BGE Alternative

My suggestion which may seem like a real old school way is ......... If you want a really big BGE and you cant afford it at this time, then save your money until you can. It is a crazy idea, but it works.

-Chris

Haveuseen1? said:

My suggestion which may seem like a real old school way is ......... If you want a really big BGE and you cant afford it at this time, then save your money until you can. It is a crazy idea, but it works.

-Chris

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Wow. Someone thinks the same way I do! When I was in the market and looked at the cheaper alternatives, I wasn't impressed. So I saved up and bought the large egg. Now I have never used any of the other brands, so I can't compare. Liked the egg so much I went out and bought an xl egg as well, made tables, bought a stoker, and then adjustable rigs, and it's a never ending process.... But hey. It does what I wanted and haven't had any problems, and I enjoy every bit of it. So to me it was worth the money.

Akorn. Heck, buy 2 and still save money over a BGE.

If you have any skills at all, you could build one out of ceramic flower pots. Here is kind of what it would look like minus the lame "hot plate" in Alton Brown's version. If you google "flower pot smoker" you can find plenty of info.

Ya, I'm going with the Akorn also. As stated above it does everything from smoking to pizza. Very happy with it.

I own both a WSM and the Akorn. My recommendation would be the WSM; and the reason for me saying that is the control. If you look at the KamadoGuru forums about half the posts are either how to get the fire started without having a huge temperature spike or modifications that are needed in order to keep the temperature down. And some people won't like this, but I also think it makes better Q'.

The Akorn does have some positives like flexibility (high and low cooking capability), convenience (roll it in and out of the garage, hinged cover, and easier setup), and being insulated makes it more suited for a northern climate in the winter.

But if it's summer and it's a cook that critical because I'm doing it for someone else I grab the WSM.

IMO, the Bubba kegs seem like excellent cookers, but for only 200 dollars less, it just doesn't seem worth it, especially when you can get a kj for the same price (unless you're taking it on the road a lot). If someone can't afford the 1000 for a bge, I wouldn't advise the keg as the alternative. I just feel that the big steel kegs should drop in price by a few hundred for me to seriously start looking at one, especially when the akorn is less than half the price.

Now if it were a few years ago when they were going for a few hundred a pop, that would be different.

alane said:

I own both a WSM and the Akorn. My recommendation would be the WSM; and the reason for me saying that is the control. If you look at the KamadoGuru forums about half the posts are either how to get the fire started without having a huge temperature spike or modifications that are needed in order to keep the temperature down. And some people won't like this, but I also think it makes better Q'.

The Akorn does have some positives like flexibility (high and low cooking capability), convenience (roll it in and out of the garage, hinged cover, and easier setup), and being insulated makes it more suited for a northern climate in the winter.

But if it's summer and it's a cook that critical because I'm doing it for someone else I grab the WSM.

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Very valid point, I got 2 bubba kegs and temp control as in the temps getting too high can be very tricky. Little room for error here. I own a UDS and now a 22 WSM, temp control will be somewhat easier and they have larger grates too. Use up a ton more fuel though.. :doh: lol

I did a lot of research on the Akorn and it seems to be a very good alternative to a BGE for those that dont want to spend the money. The build quality seems great and the product is very solid. For the money i dont think you can go wrong!