Kamado smoker / grill opinions

[KB007]

I've been using a little horizontal two part smoker for a while now. It's a char broil I think and it's rusting away, time for something new. I've been hearing a lot about the Kamado style smoker/grills being very good for low and slow and smoking. Things like the big green egg, the broil king keg etc. Easy to use and priced < $1000.

Anyone own one of these or similar and have any comments?

 

[fishingpol]

My neighbor is smoking ribs right now on a Weber silver bullet smoker. He can get 225* burns for 8-9 hours with one load of charcoal. I've used the side box smokers and used 1 bag of charcoal for a 9 hour pork butt. It was such a waste of fuel.

Big Green Eggs are nice from what I hear, as they keep the food moist. I don't know if they can be used as smokers though. Yes, they are expensive too.

 

[HeatsTwice]

I had been using the metal kettle webber type BBQ for 23 years. Two years ago I bought a Big Green Egg.

Its been great. The 200 degree burn for 12 hours is perfect for pork shoulder, whole turkeys and brisketts. Its also capable of up to 800 degree cooking for anything you don't or won't put into your kitchen oven. I've done, everything on it and would buy it again if given a choice. I also use it as a smoker.

No regrets, except that, I found a larger Komado at Costco for the same price as my medium size Big Green Egg a year after I bought it.

You can always get a stand for the BGE but I found some designs on the web and built my own out of old deck wood and left over tile. It was a fun project and turn out nice. I use it about 3 times a week and am very happy with it.

It looks much nicer than the other BBQ/smokers I saw around and now serves as a fixture on my front deck BBQ area.

 

[KB007]

Bought a large egg on Sat and I am really happy with it!

Got a great deal on the store's demo unit - they've used it maybe 6 times for store BBQ days and they wanted to move it out with fall coming to make space for more wood stoves. I bought the stand really as a temp thing, I lan on building a nice cart for it ( nice job btw). The sales guy threw in a bunch of stuff I would have had to buy if new like the platesetter, the second rack/shelf, grill tool.

Used it Sat for some ribs and Sun to grill some beef - both turned out awesome. Way easier to use than my old char broil, and I especially like the safety - keeps all the hot coals well inside the unit where the old one would sometime have them falling out the air adjustment.

Gonna smoke some nice salmon for dinner tonite - love this thing - so easy to run.

 

[HeatsTwice]

Gosh, you've gotten a great deal. I had to buy the plate setter separately.

Congrats.