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I bought this for $499 before Xmas. Not sure if this is now the normal price or sales price. Love the BBQ - can smoke and grill.
Bunnings Warehouse - Akorn Kamado BBQ $398
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Which Weber do u have? People here constantly raving about Webers here, I don't really see what the big deal about them is.
Q220,bought when we lived in a complex and could not have charcoal. The weber was OK, but it does not do what this one can, totally different… It would probably melt at some of the high temperatures we had this at :D
Bought it with a luftlighter which gets it going very quickly.
the q200 just hasnt got enough heat and kinda stews the meat. I think the 100 is fine but I know by my sisters 200 that it isnt great (also read it in reviews too). And the plastic shelves etc are poor quality.
I too dont see the big deal about them, people seem to be raving fans, almost like apple or thermomix owners.
It's about convenience & result. I have a weber Q320, and can get home from work at 6pm and have a bbq dinner on the table by 6:30. I currently live in Germany - it was about 2 degrees outside last night and I was still outside cooking for the family and had dinner in the table in 30 mins. Not possible with charcoal bbq's. Add to that in Australia - days of total fire ban mean gas (or electric) are the only option. As far as gas bbq's go - I think the give much better results than the standard 4/6 burner.
You don't get the smokey bbq's flavour and you can't do the very slow cooking - but that's the sacrifice for convenience… However as noted by @Pobman - they're totally different bbq's.
The Q320 certainly gets hot enough for searing, but I have read reports/reviews that the Q220 doesn't really get hot enough as it has only one burner.
I previously had the Q120 and it was okay and fantastic for a small situation, but the cooking surface is too small even for a small family.@braddsey:
Yep, that's what I have read too. The 100 and 300 are hot enough but 200 series ( which I suspect is the big seller) is not. It seems to have the same burner as a 100.And I would never buy a charcoal on either, too much hassle but watching pit master on Foxtel and all the meat they cook certainly makes it inviting.
@PVA: Charcoal takes a while to get used to the lighting of but half the problem is people are usually running late with last minute preps and they can never get it started fast enough, and time seems to slow down when that happens.
Once you have a system it's not really that bad, you can adjust heat by moving charcoal around, knowing the hot and cold parts, knowing how long it will take before you can start cooking, the ideal amount to put in for what you are cooking, etc. It's like anything it takes time to practice but once you know your bbq (and even with gas you need to know your bbq) then it's not that much work (but yes definitely more than gas is still).
Our bbqs tend to be long term half nighters because we don't usually get to catch up with people often enough these days so they can turn into long drinking sessions, and I usually have an array of nibbles (salted onion, pineapple, marinated chicken wings) to go with the grog and it's just not feasible to have a gas bbq on for 6 or 8 hours, and it's much harder to sit around also. If I was cooking the nightly meal on it I agree it would have to be gas, and actually I do have a gas bbq which I use for that, so it's horse for courses for me (I just didn't pay the $3-600 that people seem to be paying for webers). It's not perfect but again once you know the bbq you work with it
@Jackson:
I am sure the food tastes great how you cook it too.
We are never that organised for a charcoal BBQ even though I would love one. Would love to cook ribs and big slabs of meat for hours and hours and have that great smokey charcoal taste but instead I have to pay a fortune at a steak restaurant :(
Maybe one day I will figure it out.@PVA:
Using the luftlighter and a little practice I can get the bbq up to temps about as quickly as the Q220, using charcoal or the coconut shell fuel seems faster than other fuels… With coconut shell fuel you need to throw some wood chips in too once it's going.
Of course as discussed the Q220 is perhaps under powered for its size thus takes longer to heat up anyway.
Anyway very glad I got this bbq… If it ever falls to bits I will consider one of the big green eggs or other full priced versions of this same type.
@PVA: Neither am I, I just meant that after dinner we tend to keep up a cycle of drinking and eating until we crash, so new thing are hitting the BBQ all night. Might try to slow cook something one day, a mate did a turducken for a day once, I am not that keen yet
Sorry my bad spelling… Looftlighter is the name.
http://www.looftlighter.comI think it was about $40 but could be wrong… Combine it with a bbq lighter for even faster lighting.
Lots of people like the bbq chimney lighters, not tried one of those.
@Pobman: I have my method down pat for lighting in my current BBQ with lighters, but it's on its last legs so I have a new one. Takes 45min to an hour, but if I could do it without the lighters I'm less time it would be good. 40 doesn't sound too bad for one you can plug in and reuse, if they are reliable and don't fail often
@Jackson:
Had it a year… used it 100+ times … it is definitely faster on charcoal than Heat Beads, the Kamado BBQs use little fuel compared to normal ones so we mostly use charcoal.As mentioned if you want really fast pop in a red head started and aim the looftlighter at that … The trick with the kamado type BBQ is not letting it get to hot in the first place, took a while to get used to setting the right gaps on the airflow restrictors at the right time…
I've been wanting to buy one of these, but last month they didn't have any in SA.
There's no indication of this price being a discount (or deal of any sort) on their site…
Was looking at these for a 50th present recently. At the time the Bunnings price was still $500 so opted to go for an apparently better model ($770) at Costco. However, for $398 would have opted for this one. Seems to get reasonable reviews at the Aussie BBQ Forums and places like that.
I'd personally still stick with the Vision Grills from Costco its alot better in terms of quality and the spare parts and aftermarket parts are easier to get.
Kettle bbq's using briquettes give great flavour you won't achieve with most conventional (gas/electric) BBQs but they're a pita for regular use - slow setup, cleaning etc. Still worth having for special occasions.
Cleaning this one is easy… Open the air vents and let it heat up to 700F or so… Then brush clean… Close vents and charcoal stops burning and cools down, then spray grill with oil… Job done. It uses very little fuel and what's left after it goes out you use again next time… Use our one 1-3 times a week now.
Important to use an all metal brush, the cheaper plastic and metal ones will melt when cleaning at such temperatures….
We had guests over for xmas day and bought this the day before…I'm still mopping up tears!
Anyway, it's a great cooker. My smoked paella turned out fantastic.
Probably about the same…if not even using same parts… The Bunnings one is sold in various guises around the world… Some with different shelves, stand or extras…
Just out of interest I googled Kamado and found 'good' ones are more like $1500!
'Good' ones are ceramic,,, heavy and costly. These ones are metal and insulation… They can't got quite as hot but cost a lot less.
One of hubby's work colleague's got one of those recently and raves about it.
One thing to note is the thermometer on these things is not great… Partly as it's dome rather than grill. For low and slow etc you will need to invest in a proper thermometer, got our one from Amazon.
Really like this bbq, build quality not amazing but it's Ok.
Since getting this a year ago only used our weber once, the result on this are so much better. It can do searingly hot, as well as low and slow or smoking and anything in between.
Very versatile.