# BGE or Vision Grills Kamado???



## jshillin (May 25, 2014)

Hi all, I'm in the market for a ceramic grill/smoker/oven...  I'm stuck between the Vision Grills Kamado for $569+tax at Sam's Club or the Large Big Green Egg for twice the price.  I really don't want to spend the extra from the egg, but worried if I guy the Vision that I will regret not spending the money on the grill that has tons of accessories you can purchase.  

Vision Grills Kamado at Sam's Club

The Vision's warranty is supposedly good now, but you never know how long they will be around.  BGE has been around since the 70's and I have a local dealer...  Does that warrant double the price?

I have a small vertical smoker and another small round water smoker that I'll get rid of when I make this purchase, but I'm keeping my Weber Gas grill.

What do you guys think?


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## marauder (May 25, 2014)

introducing a smoking buddy into Kamado market we have looked at both and Kamado Joe also the Primo..  the  Vision has   a deflector plate double rack cover  included 1/2 the price the big draw for BGE would be a local dealer.. but what ive heard Sams stands behind their product. each will produce good food.  start out with the Vision.you can always upgrade couple years later .. what better than to have choices of smokers!


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## jshillin (May 25, 2014)

I even considered at Char-Griller Kamado Kooker  because they can be had for under $300 after taxes, but don't know if it would be a waste of money when I really want a ceramic grill.


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## bluefrog (May 25, 2014)

I bought the Vision and could not be happier.


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## jshillin (May 26, 2014)

bluefrog said:


> I bought the Vision and could not be happier.


Have you had any issues with it?  Have you had to warranty anything yet?  I was reading about a good many cracks in the fire box.


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## bluefrog (May 26, 2014)

No problems. I have smoked grilled and seared no cracks or problems.


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## chef jimmyj (May 27, 2014)

The Vision looks nice, but it is so small. Do you not smoke much at a time? Other than size, I don't see how the Egg is worth 2X the price...JJ


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## jshillin (May 27, 2014)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> The Vision looks nice, but it is so small. Do you not smoke much at a time? Other than size, I don't see how the Egg is worth 2X the price...JJ


I really don't smoke that much at a time.  It's usually just for the 4 of us.  A pork butt and some ribs or sausages is usually the max at a time.  I see you are up in Harrisburg, that's only a little more than an hour from me!!


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## bluefrog (May 27, 2014)

Why do you say that the Vision is "so small"?  Mine is 19 inches in inside diameter.


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## jshillin (May 28, 2014)

bluefrog said:


> Why do you say that the Vision is "so small"? Mine is 19 inches in inside diameter.


How much can you cook on it at a time?  I looked at it and I don't think it's small.  Sure, it's not going to make as much as a huge smoker for a 24" grill, but this size isn't really meant for that.


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## chef jimmyj (May 28, 2014)

bluefrog said:


> Why do you say that the Vision is "so small"? Mine is 19 inches in inside diameter.


For the same money or less there are many Smokers that can smoke 4, 8lb Pork Butts or 4, 12 Lb Briskets. With Rib Racks, you can smoke 16 racks, or 8 Chickens or 2 Turkeys. You can hang 20 Lbs of Sausage with greater temp control. 

There is nothing wrong with the Vision for an all-in-one Smoker/Grill. I was just curious how much J would be wanting to Smoke and would point out other options...JJ


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## jshillin (May 29, 2014)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> For the same money or less there are many Smokers that can smoke 4, 8lb Pork Butts or 4, 12 Lb Briskets. With Rib Racks, you can smoke 16 racks, or 8 Chickens or 2 Turkeys. You can hang 20 Lbs of Sausage with greater temp control.
> 
> There is nothing wrong with the Vision for an all-in-one Smoker/Grill. I was just curious how much J would be wanting to Smoke and would point out other options...JJ


The appealing thing to me is that I can smoke on it at 225, make pizza at 700 or sear steaks at 1,000 degrees.  I checked into a Primo Oval's today and they are about $200 more than the comparably sized Big Green Egg's.  I'm having enough trouble with $800, let alone adding $200 more.  

I had to take the pregnant wife to a doc appt today so I didn't make it to the bbq dealer.  Tomorrow is the day for me to check it out with cash in hand.  If all goes well and I get it I already checked with the lumber yard on cedar to built the cart/table.


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## marauder (May 29, 2014)

My buddy  bought an Akorn ai Lowe's he loves it. 299 $


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## chef jimmyj (May 29, 2014)

jshillin said:


> The appealing thing to me is that I can smoke on it at 225, make pizza at 700 or sear steaks at 1,000 degrees.  I checked into a Primo Oval's today and they are about $200 more than the comparably sized Big Green Egg's.  I'm having enough trouble with $800, let alone adding $200 more.
> 
> I had to take the pregnant wife to a doc appt today so I didn't make it to the bbq dealer.  Tomorrow is the day for me to check it out with cash in hand.  If all goes well and I get it I already checked with the lumber yard on cedar to built the cart/table.


Congrats on the upcoming birth of a new Baby...Each of the births of my three girls was followed by 75 family members and friends gathering to welcome each one, Christen each one and celebrate the 1st Birthday of each one. Then there was countless other events. I totally understand the appeal. The Vision is versatile and is plenty of room for a family of 5 ...All that you describe can be done with a Weber 22.5" One Touch Gold $149, and a Pizza stone for $34. Add a 1st Gen MES40 $339 and for $522 you can also do all of the above. Easily feeding a big group. Plus Set and Forget the Smoker, full of food, and play with the Baby or give the Mrs. a break. Oh yeah and have $47 to buy meat. Please don't think I am putting down your Vision. Just as a now, somewhat old man with three Daughter between 18 and 23, I know what can happen. For me as a new Dad, with a new House, money was tight and any money I spent on Grills and Smokers had to be a one time, plan for all contingencies, purchase. I wish you the best of luck with your choice...JJ


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## jshillin (May 30, 2014)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> Congrats on the upcoming birth of a new Baby...Each of the births of my three girls was followed by 75 family members and friends gathering to welcome each one, Christen each one and celebrate the 1st Birthday of each one. Then there was countless other events. I totally understand the appeal. The Vision is versatile and is plenty of room for a family of 5 ...All that you describe can be done with a Weber 22.5" One Touch Gold $149, and a Pizza stone for $34. Add a 1st Gen MES40 $339 and for $522 you can also do all of the above. Easily feeding a big group. Plus Set and Forget the Smoker, full of food, and play with the Baby or give the Mrs. a break. Oh yeah and have $47 to buy meat. Please don't think I am putting down your Vision. Just as a now, somewhat old man with three Daughter between 18 and 23, I know what can happen. For me as a new Dad, with a new House, money was tight and any money I spent on Grills and Smokers had to be a one time, plan for all contingencies, purchase. I wish you the best of luck with your choice...JJ


Thanks JimmyJ!!  Pretty much all of my family lives a couple hours away, some east, some west, so I usually don't get more than 10 people at a time ever.  I'm leaning hard now toward a Big Green Egg now...


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## jshillin (Jun 4, 2014)

Local BGE Dealer has a 10% off sale running for Father's Day.  I picked up the grill last night, but the spar varnish on my table wasn't quite dry yet so it's still in the box.  If nothing changes I'm going to get it in my table this evening.  Here's a couple pics of the table I built for it over the weekend out of cedar.  I'm not a woodworker, but I think it turned out pretty well.  













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__ Jun 4, 2014


















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__ jshillin
__ Jun 4, 2014


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## recruitergk (Jun 22, 2014)

It is coming up on a year since I have purchased my Vision Pro C from Alabama Power $799. It came with all accessories, cover, starter, two tier rack, shield and cover. Bought it July 4th week to smoke ribs, butt and chicken. I used it maybe three times and the stone (shield) cracked. I called Vision they asked for a picture and before I sent them the picture I got notified of a tracking number for a new stone. Warranty and customer service is excellent as is the grill! If you haven't bought one yet I would go ahead and do it with no worries.


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## bluefrog (Jun 22, 2014)

I have given away a master jilt electric, and that other electric smoker that the heating element did not last.  I've worn out a GSM  propane smoker and 2 off sat smokers.  Know have a Vision that gets used 3  to 5nights a week.  It is the best smoker/grill that I have ever owened!


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## jshillin (Jun 23, 2014)

I ended up picking up the BGE during a father's day sale for $765.  I've used it almost every day since and it's been awesome.  













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__ Jun 23, 2014






A few of the things I made on it:

Baked Indirect on Pizza Stone at just over 600 degrees













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__ Jun 23, 2014






Seared at 800 degrees













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Indirect Spatchcock Chickens













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Low & Slow













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__ Jun 23, 2014


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## jshillin (Jun 23, 2014)

bluefrog said:


> I have given away a master jilt electric, and that other electric smoker that the heating element did not last. I've worn out a GSM propane smoker and 2 off sat smokers. Know have a Vision that gets used 3 to 5nights a week. It is the best smoker/grill that I have ever owened!


I came close to buying the Vision...   After eating food from my BGE I think some of my buddies are going to buy a Vision because of the price point.  From everything I have read they are great with a solid warranty.  

Here's tonight's dinner!  Nice sear on the outside, medium rare on the inside!!













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__ jshillin
__ Jun 23, 2014


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## smokeintarheel (Aug 22, 2014)

I'm enjoying my Vision B series that I purchased at Sams. For 499, you can't beat it. It comes with a nice base. Some people have complained that the holes in the base don't line up when they are assembling the grill. I had no problems at all. Guess I was lucky! I ordered the lava stone from Home Depot and look forward to trying it out as an indirect/smoking accessory. You can also place a water pan on top of the lava stone.

So far I've grilled a beer-can chicken. The flavor was perfect. With the left over lump charcoal, I grilled some marinated chicken breasts that turned out excellent. The grill is very efficient and I haven't had any issues yet. My next cook will be ribs using some form of the 3-2-1 method at 225 or 250F. Then onto a boston butt. The versatility of this grill is amazing and the size is just perfect for us. The double rack really does increase your cooking area and it is hinged so you can get to the bottom rack pretty easily.

I was checking out the Big Green Egg today at a local dealer and the BGE doesn't really have anything on the Vision. The top daisy wheel vent control gives a little more control, but I'm not sure it's work the extra money.

The Kamado Joe's are also very good but expensive. The higher end visions with the ash drawer and electric starter seem like nice accessories, but I've heard that they leak air and make it harder to hold temp.

I bought an electric starter from Wal-mart for 11.99 that does the trick as far as lighting. I forgot how good they were. I've also used the weber starter cubes. You can't go wrong with any of them, really.


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## marauder (Aug 24, 2014)

The water pan is totally unnecessary.it will make a steam bath .i learned the hard way


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## oldschoolbbq (Aug 24, 2014)

I have no Ceramic Smoker and cannot attest to which is the better. Intresting though , both came out even , guess that means they are 'both' a good choice. Only difference would be the prices IMHO .

Later


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## volsfan (Aug 26, 2014)

I have had a Vision for 3 years now. Cooks great. I also have a Kamado Joe - Big Joe and a WSM 22.5". Temp control is the easiest on the Joe, Vision is 2nd and the WSM is third, but all are very easy. Only issue I have had with the Vision is cooking space. Just not quite big enough for me.

That said, I like the top vent on the Vision better than on the Joe. The one on the Joe tends to get stuck a lot (keep a rubber hammer by the Joe all the time). All of them are great, if I had it to do again, I would still buy the Vision. Very good quality grill. Made in China, but they have been doing ceramics longer than just about anybody so that isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Comparing the three, the Joe can for sure cook the most food and has the best temperature control. The WSM is second for amount of food and temp control is not difficult if you can get the right amount of charcoal burning. But it is a fuel hog compared to the other two. 

All in all, great cookers and any of them are capable of preparing much better food than I am capable of cooking....


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