce if I showed up with one so you all enjoy !!
Yeah the 360 is only really portable without the stand. And since the vents work on a flat (fireproof) surface, you could just bring the capsule. It’s pretty heavy and bulky.
I’ve transported an original (TX) to cook at an event and it was easy. I even brought a clip on fan and ran it with a controller for part of the cook (no mods needed, just some stuffing some aluminum foil to get a good air seal for the fan.)
I’ve cooked pretty much everything in the pks, the square, two zone setup is easy and (nearly) foolproof.
Henrik ive run between the lid and bottom and it can leave a tiny crack on far end of the same side. Very small and i consider it to be negligible. I have also run them up through the cool side vents on the bottom and then closed it as tight as i can. Also obviously leaves a small crack there. I havent had issues with temp control either way.
On the PKO I snapped the fan to the lower left and ran the probes through the upper left vent (coals on the right). I don't think going through the side would be much of a problem.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
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I'm interested in getting my Fireboard + Pit Viper to run this one too. I looked into ordering an adapter from BBQ Guru. But they charge a hefty 40 bucks for a simple adapter. Will see if I can somehow make one myself. I have the money, it's not that, but I think they charge too much. And then there's a 20-30 dollar shipping charge on top.
EDIT: when writing this, I looked up the different options, here are a few photos:
This is the bulkhead, what I originally thought of buying:
Then I looked into the others, here's one for the kettle:
And here's one for kamados:
The first one is 40 bucks, the other two cost 20 bucks. I'm thinking either of the last two should work just as well. I can just screw them onto the grill over the hole I make with a step drill bit.
So, to all you clever people here in the pit: do you think it makes a difference if I choose the kettle adapter (which directs air down), or the kamado adapter which is just a straight 'hole'?
The good thing about purchasing one (instead of fabricating) is that it is stainless and a perfect fit. And bolting it to the grill is easy. We'll see how it goes, but any tips/recommendations are welcome. I'm gonna use the grill a few times to see how stable it is before modifying.
Either way, I kind of like the weber adaptor because it will by far be the easiest to mount. Just drill a hole and screw things together.
Last edited by Henrik; February 21, 2020, 03:13 AM.
It depends on where you mount it. In the kettle it directs down to keep ash, grease, etc from clogging the port. It sits below my drip n griddle, opposite my SnS so the air flow goes down, over the base, then up into my SnS. The air coming in is cold, so it will naturally go down versus the heated air in the kettle. This sets up a current toward the top vent.
In my head in struggling to see where you could effectively mount this on a pk to compliment the designed airflow of the grill without getting ash and hot coals into the fan. Especially if you are using a drip pan.
On the PK360, no modification is needed, as the weber adapter press-fits into the front of one of the vents, block the back of that vent and you are good to go.
I haven't modified the PKO for a fan yet. The auber fan will clip into one of the lower vents and I shoved a little aluminum foil in there to get a good seal. If I were to drill a hole for a fan port, if would probably do it on the hinge side, just under the charcoal grate and use the weber adapter with the hole facing down. Would keep ash and grease out of the port when not using the fan. Then I would follow my same pk360 procedure of foil on the charcoal grate to force all the air to the other side where my coals are and to block grease from getting in the bottom. With the fire on the opposite side, ash can pile up over there for quite a while before it blocks the fan airflow.
If I was drilling for a fan port anyway, I'd probably drill for a probe port also. I like not having anything get disturbed when I open the lid.
Polarbear777 Are you plugging the fan into one of the lower vents on the cool side then relying on the drip pan to deflect the air across to the coals? Im probably making this so much more complicated than it actually is in my head.
EDIT: never mind, i reread your post and you are using foil but same principle. That makes sense.
Last edited by grantgallagher; February 21, 2020, 08:22 AM.
I love my PK360, but you’re correct - not really portable. I bought a PKO awhile back with the original cart. But still not all that portable, does not fold up and you’d have to use an aluminum pan underneath to catch the ash. That bugged me. The PKTX carriage is great. Throw your tools and chimney inside the PK, toss a bag of charcoal over the TX handles and you’re ready to go. Love the dual ash catchers too. Very well designed. I purchased the PKGO carriage as well, but have not used it yet.
I started as a Weber guy, but I’m a PK convert now. Just waiting for them too put out a dedicated smoker and I’ll be all over it.
Aha, thanks for the photo! I wouldn’t even have guessed they were ash catchers if I had too. Very smart, once again this forum excels. Thanks again, can’t wait to cook on it.
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