I’ll freely admit that a significant appeal of the PK 360 is that it should remain rust-free. Aside from the cast aluminum clamshell, all the fittings and cooking grate are made of 316 stainless steel, while only the fuel grate is made of 304 stainless steel. And it’s got a 20-year warranty. The graphite model is also more appealing than the bare aluminum “silver” one for the simple reason that it won’t go white over time.
Totally agree about some of the otherwise nice looking steel grills kitted out with cheap fasteners and in many cases sub-par wheels and attachments. Masterbuilt, for example, doesn’t exactly live up to its name.
Is there a particular reason you’d favor the Weber E6 summit over, say, a Kamado Joe or a BGE? My understanding is that the ceramic ones are much more fuel efficient and weatherproof.
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The graphite model is also more appealing than the bare aluminum “silver” one for the simple reason that it won’t go white over time.
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Something to consider: I’ve had several lawnmowers with painted cast aluminum decks. The paint lasts awhile, but when it goes, it gets pretty ugly, because THEN it goes white.
Right, the other advantage is that the darker color will hide most of the smudges/staining that will inevitably be more visible on the silver model. Unfortunately the 360 is new enough that no one’s owned one for more than 5 years, so it’s hard to predict how the graphite powder coat will hold up over time.
It has a big enough firebox for logs, not chips. It has a big enough main chamber to use as a grill and do not just steaks and chops but a 900 degree pizza with a steel on the grates.
My version of this is slowly rusting away after>20 years even though it was THICK well casing… I could have it fixed, but the price might suggest replacement.
It was a Cuckwagon Cookers model. When I bought, I declined to get the smoking locker that went opposite the firebox. I regretted it almost immedistely.
I have a green egg and it works great. I theoretic favor the Weber for its durability (assuming it’s metal construction will outlast ceramic and won’t crack with use or break if it tips).
It’s also lighter and easier to move around.
Temperature can be reduced more easily if it gets hotter than intended.
I have read they are less fuel efficient compared to ceramic kamados.
Since you already own a BGE I’m surprised you wouldn’t see a simpler grill like a Weber or PK as complementary for quicker grilling tasks. Is your BGE damaged?
Presumably the trade-off with heat adjustability is heat stability, right? I.e., if the BGE can hold a steadier temperature but is harder to change, while the Weber is easier to change… it must also be less stable?
In my experience, the BGE is pretty quick to fire up. My guess is that it would be the same time for a similar diameter Weber.
One of the drawbacks of the BGE however, is that if you don’t remove the ashes after use, it won’t heat up as quickly anymore. Remaining ashes will also hinder the BGE to become really hot again.
Really? I’d have thought the increased mass of ceramic (vs relatively light metal) would make a substantial difference to heat-up times. Most commenters online suggest as much, anyway.
How hard is it to remove the ash, though? Is there a drawer at the bottom like with the Kamado Joe?
Yes, there is a drawer at the bottom. But it takes a bit of time to get everything out. Plus you need to buy this expensive BGE thing that fits the opening of the drawer.
Heating times. If you grill directly over charcoals, no lid, then there isn’t really a difference. Then the heating time is more a function of the charcoals used. Also keep in mind that the BGE does not need a lot of coals.
Plus, as the charcoal starts burning, the temperature will increase dramatically - as a cook you’d want to wait for the charcoal’s heat to settle down to a lower level (you’ll see it when it becomes grey) so that it gives out a constant temp. This holds true for the Weber and the BGE, so in either case I’d would not recommend starting grilling asap but wait a bit for the coals to settle in.
My BGE isn’t damaged. I’m always interested in trying tools that I perceive to have meaningful advantages. In this case I think the Weber e6 would not cook food better but would have the advantages I mentioned.
I see your point about heat adjustability, but I wonder if there is a trade off, or perhaps this is simply an advantage?
As an analogy, does the heat responsiveness if a copper sauté pan have a trade off when compared to a cast iron pan of similar dimensions? The latter is less heat responsive. Does that make the former less stable? Does the cook have difficulty maintaining stable temperatures in a copper sauté? Maybe the copper sauté simply has an advantage over the cast iron without much of a drawback in terms of trade off.
I have not used the Weber e6 so I can’t opine with experience, and clearly the analogy has limitations since neither of these devices are copper or cast iron. However, I do think it’s worth pondering if heat responsiveness is directly related to temperature stability, assuming a constant fuel source (charcoal with controlled inlet and outlet air flow, both in the case of Weber e6 and BGE). I can imagine how they might be independent.
I think this analogy is a little strained in the context of a grill. To wit, cast iron has much better heat retention than copper.
With a kamado-style grill, heat retention is a prized attribute, especially for low-and-slow cooking. That’s why the ceramic ones – with more mass and consequently greater heat retention – are usually described as superior, both in terms of temperature stability as well as fuel efficiency. The relatively thinner metal sides of the Weber will likely be more responsive to temperature changes, and as a result it’s lighter to move around. Plus the all-metal construction is less fragile than ceramic models.
Do you think the Weber will be as weatherproof as the BGE, though, or is that not an issue where you live? From what I’ve read a lot of the fittings aren’t marine-grade stainless, and the wheels are the same inexpensive models as found on their basic kettle grills. It just seems like a lot of $$ for what you get. By the coast in Ireland I’d worry particularly about corrosion.
I’m not seriously considering a Kamado-style grill for myself, but if I were I’d probably opt for a Kamado Joe over the alternatives. It seems to have a better design and feature set for less money. Just a pity more of them aren’t oval in cross-section, like the Primo XL Oval (which is too expensive again).
I’m in Northern California. In our climate there’s almost never snow, so that makes the equation different than other parts of the country and world.
The Weber is definitely too much money for what you get. I think it should be priced at $649-699 retail.
But so are the ceramic ones in my opinion. I hope competition drives the price down in the coming years. Meanwhile I’m hoping one turns up on the secondary market in the next 6-12 months.
