difference in big green egg and an IVS

[Mcc1972]

So other than obvious capacity difference, is there a big difference in the two? I would expect the flavor profile to be very very similar. Am I wrong?

Thanks

[CptKaos]

Main difference would be capacity and versatility, IVC would win the capacity battle but the BGE kills it for versatility.

[Baychilla]

Ability to reload/fix a burn out mid cook comes to mind.

[Sooner21]

I've never cooked on an IVS, but had a kamado for years. I was able to put out good food with the kamado, but there was always the stagnant smoke flavor due to the very low airflow. There are plenty of guys here that say they get very close flavor to stickburners from their IVS's, and I 100% believe them. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here, so wait for others to chime in or use the search feature. You should be able to find any info you want.


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[WeldonG]

The IVS wins on capacity and ease of getting to the food and ease of getting to fire if needed.

Kamado wins on versatility and smoke flavor.

With that said, I'm still learning my IVS so I may can increase smoke flavor. Also, even though getting to the fire after starting cooking on the kamado is difficult I've never needed to. It go hours on a load of lump. Even on long cooks I have lump left over. Some of the Kamados have new stackable grate systems and some come standard. My Monolith has three levels of grates that came standard. I believe Kamado Joe does too but on the IVS you don't have to worry about having to unstack the grates to get to your food.

Also, the IVS is heavy but could transport on a trailer easily if needed. The Kamado I would have to disassemble and take care not to break anything and it is too heavy for one person to lift out of stand.

Both have their pros and cons so depends on what you need.

Just my 2 cents

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[BGEChicago]

I can't tell you anything about the IVS but I can be honest with you about the BGE:

Pro..
- Versatile, cook a pork but at 225 today, tomorrow a pizza at 700
- It's a smoker or grill
-Lifetime warranty, and they really do honor as long as you are the original owner DO NOT buy a used egg.
- Once you know your device it really is a "set it and forget it vessel". I'll put a 20 Lb brisket on at 250 at 8:00 P.M. and will not even look at it until 9:00 A.M the next day.
- No moisture loss (of the meat) when cooking
- Quality built, it really is well made!

Cons.....

- Almost guaranteed to crack, I have two XL and one mini BGE, I have also went through 4 bases in 5 years.... Please see pro's, it didn't cost me a dime
- Can be tough to cool down if you overshoot your desired pit temp, it's all ceramic and it will cool down slowly.
- Not cheap to trick it out. I bought a Flame Boss 200, Ceramic Grill Store WOO, and other non-included items for an additional cost of $850 but I didn't have to buy them.
- Lump! You really have to buy great, no not great, excellent lump! As someone mentioned you will get a very unfavorable taste from cheap lump. I could buy Cowboy brand (and did) and the $20 steaks tasted like sh!t. I use Rockwood brand, I hate the fact that 20 Lbs costs $26.00 but it does last some time and it really has a neutral flavor.
- The BGE is not a device for a "quick grill" especially when using new lump. I usually let the VOC (volatile organic compounds) completely burn off for 1 hour before I put my meat on. Any less and your foods tastes like you cooked them with lighter fluid.
I hope this helps, at the end of the day you have to choose what it right for you and the family, it also comes down to taste so to speak.... I mean you may like Pepsi and I may like Coke... Just get in the game


Just my two cents..

Thanks
Greg

[kickedaside05]

I have both and the IVS stays more steatdy when at temp. I pretty much just use the Kamado Joe as a grill and rotisserie now. Both have good smoke flavor in my opnion, and can put out good que.

[jermoQ]

I am thinking the profile would be different because of the possibility of grease dripping on the coals with a kamado vs not at all with an IVS. I would think if you like the possibility of more capacity, cooking like a kamado, a Direct Vertical Smoker, such as a http://www.bqgrills.com/Vertical%20D...Page.htm,would give you a closer profile with the large capacity.

[Baychilla]

Originally Posted by jermoQ

I am thinking the profile would be different because of the possibility of grease dripping on the coals with a kamado vs not at all with an IVS. I would think if you like the possibility of more capacity, cooking like a kamado, a Direct Vertical Smoker, such as a http://www.bqgrills.com/Vertical%20D...Page.htm,would give you a closer profile with the large capacity.

Not really. In a BGE you have a plate setter (large slap of ceramic with legs) that will block probably 95% of drippings from ever seeing the coals. More if you use a large waterpan. I'm not sure what the KJ version is called (Divide and Conquer? Something more suited to a RTS than a cooking apparatus IMO).

[jermoQ]

Originally Posted by Baychilla

Not really. In a BGE you have a plate setter (large slap of ceramic with legs) that will block probably 95% of drippings from ever seeing the coals. More if you use a large waterpan. I'm not sure what the KJ version is called (Divide and Conquer? Something more suited to a RTS than a cooking apparatus IMO).

Doesn't the plate still heat up and burn the grease? Maybe not like the fire does totally. I dont have one, that is just my take on seeing a few in action. If you use a water pan, it would definitely be different. But for an IVS, I guess you have a water pan most, if not all the time anyway, so it would eliminate the burned grease flavor.

[kickedaside05]

Yes the heat deflector blocks the grease from droping on the coals when you are smoking. You can remove one side or the entire thing for direct heat in the kamado joe III. I also don't use a water pan in my IVS.

[JAKs Q & brew]

I have both and you can turn out great Q on either.

Some of the differences not mentioned above.

1. I find the IVC is much easier to cook a variety of different things on. I have mine set up to have about a 25 degree difference top to bottom (the pint can be adjusted to make that difference close to 0 or up to 50 degrees). I never could get that level of controlled variability on the 2 levels on my primo.

2. Draft. I think this is what people talk about when they say the kamado can get a stale taste. On the other side, I find a get much better bark from the Pint and believe this is do to much more airflow than the kamado.

A few things I think aren't that different.
1. Burn time. My pint has gone 16 hours at 250 on one load, but the separate firebox makes reloading mid cook simple. For the primo, i have honestly never used a full load of charcoal. One time, after a 16 hour brisket cook undecided to just leave the digiQ running to see happened. Another 14 hours later I finally turned it off. There was still a few pounds more fuel still there.

2. Versatility. For sure there are more things you can do on a kamado than an IVC, but I think it is a bit overstated. Most of the really high heat stuff like pizza oven I would rather do on my weber kettle so I dont fry the Primos gaskets. And the Pint can get up.to 375-400 no problem so you can do all the roasting temp stuff on the IVC.

Overall I really love them both. There is for sure a lot of overlap. The Primo might be slightly more versatile and the IVC might put out slightly better BBQ. If I were to do it again I think I'd get them same set up. If I had to pick 1 it would be the kamado. If inhad to pick 2 it would he the IVC and a Weber kettle