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In the market for a smoker

Tammy
Tammy Posts: 7
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
We have narrowed it down to a BGE or a Primo. I assume most of you on here own the BGE, but I would love to get an honest comparison of the two. Do you think it's worth the money since we already have a large, natural gas grill? Also, should we buy the table/cart by the same company or have something custom made out of stone for just a little more? TIA!

Comments

  • I went through the same decision process. Took 2 years! I wish I had just bought the BGE when I started looking. I had high end Webers, sold them. The bottom line is if you don't like your BGE you can always sell it for a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than you paid for it. Lots of folks will buy it. And build your own table!
  • Rolling Egg
    Rolling Egg Posts: 1,995
    You will find a ton of BGE lovers here. You will only find a few that have had any dealings with Primo. For all I know they are great cookers. Do you need a ceramic smoker? Yes! The egg is the best cooker I have ever owned. Is the Primo any less of a cooker? Probably not. The egg has a great reputation and has,from what I've seen, great customer support and a strong forum following. This forum is priceless. I think Primo has a forum but I have no experiance with it. I think you would be happy with either but at the same time I will tell you that I'm glad I went with egg.Why? I guess it's the support I find here and the comfort knowing I have a great cooker with a lifetime warranty that turns out better quality food than most restaurants. Good luck with your choice. I urge you to search for any food you like to cook using the search block at the top of the forum. Endless ideas!
  • Not sure why you would think anyone here would recommend a primo, but I would repeat what Rolling Egg said

    Egghead forum - 14,629 members and 691,650 Posts
    Newest member - Tammy (Dats you B))

    Primo forum - 5,356 members and 67,000 posts
    Newest member - rootcanal1 (Dats not you :unsure: )

    I suspect Primo is very similar - buy from whomever you think will give you the best service, closest to your house, or the one with the most "stuff" in their store, or who know their product - ask them how it works - it's surprising the number of folks who sell stuff and don't know what they are selling. If they can't answer your questions run out as fast as you can.

    Okay - now that you have decided on an Egg, you must decide which size or sizes. Get a large and a small :)
  • "The egg is the best cooker I have ever owned. Is the Primo any less of a cooker? Probably not. The egg has a great reputation and has,from what I've seen, great customer support and a strong forum following. This forum is priceless. I think Primo has a forum but I have no experience with it. I think you would be happy with either but at the same time I will tell you that I'm glad I went with egg.Why? I guess it's the support I find here and the comfort knowing I have a great cooker with a lifetime warranty that turns out better quality food than most restaurants."

    I couldn't have said it any better! I used to own a metal smoker and a propane gas grill/rotisserie and NOTHING even comes close to what I can do with my Large BGE which I've loved for over 10 years. Oh, and I'm legally blind and have no worries at all with safety, quality of food and ease of use.

    Lifetime warranty with a lifetime amazing forum is reason enough, but the money you save in going out to eat will amaze you as well and help offset the cost of your BGE.

    Good Luck,

    Joey
  • edg1
    edg1 Posts: 86
    Hi Tammy,

    My comment would be on the wood table. Don't bother buying the BGE version. After bringing mine home, I put over 100 wood screws into it, because I don't think that the factory construction is sound enough. Of course, I could be wrong. Just my opinion. Have something custom made.

    As for the egg itself, I highly recommend them. I am new to the egg, about 1 month now. But I really enjoy using it.

    Also, there is a forum here that is focused on the tables. More advice & ideas are available there.

    Take care,

    edg
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    For the table options, only you can make that decision.

    For BGE, I got BGE mostly because of the folks on the forum and what I read about BGE customer service and warranty fixes as well as the accessories available.

    Started with 1 BGE and ended up, so far, with 4.

    GG
  • NibbleMeThis
    NibbleMeThis Posts: 2,295
    To answer your question, yes it is worth getting a ceramic cooker over a gasser.

    As far as trying to decide between the Egg and a Primo, I only have experience with the Egg and won't give you my biased opinion;)
    Knoxville, TN
    Nibble Me This
  • TNmike
    TNmike Posts: 643
    Many of us here, like GG posted above, own multiple BGE's. If we weren't satisfied with the BGE itself, the service, support, and the forum I don't think we would have bought more EGGs. I've only got 3. ;)

    Oh, and it is more than a smoker- grill, smoker, oven.
  • THA
    THA Posts: 198
    I think your biggest quandry would be what color to paint it to make a great storage cabinate for you eggcessores. I have not touched mine since I got my egg.
  • Tammy
    Tammy Posts: 7
    The store we were at today sold both brands. The man that was helping us currently has a large BGE that he loves. However, he said he is getting ready to buy the XL Primo. He wants it for the oval shape and for another reason that I forgot (diving the firebox or something). He also said he is single and does a lot of entertaining. He will keep both. His first suggestion was the XL Primo, but he said if I was going to buy the large that we should go with the BGE.
  • Tammy
    Tammy Posts: 7
    Thanks for all your responses! I am curious why some of you purchase 3 or 4 though. Do you buy different sizes for different things or do you just cook for a lot of people?
  • Sundown
    Sundown Posts: 2,980
    What is NEVER discussed here is the fact many of the Eggers have Primos along with their Eggs. And over in the Grey Room you'll find names that were here for many years many of them were the stakeholders in this forum. And I know that besides their Ovals and larges there is a good sprinkling of Eggs.

    From some recent experiences, the two cook so much alike you could never tell the difference which product the food came from.

    This is a more active forum and growing constantly we have 14,000+ registered users the Grey Room not quite as many.

    In short, you'll pick the product that best suits you.

    PS Saw your post over there.
  • Tammy
    Tammy Posts: 7
    What is the grey room?

    It sounds like we can't go wrong with either product.
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    If for no other reason, avoid having to hear people say "Is that Like a Green Egg?".
  • Sounds like you have found a knowledgeable dealer regardless of which direction you head.
  • My gas grill (a very nice 4 burner high BTU all stainless) has not been used for quite a while. Hopefully I'm giving that gasser away to my nephew who thought a new car was a wiser investment than a BGE (I think he made a mistake). I only use my two Lg BGEs for my outside cooking.