So... The pellet smoker thread got me thinking, because I'm in the market to replace my pellet grill with something else. Initially I thought "gasser", but there are certain things I think a Blackstone griddle might be able to do that I'd like, that a gasser would not. And my other grills (both kamados) can do those things well, but take a lot more intervention.
So here's my current setup:
Initially I thought "maybe that should be a gasser." But as I think more about it, I'm not sure a gasser differentiates itself enough from the Big Joe in capability, and that I might be leaving something on the table by not thinking about a Blackstone, which can do things that a gasser (or a kamado) can't do all that well.
So I'm rethinking it. And I'd like to get some ideas... Here's what I see about the advantages / disadvantages of each.
I dunno... Thoughts?
So here's my current setup:
- Kamado Joe Big Joe: This is my primary smoker, and what I use for "grilling" when I'm cooking a lot of stuff. It's my "do it all" cooker.
- Kamado Joe Joe Jr: This is a grill that's great for searing, for smaller cooks, etc when I want the high heat but don't want to use as much charcoal as I need to fill the Big Joe. This is VERY often used for pork tenderloin, for things like grilled flank steak, and so far has been used for burgers. For a few things it seems like my family (my eldest son eats like a T-Rex) is going to make it harder to cook things that I need to cook there.
- [Very old] Traeger pellet grill: This basically fits as the "weeknight" cooker when I don't want to mess with charcoal or waiting on the grills to come up to temp. Limited IMHO as I don't use it as a smoker, nor can I sear on it. But one advantage it DOES have is as an outdoor oven when I sear steak on the Joe Jr and then move them indirect onto the Traeger to finish--especially when my wife has the oven occupied by other stuff for dinner.
Initially I thought "maybe that should be a gasser." But as I think more about it, I'm not sure a gasser differentiates itself enough from the Big Joe in capability, and that I might be leaving something on the table by not thinking about a Blackstone, which can do things that a gasser (or a kamado) can't do all that well.
So I'm rethinking it. And I'd like to get some ideas... Here's what I see about the advantages / disadvantages of each.
- Gasser: Pros: Gives me a high-heat direct cooking option for searing or other high-temp cooks w/o messing with charcoal. Provides the low-heat indirect cooking (by running one burner and leaving others off) I'd like to have if I'm searing steaks hard on the Joe Jr and then need to finish indirect at lower temp. Good for some of those quick weeknight cooks like pork tenderloin or flank steak which are common. Easy for my wife to start and operate if I'm out of the house and she wants to do it (she doesn't do kamado). Cons: Not a lot of differentiation in capability from my kamados, only differentiation in ease of use.
- Blackstone: Pros: Gives me a high-heat searing capability on a flat cooking surface. This can be used in a lot of ways. Searing steaks is one of them. Cooking burgers is another. Opens up new capabilities. For example last night I made salmon cakes on a heavy skillet on the range--that was 8 cakes which I had to do in two batches. I could do this all in a single batch on a Blackstone. Another new capability would be essentially anything you can do on a griddle, which is a LOT. Including breakfast, I could be working eggs/bacon/potatoes all at once. And all that stuff that can be done on a griddle can be done outside, not trashing my stove every single time lol. Cons: Doesn't give me an extra outdoor "indirect" cooker. Doesn't give my wife an easy grilling option for anything that doesn't work well on a griddle. May require me to fire the kamado on nights when I would ordinarily not love to do it.
I dunno... Thoughts?