BGE vs Weber Summit Charcoal Grill

Crotonmark said:

Guys. Awesome comments. Lots of great thoughts
Does the Weber summit use lump or briquettes?

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Both.

I had a Kamado Joe Classic and thought it made the worst BBQ, not good at grilling either. You can't do true dual zone smoking, you can't dual zone when you're grilling, the heat deflector is worthless, no way to add fuel, can only use lump, no way to stoke the fuel, no access at all to the fuel, weighs 200 pounds, fragile, grease drips on the heat deflector making greasy black junk get on the bottom of your food..on and on..

Yes, it was highly insulated and fuel lasted a long time. But to me the negatives were not worth the positives. Also it seemed to me 1/3 of every bag of lump was small worthless bits you can't use in a Kamado.

I'd put my $100 22" Kettle against any Kamado at any price. Yes, I will do more work but you can get better results with the Kettle. If you made a burn box you could even use real wood. Cant do that in a Kamado either.

cheez59 said:

I was once a huge Primo fan back around 2008-2009. That was before I replaced 3 cracked fireboxes, 2 sets of the junk porcelain coated grates, 2 hinge assemblies and 6 sets of the PITA to change cheap gaskets. All in less than 7 years. They are great cookers but cannot stand 4-5 days a week use.

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Sorry to hear of your problems. I've had mine for 4 years (cooking an average of 2 to3 time per week on it) and haven't had any of those problems. My gasket (after 4 years) could be replaced but it cooks fine with it still. The grates are starting to show some wear and I'll probably replace them next year.

Crotonmark said:

I am leaning weber

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You Sir are a Wise Man.

Rockinar said:

I had a Kamado Joe Classic and thought it made the worst BBQ, not good at grilling either. You can't do true dual zone smoking, you can't dual zone when you're grilling, the heat deflector is worthless, no way to add fuel, can only use lump, no way to stoke the fuel, no access at all to the fuel, weighs 200 pounds, fragile, grease drips on the heat deflector making greasy black junk get on the bottom of your food..on and on..

Yes, it was highly insulated and fuel lasted a long time. But to me the negatives were not worth the positives. Also it seemed to me 1/3 of every bag of lump was small worthless bits you can't use in a Kamado.

I'd put my $100 22" Kettle against any Kamado at any price. Yes, I will do more work but you can get better results with the Kettle. If you made a burn box you could even use real wood. Cant do that in a Kamado either.

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Come up here in February and show me the "better results" you get on a kettle. The OP has a darn good reason to be looking for an insulated cooker.

As for the rest of your complaints, I have been cooking on Webber kettles since I was old enough to help out, and on a Kamado for only a few weeks, and in that short time and with a little research I have managed to avoid all of the issues you had by simply accepting that I needed to treat it differently than a kettle and adjust my technique. No problems with the heat deflector. A drip tray with a 1/4" air gap keeps the drippings from burning. Two zone worked perfectly with the right setup. I have cooked with lump and briquettes, 2 bags of lump 100% burned with no waste. None. It sounds like you had a lot of problems that were easily avoided, or self induced.

Rockinar said:

I had a Kamado Joe Classic and thought it made the worst BBQ, not good at grilling either. You can't do true dual zone smoking, you can't dual zone when you're grilling, the heat deflector is worthless, no way to add fuel, can only use lump, no way to stoke the fuel, no access at all to the fuel, weighs 200 pounds, fragile, grease drips on the heat deflector making greasy black junk get on the bottom of your food..on and on..

Yes, it was highly insulated and fuel lasted a long time. But to me the negatives were not worth the positives. Also it seemed to me 1/3 of every bag of lump was small worthless bits you can't use in a Kamado.

I'd put my $100 22" Kettle against any Kamado at any price. Yes, I will do more work but you can get better results with the Kettle. If you made a burn box you could even use real wood. Cant do that in a Kamado either.

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Is another negative for the Kamado you had was that is also kicked your dog :becky::thumb:??

I've had my egg for almost 5yrs now and other than it being heavy see none of the issues you apparently couldn't figure out. I also love my kettle.

I'm kind of in a crappy mood but I have a serious question for anybody that will answer. What exactly is all this dual zone cooking/smoking? And why is that so critical? I understand the reverse sear thing, sous vide cooking and all that, but I've cooked restaurant quality steaks on my big green egg, in a cast iron skillet in the oven and even on my $30 baby old smokey. I would love to have one of every kind of cooker made if I could afford them all. I think all cookers have their limitations. This new Weber looks beautiful and I'm sure it's a fine cooking machine, but ceramic cookers, real stick burners, charcoal cabinet cookers, etc are all capable of some outstanding food. I personally can't wait to taste some food off the new Weber. Would one of you that has one please invite me over for dinner?

V1VRV2 said:

I'm kind of in a crappy mood but I have a serious question for anybody that will answer. What exactly is all this dual zone cooking/smoking? And why is that so critical? I understand the reverse sear thing, sous vide cooking and all that, but I've cooked restaurant quality steaks on my big green egg, in a cast iron skillet in the oven and even on my $30 baby old smokey. I would love to have one of every kind of cooker made if I could afford them all. I think all cookers have their limitations. This new Weber looks beautiful and I'm sure it's a fine cooking machine, but ceramic cookers, real stick burners, charcoal cabinet cookers, etc are all capable of some outstanding food. I personally can't wait to taste some food off the new Weber. Would one of you that has one please invite me over for dinner?

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Come on up to Shreveport and we'll get you out of that crappy mood. :becky:

Dual zone is pretty much what the name implies. For grilling usually one zone is an indirect zone typically a little cooler and using covection (hot air) to heat the food. The other zone would be a hotter direct zone with convection and radiant heat. Think of it as a cooking zone and a searing/browning crisping zone. Or maybe one zone for the meat and another for veggies. Or... You can also have vertical zones with one close to the fire and one well above.

If you have ADHD and need to constantly fidget, standing over a dual zone grill and constantly moving all the pieces from one zone to the other, flipping this way and that can keep you very occupied. It is also a good technique for staying busy to avoid socializing with your mother in law.

With different rack heights and a half stone and CGS spider, I have had no issue with dual zone on a 21.5" Pit Boss Kamado, so the 24" BGE or Webber will be as good or better at it and the oval Primo better still. You do need the right accessories and a willingness to seek help to learn how to use them, but it is not rocket science.

I had a BGE XL. Used a guru and cooked 170 and higher to 950 for steaks. Steaks, pizza it did real well. I think it was actually to efficient for low and slow and left a chemical taste at times depending on temps on the food. I always used my Propane torch with about a 5-10 second burn to light.

My question is on th summit is how high can you go. Can you get it nuclear for 6 minute perfect steak at 136 center temp? I am asking because I been thinking about one of these.

op2: This is almost as much fun as a PBC vs WSM thread! Carry on!

DerHusker said:

Sorry to hear of your problems. I've had mine for 4 years (cooking an average of 2 to3 time per week on it) and haven't had any of those problems. My gasket (after 4 years) could be replaced but it cooks fine with it still. The grates are starting to show some wear and I'll probably replace them next year.

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I averaged 4-5 days a week cooking on the Primo. There were many weeks that I cooked every day of the week. I think the problem was that a lot of my cooks were very high heat. Like 700 degrees plus. It was sold to me with the understanding that it was ok to cook that hot. Well it is and it did a great job of it but it was at a cost. The grill with table and all the accessories was over $2200. Then I spent another $500 plus on maintenance items over the course of the 7 years that I had it. Primo has their own forum where you can read about these kind of issues almost daily.

I'm not here to bash Primo or any other ceramic cooker manufacturer. They are really great versatile tools. I just wanted the OP to know that ceramics are fragile and will cost you big if you run them hard. Say nothing about the cost of lump.

go talk to the guys at the Weber Kettle Club, a great forum and a great bunch of guys in love with their kettles (as I am also)

I have had a kettle in fact that is what I started with. Upgrading to the Kamado Joe was night and day. I have learned that bbq has a strong following and people become fanatical about a brand.

Many have told you about the Kamado Joe and you have not even acknowledged it. The dual zone split deflector makes the KJ a better option for you over the solid one piece BGE. That will give you true dual zone cooking. But again you are getting more focused on the brand then the cooker.

I can not see the new weber holding up to the weather. I constantly caught temps on my weber in the cold. With a Kamado you set it and forget it.

Cracking ceramics someone mentioned being a negative. In three days you will have a new KJ bowl at your door under a lifetime warranty. Ceramics will also eliminate the concern of worrying about rust.

I took a good look st the new weber and to me it was not all that impressive for the money.

I upgraded to the Komodo Kamado cooker which is refractory cement not ceramic. It sounds like money is not an issue and if you want the best this thing truly is the best. You have better moisture retention and rhe wuality is unprecedented.

You have entered the paralysis by analysis stage.

You can't expect to get a fair unbiased response. We can only tell you from our experiences and from there you need to make a decision. Go with what first caught your eye. Both quality but for the cold I truly believe ceramics are the way to go.

This isn't a stick burner you won't get the same smoking results but you will get quality cooking. The Kamado is the Swiss Army knife of BBQ. Trust your gut.

If dollars are important BGE is over priced. All the add ons makes the KJ the clear winner as it comes with everything you need. Plus the rotisserie is awesome. Also the hinge system is superior to the BGE. KJ is also coming out with a new self closing and opening hinge assist and vent cap. bGE does not innovate

Komodo Kamado has everything you would ever want. Self opening lid, built in rotisserie, incredible temp control, 3 levels of grilling, deep fire box to create true 2 zone cooking and the list goes on and on.

Your money your call.

Kamado sounds like the way to go for you