Retired my pellet grill for a Kamado Joe. Eventually will put it in an outdoor kitchen with a gas grill and boiling station. So much nicer than my old Traeger
My newest poolside addition
- Thread starter SamsIam
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 24,454
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
CONGRATS!!!
I'm an Egg-man but I love all ceramic smokers! And your plan for an ODK sounds great...I have a gas grill next to my Egg and I love having the flexibility. A boiling station sounds like a great idea too.
My next house, pool and ODK are going to be EPIC ???
I'm an Egg-man but I love all ceramic smokers! And your plan for an ODK sounds great...I have a gas grill next to my Egg and I love having the flexibility. A boiling station sounds like a great idea too.
My next house, pool and ODK are going to be EPIC ???
yea i figured why not. we usually do two crawfish boils a year (probably more once it is in an ODK) and since i have NG over there i figured it sure is easier than digging out the burner and setting up in the driveway... 
Boiling station, never heard of that before but I like the sound.
What kind of output can you get from your NG? My really old school mudbug burner sounds like it has an after-burner.
Traeger fans talk really highly of them so it's nice to hear someone say the ceramic is better. Kamado Jo's been on my wish list for a little while.
What kind of output can you get from your NG? My really old school mudbug burner sounds like it has an after-burner.
Traeger fans talk really highly of them so it's nice to hear someone say the ceramic is better. Kamado Jo's been on my wish list for a little while.
Congratulations! I own the Kamado Joe Big Joe and the Kamado Joe Jr. I love those cookers, and use them often!
Welcome to the KJ Family!
Welcome to the KJ Family!
Congrats! We have the acorn. My husband loves it! We actually use it more for plain grilling now than smoking since we just bought an electric smoker. We just made an outdoor kitchen and the only issue is the "appliances" have been growing since putting on the porch cover. We have some sort of free standing propane burner boiling big pot thingy we use for low country or crawdad boils. Have fun and good eating!
Actually a good question. I will have to check into that and worst case just use propane for that.
Hi Scottsams. I have a Traeger and my next upgrade will likely be to a Rec-Tec. What made you decide to abandon pellet grills? I love the convenience/performance.
- Flappy
- Flappy
Flappy,
loved the pellet grill but there were a few frustrations i had with it. one main issue was moisture getting into hopper and clogging my auger at the most inopportune times. also it was my only grill so no real sear capabilities. also, if flame went out and you miss it, watch out on reignition... i did that a couple of times and it is amazing how much a little cup of pellets can burn! aside from the sear, that is all preventable but i was ready to move on to something that could give me the high heat and a lot more smoke - hard to get a good smoke on a pellet compared to a wood smoker. if i were to do it over again i would have gone with a Yoder. you may check them out. they are rated pretty high. convenience of a pellet grill is great - fire it up and minutes and you are off. no argument there.
good luck with your next one!
loved the pellet grill but there were a few frustrations i had with it. one main issue was moisture getting into hopper and clogging my auger at the most inopportune times. also it was my only grill so no real sear capabilities. also, if flame went out and you miss it, watch out on reignition
... i did that a couple of times and it is amazing how much a little cup of pellets can burn! aside from the sear, that is all preventable but i was ready to move on to something that could give me the high heat and a lot more smoke - hard to get a good smoke on a pellet compared to a wood smoker. if i were to do it over again i would have gone with a Yoder. you may check them out. they are rated pretty high. convenience of a pellet grill is great - fire it up and minutes and you are off. no argument there.good luck with your next one!
I would also consider Blaz'n. I narrowed my choice down to Rec Tec and went with the Blaz'n. Very happy.
Yoder looks far more heavy duty than anything I have seen so far. It is 100lbs heavier than the comparable Blaz'n.
My natural gas grill is on it's last year, I was looking at a Safire.... similar to the Kamado. I have no experience with this type of unit. I was strictly a gas grill man. What would the advantages and disadvantages be? Since some of you are using and keeping both it makes me wonder.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,454
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Ceramic smokers have a much wider range of stable temps. My Egg can reliable hold 220F with just a simple adjustment if the baffles and it can get as hot as 700F (don't ask me how o know that [emoji15][emoji91]). Using lump wood charcoal adds as smokey taste to the food that is impossible to mimic on a gas grille. With my plate-setter in place, I can also easily switch between direct heat or indirect heat for low & slow cooking.
Gas grilles are great for quick burgers and dogs and other items you just want to add some grill marks to. I have both a gas grille and Egg side-by-side and so I use both.
Holydoc
Gold Supporter
- Jul 17, 2016
- 499
- Pool Size
- 17500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Matt,
On my Weber Gas Grill, I have a smoker box (https://www.amazon.com/Weber-7541-G...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=J93WEHGK5APPFMB2XFAN) that I put wet wood chips in to create that smoky flavor when I BBQ. I have cooked ribs for hours using this smoke box with excellent results.
Just giving you more options if you don't have room for several grills.
Congrats on your new JOE!! I highly recommend the Kamado Joe,grilling ,smoking and more Facebook group for fantastic recipes ideas and help/support. I'm about to put my 3 year old JoE in the ODK island. I burn it almost every single day when home.
- Apr 23, 2017
- 2,400
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I must say this is the first time I have seen someone say they wanted to move away from Traeger...I almost bout one but my WSM and built in grill work just great...
great grills but i wanted something that could crank the heat and get a real heavy smoke.
