Merry Christmas TO ME!!! :)

[flyweed]

Hey guys, went to my local Menards yesterday and picked up my new Kamado.  I chose this one, because, after comparing it to a BGE, they are identical in almost every way.  The only differences I've found is that the BGE nest is made of flat steel welded together, and this Kamado's nest is made out of square tube aluminum that has been chrome plated.

Anyway, I couldn't go wrong on price either.  The grill was on sale at $389.00, plus I had a $50 menards gift certificate...so for $339 I got the grill, insulated cover, place setter, and two cooking grates with it.

Also, before purchasing this unit, I did a little homework as know one really knew who the manufacturer was, OR if there was any kind of warranty.  Anyway, after speaking to some "higher ups" at Menards, I got the name of the manufacturer AND an email address for one of the companies sales people.

The company is called Sunrise Cermics Inc, LTD, based out of China.  I actually spoke to a person there, who spoke english, her name is Tricy..she told me they do offer a 3 year warranty on their Kamado, and will replace ANY defective part free of charge for 3 years, minus shipping.  THey do have a website also, it's down right now, but she told me they will have it up and running again soon.  the website is www.kamadochina.com

Here are some photos of my new smoker/bbq:

 

[scarbelly]

Congrats Dan - that is going to be a lot of fun to play with 

 

[rbranstner]

Nice looking unit. I was at Menards yesterday and they had a unit that looked a bit like this but it was red and it wasn't built anything like a BGE. The dome wasn't even ceramic and I couldn't tell if the bottom part was plastic or ceramic. I didn't catch the brand name but I wonder if the red one I saw is manufactured by the same company that makes yours. So yours must be solid ceramic top to bottom like the BGE's right? The one you have looks much better and much more sturdy and just like a BGE then the Red cheap one I saw at Menards.

 

[rbranstner]

This is the one I saw. It even looks plastic on the outside.

 

[boykjo]

Joe

 

[SmokinAl]

Great looking rig!

Can't wait to see what you can do with it!

 

[alelover]

Nice unit. Sweet price.

 

[flyweed]

Rbranstner......yep, the red one was there as well, but that one is NOT the same at all...it's all plastic and then body of the grill is double walled sheet metal.....the green on I have is solid ceramic front to back, top to bottom...and really heavy!!! ha ha ha...they are also made by different companies too.

SmokinAl....I just did a couple sirloin roasts today to break it in.....I wanted to slice it up thin for roast beef for supper tonight.  I didn't get photos, as I really wanted to watch how the kamado worked, and how well it did on maintaining temps.

1.  This thing keeps ROCK SOLID temps from grate to top of dome..I was totally shocked..I had my ET-732 with one probe on the rack and one in the top vent..and the temps were identical!!!

2.  I used a FULL fire ring of R.O. lump charcoal, and it was WAAAAAYYYY too much.  with bottom vent fully closed, and top vent barely cracke open..it went up to and sat at 330F SOLID. this was at 9am this morning when I fired it up...it is now almost 1pm  I have NOT adjusted the vents at all, and them right now is 329F!!!!  Now that's what I call EFFICIENT.

So my main question is, how the heck do I get my temp to maintain around 230F?????? ha ha ha.

Anyway......I pulled the roasts off at 145F and they are foiled and resting now until slicing time.  But the first cook went without a hitch, except the higher than hoped for temperature inside the cooker.

Dan