Amazing smoker and grill at bargain price, see review for details.
Pit Barrel Cooker Grill/Smoker $399 @ Costco Docklands VIC (Membership Required)
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Lmaybelater333 on 23/10/2017 - 08:03 files.ozbargain.com.au (1978 clicks)
Last edited 23/10/2017 - 09:18 by 2 other users
Last edited 23/10/2017 - 09:18 by 2 other users
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Seems a bit much for a prebuilt UDS. You can probably get a clean, unlined 44g drum and the rest of the parts for >$200 and build your own in a couple of hours.
If anyone of you do decide to go this route, when I was getting my parts together I found it a lot cheaper to get ungalvanised expanded steel for the charcoal basket from Amazon. Impossible to get the ungalvanised stuff in Australia unless bought from a fabricator, who all quoted me ~$200 min. order, ended up getting a few small sheets for $30 delivered from Amazon.
Normal price at Costco. About 200 bucks cheaper than another Aussie seller when I was looking it up.
Can anyone comment on the difference in flavour of this vs kamado? Already have an Akorn, curious if this is a better smoker.
Smoke is smoke and heat is heat. It will taste the same during smoking, except this probably has more room for smoking. Due to better insulation, I would bet that the Akorn can hold a stable temperature better
I'm referring to the fat drippings that sizzle onto the coals in this vs onto a drip tray in a kamado, which may or may not impact flavour. Have you personally tasted food from both types of smokers?
Don't have to use a drip tray in the kamado if you don't want to! And +1 to the versatility of the Akorn! Wouldn't be without mine.
You would use some sort of heat deflector with this anyway. You do not want direct heat with smoking.
Probably better off grabbing a Bunnings bullet smoker or kamado imo. Kamado smokes fine and due to ceramic it holds heat very well, I would grab a kamado over this anyday. On the other hand I love my proQ bullet smoker. A little more expensive than this one for the elite model but smokes extremely well and is very versatile. The customer service and accessories are top notch and there are many support groups online that have the model.
I paid $600 for mine at BBQ plus, this is the cheapest I've seen it.
This guy smokes.
$400 is a lot to pay for something like this.
No offence OP but I think you paid a bit much at $600. An extra $50 would've gotten you a ProQ Excel Elite. Something like the ProQ (there are other similar designs) is much more versatile allowing various configurations and longer cooks (how easy is it to top up the coals for a 10-14hr cook in this).
Many BBQ's there? any idea what that NexGrill is on the RHS of you pic & how much it was?
I think it's a pretty standard gas 4 burner. Can't remember the price though (I was there on Sat)
Yeah, just starting out in the bbq smoking scene $600 was too much to pay but at $400 I think its a good deal.
I have cooked beef ribs, pork ribs, whole eye fillet and an 8kg brisket over 12hrs with hickory chips, all came out amazing.
So many positive reviews for this BBQ, Bob Hart, Max Good etc.
To top up coals just drop them in between the hanging meat.By all accounts this cooker is worth the money and is a good set and forget option. Just be aware the Costco units are made in China compared to other stock which is made in the USA, apparently with better materials. I've seen other retailers matching their USA made stock to the Costco price, that would be the real bargain!
It is a lot cheaper than the Weber Smokey Mountain anyway, which is an awesome piece of kit.
The markup the Australian wholesalers charge is horrendous. Perhaps we will get parity with the Amazon US prices when they launch (plus factoring in GST and shipping etc).
Costco will be pumping these out for months to come. They're a good entry into the low and slow scene, but bare in the mind the following:
- Fornetto Razzo is cheaper, offers more versatility like huge hanging space, ability to grill direct, as well as like 3 or 4 levels of cooking with their basket systems.
- You can make your own larger, 22.5" UDS with the plethora of resources available on the internet for around $200 - I just finished my build up and ran her for the first time last weekend. Will probably never use my WSM again after seeing how well she ran. They really are a set and forget!
- You get way more satisfaction out of building your own and the possibilities are pretty much endless.
Honestly for introduction into low and slow, I would recommend a Hark/Aldi type gas box smoker. It keeps things so easy and without the fuss of trying to learn how to control the temperature.
I've messed around with kettles, kamados, verticals, pellet smokers and have gone back to my old Hark with a Smoke Bloke since it gives 99% of the flavour with maximum convenience. With any smoker, I would recommend a wireless dual probe thermometer, since temperature is the single most important thing.
Once you feel that you want to take smoking a step further, then look into charcoal units but bear in mind that if done properly, you won't be able to differentiate the difference in taste unless you are a super duper competition judge person. Rubs are the same, smoke is the same (meat only really absorbs smoke within the first 30-45mins), but the satisfaction from charcoal/wood is higher. Thats my advice for newbies anyway.
Depends on how serious you are about the effort you want to put in your BBQ. The more love you give it, the better your end result. As OP posted a coal unit, I found it fitting to compare it to other solid fueled options.
I've been pondering building my own. I started looking into sourcing the bits and couldn't cobble together everything needed from the sources I looked at. Where did you source all your parts? The main one is getting a drum. No luck sourcing one up here in Brisbane when I looked (a few months back).
The barrel was the easiest for me, down here in Vic, heaps of factories sell their drums on Gumtree. Make sure you get one with a removable lid. They seal much better than bung drums you have to cut the lid off of. I also found grinding to strip the lining off with an abrasive disc to be more effective over sandblasting, or lighting it on fire.
Other parts for air intake like stainless steel nipples, balls valves, elbows and pipes were from Chinese eBay merchants. Way cheaper, just takes a month or so to get to you. Not a problem if you're a time-poor weekend warrior like me.
Nuts/bolts from Bunnings.
Grill grates from my Weber collection.
I'm working on a spreadsheet with the parts list/cost. PM me, I can send it over.
Late response but there's definitely a few places in Brisbane to get them from. Look up "drum reconditioners brisbane" in google. As for ungalvanized expanded steel for the charcoal basket I ordered some from Amazon for much cheaper than I could source it locally.
Isn't that the normal price?
At that price you may as well pay a little more and get a Chargriller Akorn and get way more versatility.