Komado Joe at Costco (pics)

Gogogordy

jonnymack said:

Hey I love my BGE but would consider anything that makes the best food.  I'm curious what the people who have used both consider are the pluses and minuses to KJ and BGE.  What's the biggest draw to KJ's that would make me consider not getting an new BGE if needed?

I don't think there is anything wrong with this discussion whatsoever.  Nobody's here saying BGE sucks, just pointing out a relevant item to the ceramic cooking gurus here.  

^^^this^^^

SmokyBear

jonnymack said:

Hey I love my BGE but would consider anything that makes the best food.  I'm curious what the people who have used both consider are the pluses and minuses to KJ and BGE.  What's the biggest draw to KJ's that would make me consider not getting an new BGE if needed?

I don't think there is anything wrong with this discussion whatsoever.  Nobody's here saying BGE sucks, just pointing out a relevant item to the ceramic cooking gurus here.  

I own both and spent a lot of time looking at BGE, KJ and Primo as an addition to my beloved Mini BGE, so can say that the KJ has better "fit and finish" - better hinge, gasket, tables (bamboo vs. plastic), handle (ditto), nest, powder coated steel and a lot of nice innovations including pull out ash drawer (on Classic - not sure about Big Joe), "Divide and Conquer" two-sided / two tiered cooking system, and (someday if it's not a two headed mythical unicorn) very nice wireless pit controller called the BBQ Wizard.  (This has been announced but "in development" for far longer than anyone expected - kinda like the Mini Max!)

It's also about $250 cheaper than a comparably configured BGE.

Why NOT to buy a KJ - this forum blows theirs away by leaps and bounds..seems like a small(er) company that bit off more than they can chew and really don't get things to market as well as they should (my KJ as well as many others came without a lot of the parts for the D&C and it took MONTHS to get the right part, as they were apparently still on a boat from China).  I also got the feeling on more than one occasion that they are just plain overworked and understaffed, although when you do get ahold of them they are quite responsive and helpful.

That said, the Kamado IS very nice quality and appears to cook identically to a BGE.  We've had awesome food (and not so awesome food) off both my Mini BGE and the KJ, although the Mini uses about 1/20th the lump of the KJ also.  (For whatever reason, RO burns quickly and down to just about nothing in my KJ..I do seem to have a somewhat loose top dome on the dollar bill test and perhaps that's why..but no smoke coming out from the gasket area so who knows..)

tksmoke

It looks to me like this is not a Costco item, but a Road Show sale.  Costco rents floor space to various product manufacturers to give them exposure.  Sometimes it seems that they are evaluating product sales for possible inclusion in their product line.  Getting selected by Costco for inclusion in the product line is like hitting the lottery.

SunDeviledEgg

Looks like this thread is already getting pushed down by the moderators...

jonnymack

Thanks for the insight SmokyBear.  Hopefully, I'm many years from even having to consider another grill and I can continue to be happy with my large BGE.  Interesting about the lump burning.

caliking

Ceramic cookers will cook in a similar manner. Heck, you can make the equivalent out of a couple of flower pots and get good results. They are all essentially big, bulky, fragile items. What will set them apart is warranty, customer service, and support. The KJ sounds like it has big pluses, and if they can provide the kind of warranty and customer service that BGE (usually) does, then they will do well. Its good to have competition - the customer wins.

As far as selling through Costco, their retruns/service policies are awesome. Many BGE dealers don't really know much about the product (mine included), so I wouldn't be worried about the Costco folks not knowing about the cooker... that's why Al Gore invented the internet - to look up information. 

JwgreDeux

The road sale came to my local Birmingham Costco and the Jr did look nice. I bought some of there charcoal and really like it.

Gogogordy

caliking

LMAO!

SGH

@thailandjohn‌
Just curious. Do you know if the bands and hinges on the Joes will work on the BGE or not ?

thailandjohn

I don't know, but that would be nice if they would work on the BGE

SGH

@thailandjohn‌
Did you notice that this thread stopped bumping???

thailandjohn

Yes....strange?

GlennM

I wonder if a joe jr would be a great choice? The mini/max is taking too long!