Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer Buffet BGE vs. KJ vs. Primo

I hate to even ask, but I need to get opinions:

Which one?
Which size?
What shape?
Why?

I know there is a loyal following of all three on Aldeer.

Here are some of my factors:

1. Value: I want to spend less than $1,000 on smoker plus all the cool standard accessories. If possible.

2. I want to be able to cook a dozen burgers or 6-8 steaks at a time.

3. I want to be able to smoke 2 chickens at same time on vertical racks.

4. I want to be able to cook ribs without cutting in half, but this isn't a deal breaker.

So many choices, so many reviews, hard to tell the difference in basic comparison. I do not drop money like this very often. But my gas grill rusted out finally and my old trusty $40.00 water smoker has seen 12 long years of use. Time to upgrade!

HELP!!!

Include pics if you have them. Show me what your set up looks like, what accessories you find most important, FOOD PICS! etc...

Don't have time for a long reply right now. Any of those will work great. Members on this forum have all 3.

As for #3, once you spatchcock a chicken you will forget about the vertical smoking.

Neither,get a green mountain grills Daniel boone model pellet smoker and take all the guesswork out of temp control;just set the digital temp control and let her eat. Mine will get to 500 degrees easy so you can also do pizzas/bread,etc. Worth a look since the Daniel boone goes for $8-900 and is much bigger than any of the ones you have listed

I don't think there is a dimes worth of difference in the 3.

I gotta agree. Not much difference in the 3. I just sold my two BGE's (large and a medium), but only because it was better to sell them and buy another than try to ship.

Here's a post I did of some of the things I've cooked over the years.

BGE Cooking in Pictures

Spatchcock a chicken on them and you'll never worry about a beer/coke can again.

Thanksgiving Turkey is awesome.

I honestly can't think of anything I've had off of one that was bad.

I bought a KJ last May, and did my research as well, comparing all three. I ended up with the "classic Joe" 18". From my research, it and the large BGE are pretty much equal across the board. Except price. I found that for what I can get the KJ, including the "nest" that it comes with, ash tool, and grill grabber tool (that was all standard accesories), while they also threw in a ceramic drunk chicken holder and a bag of lump charcoal. All that cost the same as just the BGE, no nest or anything else, so that's ~$100 more for the BGE with the nest. I love the KJ, and have done several different types of cooks on it, although I have failed to take pics most of the time. I liked the fact that the KJ came with a nest, since I was not ready to commit the patio space needed for a permanent table, and I can roll the grill around on the patio depending on wind and smoke direction.

I did strongly consider the Primo, as the oval shape would be great for a much larger cooking area.

As far as accessories, I haven't really bought any. I did make a heat deflector for indirect cooks by using a round cooking stone that my wife never used, 3 solid bricks, and an extra grill grate that I had. I just put the stone on the regular grilling grate, then 3 bricks on the stone, then the extra grill grate on the stones, and meat on top of extra grate. Its worked pretty well so far like that. much cheaper than buying official KJ heat deflector. 2nd picture is using my homemade heat deflector with a small wild pork shoulder.

You'll need to shop around because when I bought my egg I got the grabber, ash tool and lump as a part of a deal. I never wanted the nest since I was building a table so that did not factor into the equation.

Take a look here.

Primo XL

I got the Vision Pro at Home Depot online, saved enough $$$ to buy lump charcoal for the next 5 years. It works great!

I researched those damn things for almost 4 months before I decided on one. Long story short, I didn't choose the Primo because of the odd shape and their lack of accessories, it wouldn't be easy to find oval shaped accessories to fit that grill as well as the 8-10 that I looked at had spider cracking on the outside shell of all of them.

I chose the Kamado Joe strictly because of the hardware, the thickness of the ceramic and the overall sturdy feel of the KJ compared to the BGE. Several of my friends own a BGE and living close to salt water, most of their rings and springs had rusted. The KJ's had no sign of rust. I have been 110% satisfied with my KJ and actually had my first dealings with their customer service. I was cleaning out my firebox a few days ago to get ready to smoke a brisket and noticed my firebox had a crack in it. I took pictures of it, sent it to Meghan at Kamado Joe in an email at 3:40 this afternoon by 4:00, Meghan had replied and wanted my shipping address to send me a whole new firebox overnight Monday morning. So basically my problem was taken care of and resolved in 20 minutes. Either way you go, just do NOT go smaller than the Classic Joe or the Large egg, you will be really sorry if you do.

I have a large BGE. You can get some good package deals for under 1000

Live 04 spolier said. Don't go smaller then the large is the best advice I can give

Primo oval

Another vote for the Primo. Much more versatile, and a larger ccooking area. You can both direct and indirect cook at the same time.

Not really sure what kind of accessories that one would need that's not already made for the Primo.

The "spider cracking" is totally normal for ceramic grill/smokers. It's called "crazing", and most ceramic grills do it...

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm#glaze

I will second what he said!! I LOVE my Primo XL oval, and have cooked on a BGE as well.. the Primo is just more versatile from my experience and offers a whole lot more room.

Primo oval Xl here! I

Another Primo XL owner here

I have enjoyed my BGE for years now, however when people ask me your question. I tell them I'd get the Primo oval, no question about it. The larger grilling area would help when we have a gathering.

I have a friend that has the XL BGE and that thing is a beast, it's also time consuming getting all those coals going.

Quick question...how long does it take to cook...lets see...15 hamburger patties, as in concession stand type patties on one of those contraptions?