PK 360 First Cook- Cedar Planked Salmon and Asparagus Wrapped In Prociutto

Soak the cedar planks in water for a half hour so they won’t burn. Coat the salmon in EVOO, sprinkle Atlantic Saltworks Coarse Sea Salt, Crushed Black Pepper and on two pieces a maple rub.



My local Grill Store tuned me up with a coozie when I went in to get the cedar planks.


Set up the PK 360 for indirect cooking offset the coals. A full chimney in the right side of the pit and a foil pan to the left.



My lovely wife Kate prepped the asparagus wrapped in prciutto-


Had a rack I used for a little extra real estate

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Some thoughts- The PK 360 is built like a tank. She held temps throughout the cook. Everything about it is beefy and feels ultra premium. Haven't cleaned out the ash yet as it was getting late but I'm interested to see how easy it is.

The side tables are made out of a material called Durabilium. They're said to be able to handle hot dishes up to 500 degrees. IMO they're an upgrade over the old Weber thermoplastic tables but the jury is still out pitting them up against the newer style Weber Performer metal tables. The Weber metal tables are super easy to wipe off.

There is a metal bar that goes around just under the side tables on the PK 360 which you can hang utensils on provided the utensil has something to hook onto the bar. If your utensil has a loop at the end, then you can't really attach a loop to the bar. A set of tongs rested comfortably on the bar, and most of the time that's all I use.

I really like the looks of the grill all around.

As far as the base is concerned it is very very stable, much more so than a stand alone kettle. The old style PK Grill that had been around for decades had a cart style base/frame which had a table under the grill that would be convenient to hold things like a chimney. The newer style doesn't allow for this but with the tuning of one knob the whole top part of the grill comes off in one piece allowing it to be taken on the road easily and the grill is fully functional without the base.

The grill is expensive and it feels expensive, in the design and materials. Everything about it screams premium and I don't see anything getting in the way of it being a 30-40 year grill easily.

I only have one cook under my belt so just a little bit of time with it but I'll keep posting updates on the pluses and minuses as I see them.

PnkPanther said:

The 360 is a grill I'm definitely interested in if I ever decide to upgrade the weber kettle

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Other than the build quality I haven't seen anything it can do that I can't with a Weber Performer. It's a luxury purchase for sure.

It should hold up for generations.

Sooner21 said:

I've been looking at that grill for a couple months trying to justify the cost. It's absolutely beautiful, but in the end I got a 26" Weber. I couldn't justify the price difference - congrats on getting one.


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Yep, thank the Craigslist gods.

I wouldn't be surprised if the price settles in around $600 in a couple of years. $800 is a bit much.

I'd say they should retail for $600 and have annual $500 clearance sales. but hey, it's their business. Weber sells the Summit for ungodly money and some people justify it. It's what it's worth to YOU.

I'll say this- a $150 Craigslist Performer in decent shape IMO is still the best value out there.

A couple weeks in with the PK 360

Enjoying cooking with the PK 360 but a couple points-

I keep it on my porch and have confidence due to its solid heft that it wouldn't get blown around in heavy winds.

A Weber one touch system is FAR easier to dispose of spent ashes and get to cooking with a couple of flicks of the wrist on the one touch system handle. I often go weeks without ever handling the charcoal grate on my Weber kettle. You couldn't do that on the PK 360 as you need to remove the charcoal grate to sweep the ashes down the hole.

On a Weber kettle you can hang your cooking grate over the side of your kettle by the handle or in the intended slot on the back of a 2nd, 3rd or 4th gen performer. On the PK the only place to put them would be on the side tables which would then need to be wiped down.

Not huge deals but definitely noticeable to someone that grills 6-7 times a week.

I do believe the PK is a lifetime grill the way it's so incredibly beefy and without parts to wear out.

That being said, if I was only going to buy one grill it would be a Craigslist Weber Performer with the metal table in good shape for anywhere under $200.

I also really like the storage bin on a Weber Performer. Some people use theirs for charcoal, I use mine for BBQ utensils, wood chips/chunks and cleaning supplies.

One more item. The Weber community of users and amount of users sharing ideas and cook tips, amount of video tutorials out there is a nice thing to have. The PK community is tiny in comparison. This isn't intended as a slam, it just is what it is. The users that are out there and post are appreciated and passionate, it's just very sparse.

I've cooked just about every day for years on my Webers at work, and only a couple of weeks on the PK 360, just calling the observations as I see them.

The PK sure is purty

70monte said:

I own both a PK 360 and two Weber Performers, one being an older stainless steel table model. While I like the performers, the 360 works better for indirect cooking and easier to control temps on and uses less charcoal to do it.

Both of my Performers have chips in the porcelain and the lid of the newer one has a dent in it below the handle. Definitely not as durable as the PK.

I understand the sticker shock on the 360 price because I was the same way initially but after getting the grill and seeing how well built it was and how well it works, the price really didn't matter. It definitely will be around way longer than I will.

Wayne

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There's no question the PK is built like a tank and will outlive any Weber given the same care is given to each units. Just pointing out the pluses and minuses as I see them.

It definitely makes me appreciate the Weber one-touch system for clearing the pit of spent ashes.

A question, how do you set up the PK 360 for a low and slow session? Do you simply regulate temps with the vents or do you use a snake or modified minion?

TIA

70monte said:

For low and slow, I do a minion method type of burn. I have PK's charcoal baskets and will fill the basket pretty full of unlit briquettes and then add so many lit in one corner of the basket. I think on my last rib cook, I used 20 lit briquettes with the unlit.

The cook lasted about five hours and though I threw in a handful of unlit briquettes toward the end of the cook, I probably didn't need to.

As far as the vents go, I had the bottom vent under the coals all of the way open and the vent over the coals all the way shut. The vent under the meat was all of the way closed and I regulated the temp on the indirect side using the top vent over the meat. I think my temps stayed around 240-260 the entire cook using the built in thermometer.

I hardly had to mess with the top vent once I got my temp to where I wanted it which was around 250.

I had the ribs in the PK rib rack. Two racks cut in half. They turned out great.

Wayne

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Thanks for that