Anyone here regularly use a Kamado?

[WhaleinaTeardrop]

I have a chance to get a Regular Kamado Joe BNIB w/warranty for $550; for those of you with both, are they really worth the premium over a kettle? 

I'm concerned about the price for the size, I bought my 6-year old son a 18.5 for $30 and some change a couple of months back, so it feels strange/wrong to pay so much for less area; it might even be different if I could get a similar discount on a Big Joe, but no such luck....

[jcnaz]

I think that @LightningBoldtz has some sort of ceramic cooker...there may be others.

[LightningBoldtz]

OK, here's the dealio with a kamado.  They are a unique piece of equipment for the backyard.  While many people do grill on them, I hardly ever do.  Maybe it's because I have a weber and would rather do my grilling session on something that I can flip over to indirect, IDK.
HOWEVER,  There is truth to the thought that somethin' magical happens when you smoke on them.  It is one of my default cookers when I am doing an overnight or ribs or most anything that I have to smoke.  I would never give up my webers, they have a function, but I am a fan of the ceramic cookers. If horizontal space is a concern you might want to look elsewhere going vertical though you can really pack it in on these cookers.

[WhaleinaTeardrop]

I've been drooling over Kamados at Costco, Sam's and Lowe's for the past 3 years and even have the official OK from the wife, but as a Business Major with a concentration in Econ, I have a hard time rationalizing the cost difference 10x between a Kamado and a kettle....but at almost half the regular price, it's a lot easier for me to swallow.

More importantly, as good as I've gotten at dialing on the kettles for smoking, I would like the almost set it and forget it ease and the possibility of reliable all night smoking that a Kamado offers....

[LightningBoldtz]

$550 seems like a really good deal for a Kamado Joe.

[crowderjd]

It's a bargain compared to this kamado I've been drooling over five minutes from my house...I'd love to have it, but my wife and kids seem to prefer things like food, clothes, and roof over their heads. 

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/for/5735366232.html

[Darko]

Here's the thing everyone seems to miss. You want to cook something. Great! How do you want to cook it? Low & slow? Hot and fast?

Now, can you cook the thing you want to cook with the equipment you have. Can you cook it the way you want to cook it?

What exactly can you do on a Kamado, Tandoor, Weber kettle, WSM, gasser.... that you cannot do on one of the others without modifying technique?

[adamr94]

I recommend trying a Char-griller Akorn first. I bought mine last weekend at Walmart for 150. Good way to try Kamado cooking without spending an arm and a leg on a ceramic.

[Darko]

So what exactly can you cook on the Akorn that I can not cook on my Weber kettle?

[THUNDERDOME]

I have an XL Egg. I love it.

With that being said. I bet I use my Weber 22.5" 10 to 1.

I live in AZ so that insulation provided by the Ceramic doesn't benefit me as much as it may others.

[DarrenC]

Here's the thing everyone seems to miss. You want to cook something. Great! How do you want to cook it? Low & slow? Hot and fast?

Now, can you cook the thing you want to cook with the equipment you have. Can you cook it the way you want to cook it?

What exactly can you do on a Kamado, Tandoor, Weber kettle, WSM, gasser.... that you cannot do on one of the others without modifying technique?

This exactly.

If you are interested in ceramics and you want one, I can guarantee you'll find a way to talk yourself into it.  Nothing wrong with buying what you want, but you won't ever rationalize the purchase with any practical cooking argument.

I have used a large BGE extensively in the past, and while it certainly was cool and had a good historical story IMO there is no way it is worth the expense, limited capacity, and incredibly awkward size/weight.  Of course I have the personal experience of being derailed by the tiniest piece of gravel on a concrete floor and ending up with a thousand bucks worth of broken green ceramic shards, so I'm certain I'm biased on this particular subject   

[swamprb]

I got into BBQ through the introduction to a Big Green Egg at a BBQ competition in Seattle. I didn't know who they were at the time, but they were cooking as Bonesmokers BBQ. It was Ray Lampe - Dr. BBQ, Jim Minion and Chris Lilly! Yeah Big Bob Gibson Chris Lilly! They won the event! On a Klose and BGE's.

Got inspired and jumped right in and learned the BGE and WSM at essentially the same time, got into kettles later on.

My signature (which needs to be revised - hint hint @Troy) kind of says I've got a pit problem that needs more cowbell! Along with my teammates Klose, FEC, Lang & Peoria, I know my way around them as well.

I've got three Large BGE's but don't use them much, but like quality specialized tools, they come in handy when you need them. I've always had a thing for Japanese Kamado's and its how I got into BBQ restoring them. I don't have much stomach for the Eggheads elitists that drank the kool-ade. Never really learned anything from their shitty forums, but did meet some good folks that cooked on other pits as well as Eggs and we share a common bond-master your pit! Whatever it is.

This is more than a hobby for me and I would get bored fast cooking on one specific pit, but thats just me. If I had to name my desert island pick it would be a 22" Weber kettle.

Will that Kamado Joe change your life?

Get back to us on that.

[fljoemon]

I do have a Large Big Green Egg that I used to use for grilling/smoking etc. I finally assembled my Weber 22.5 OTG that was sitting in my garage unopened for 6 years and finally got to using it. Now it is my everyday griller. I do not even know the last time I used my Weber gasser. The speed in using the charcoal chimney to light the briquettes and getting ready to cook in 15 mins is awesome. I do use my BGE for smoking ribs/briskets/salmon etc. But for quick evening dinners, its been the Weber kettle.

[Troy]

I got into BBQ through the introduction to a Big Green Egg at a BBQ competition in Seattle. I didn't know who they were at the time, but they were cooking as Bonesmokers BBQ. It was Ray Lampe - Dr. BBQ, Jim Minion and Chris Lilly! Yeah Big Bob Gibson Chris Lilly! They won the event! On a Klose and BGE's.

Got inspired and jumped right in and learned the BGE and WSM at essentially the same time, got into kettles later on.

My signature (which needs to be revised - hint hint @Troy) kind of says I've got a pit problem that needs more cowbell! Along with my teammates Klose, FEC, Lang & Peoria, I know my way around them as well.

I've got three Large BGE's but don't use them much, but like quality specialized tools, they come in handy when you need them. I've always had a thing for Japanese Kamado's and its how I got into BBQ restoring them. I don't have much stomach for the Eggheads elitists that drank the kool-ade. Never really learned anything from their shitty forums, but did meet some good folks that cooked on other pits as well as Eggs and we share a common bond-master your pit! Whatever it is.

This is more than a hobby for me and I would get bored fast cooking on one specific pit, but thats just me. If I had to name my desert island pick it would be a 22" Weber kettle.

Will that Kamado Joe change your life?

Get back to us on that.

PMd you about sig. I think i fixed!

Also, this was your 1200th post!
I'm glad you're here. Does that mean we provide more value and less dip-shitted-ness than the egghead koolaid forums? =D

[WhaleinaTeardrop]

I'm prob the opposite of most on here in that as much as I want the Kamado, I convince myself to pull the trigger at full price.  Each fall, I try to wait out Costco and Sam's to buy one of their last Kamados for $249; I had money in hand and a tarp in the back of my Pilot a couple of years ago only to be told that I'd missed the last one by a day or two. 

What can't I cook on my Kettles?  As a PROUD son of Mississippi, I can do all manner of pig with my eyes closed and have done so once just to see if I could, but brisket and specifically, pastrami still vexes me.  Mine is good, not great.  Meat is quality, seasoning and cure is very good and have tried, minion, snake and crutching but to no avail....can never get it perfectly, done, moist and tender; one always gives.  I like my brisket:pastrami (and corned beef) relatively fatty, sliced thick and unctuous; when done right it's still super tender, but I have to slice mine SUPER thin to keep it tender.  One of my lifelong buds does his on a XL BGE and it is spectacular....so I'd have to say cook-wise, I'm chasing that.