kingfisher cookers

I like the looks of it. Have never heard of one though. That said, we become so regional as far as our preferences.

I am sure Hodedo (Andy) will chime in.

Chad has a KingFisher we use for comps.
As a stickburner, it works extremely well for that, which is the only experience I have with it.
Very flexible and responsive.
I like it in that role.

I am sure he will chime in when he sees this.

TIM

Chad has a Gator (BK).... as do I. I do alot of charity cooking with Bob on a CK/King Gator. (we are cooking for the United way Charity Bartender event tonight @ Breit's Stein and Deli -- you should come down and see it action.)I've got several pics of food in ours in the "Smoker Question" thread from the last couple days. Might search on it. Chad has posted several times too I know.

As a side note -- If you talked to someone other than Bob at the royal, you were probably talking to me! I always help Bob man the booth at the Royal, since he sponsors me with a cooker during comp. season every year.

At any rate - They are a great stick burner, and you can also do a charcoal basket mod, and get nice long burns that way as well. They are very versatile.
On the oven:
The oven is a great add -- with the dampers shut, it will cook at 80-100 degrees hotter than the smoker chamber -- so you can cook potatoes, beans, etc. If you open the dampers fully, it draws air in through the door, and maintains about a 200 degree space for holding/warming. If you do any catering at all, the oven is priceless.

Gas Burner add - we use the burner at Kooker's Kare, and it makes things easy, but it does go through propane in a hurry. We've drained a tank in a cook several times.

Here is a link to one of the threads on the Kingfisher.... Chad had a good thread going for when he bought his also.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14050&highlight=Gator

They're made just up the road from me, and I happened to have looked at them a couple of weeks ago at a cook-off. The ones I looked at were both stick and propane burners which I thought was pretty cool. They were well built, but a little...I dunno...funky. Something about the design just didn't click with me. That's not much to go on, I'm sorry. Recommend you find one and touch it before committing.

Arlin

I really like my Gator. My only regret is not buying the King Gator - but at the time $1800 difference spoke to me. I bought mine from Bob and it was shipped from the factory.

I find it very versitile and have done everything from grilled chicken and brats to all four KCBS meats. I had a charcoal basket fabricated locally and it really helps me keep the fire going the way I like it.

I've had zero problems with it (other than dumping some meat when I overloaded the rotisserie (definately not a design flaw...it was all my fault).

I've seriously though about ordering the double professional - 12 shelves!!:-D Or possibly just order the professional to give me the extra capacity I sometimes need...now, if I could only cook a 100# hog in it!!!:shock:

I've found the single wall cooker just about perfect for me - but I live in Florida and have only had to throw a blanket over the top a couple of times. Double wall insulation would be overkill - for me. If I lived up north I'd consider it.

I felt and still feel that you get a lot of cooker (the rotisserie really expands your cook space vs. the actual volume of the cooker if it had fixed shelves). I find the Gator works for me and I use the "grill" side with the damper and stack shut as a 150-170 degree warmer.

I also got the gas burner and use it to preheat the cooker while the charcoal is getting ready. Saves time, but it does use propane.

Digging through old stuff made me realize I still owe Dave some pics of the Mods we did to the competition unit!!! My bad Dave.... I will send them on!

Kung Fu BBQ said:

Wish i would of read this earlier, i would of struck out to see you cooking.
I may have taked to you at the royal. I was the guy w/ all the tattoos and that far away "been up all night" look in my eyes.

As far as if appearing "funky". i personally saw a very functional unit. My only qualm was the smaller opening. i was first drawn to the 6 tray and maybe it was you who told me it's simply too big for comps.
See, i listened.

Click to expand...

Yep! that was me... I didn't notice the far away look, but we were workin' on a carryover drunk ourselves. The question is which night it was carrying over from.... Wed. or Thurs. :shock: We spent too many days out at the royal:-D

I've used both in comps, and I really like the 4 tray for competition. For large gatherings/catering/etc. The 6 tray is the cat's meow.

We started with a Bonanza back in 2003. We used it one year and upgraded to the commercial because we wanted more space. We are able to do a 100lb. hog in our commercial rotisserie at the BBQlossal in Des Moines. We've place in whole hog every year: 4th, 7th, 8th. Gotta split him in half, trim the hocks down even with the belly, and balance him on opposite racks, but we cook a big pig in there with all of our other comp meat at the same time.