Vision Grills M-Series Kamado Grill

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beeboy

Fire Starter
Original poster
Nov 29, 2014
42
12
Sapulpa, Ok
I have been wanting a big green egg for awhile, but the cost was a just to much for me to justify. I found this one one an auction at samsclub web site.

The good news is that I got it for $134 bucks. (I think that's good news)

The bad news is that shipping cost a little bit more than the cost of the grill, due to it being so heavy, so I still ended up paying around $305 for it. 

Before I act like I'm showing off my new toy, (it hasn't arrived yet, but should be here Thursday) I wanted to ask you guys that know what your talking about if I really got that good of a deal, & is the grill worth having. I know it's not the big green egg, but it's what I can afford right now. I hope I didn't settle for something less, & will be sorry about it later.

I have never used one of these, & have done very little smoking, so I will have a lot of questions once I get it.

Here it is.

 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply Bama.

Do you know if charcoal or wood is the best to use in this? It says that charcoal is recommended, but I have 12 acres with tons of wood that needs to be used & I thought if wood works fine, I would use that. I could cut it up into small chunks & get a great bed of coals with that. That is actually what I use on my little cheap grill that I have now. I almost never use charcoal. 
 
I have the next grade up vision and don't see any reason you could not use wood.  It will take you a few times using the Vision to master temp. control, but once you do you can hold a temp for hours.
 
Thank you bluefrog.

I have several different kinds of wood including hickory, what I call blackjack oak, a little elm, hackberry, & even a little mulberry. Is one of these to be preferred over another? 

Oak seems to get real hot & lasts a long time, but I don't know if it's best for smoking, or grilling.
 
I don't really think wood would work very well in a Kamado cooker. Lump charcoal is the best for this type of grill and just use wood chunks for the smoke flavor. If you have that kind of acreage, you could just make your own charcoal.
 
I agree you might as well just make your own lump. It really is pretty simple. I use Hickory and some oak when I can find it in my area but those other woods I don't know much about. I think you got a great deal on that grill even with the shipping. From what I have read you get quite a few accessories that you have to buy extra with a Big Green egg.
 
Thanks guys. How do I make my own charcoal? I've never heard of doing that.

BTW, timberjet, I love your sigline.
 
I copied this out of that post as it is the way I would  and will do it when I get me a turkey fryer.

6 seconds ago

  • timberjet
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Hi Ya'll

Here is my homemade charcoal Propane burner setup. I use a 50 gallon drum and in the bottom of it I have a turkey fryer burner that I cut the legs off of. The burner sets in the 50 gallon drum then I place a 30 gallon drum on the burner. Cap it with a 50 gallon drum lid with a vent hole to allow the gasses to escape and light up the turkey fryer burner. This process takes about 3 hours and cost about $10.00 in propane. At completion I have a 30 gallon drum of perfect charcoal. Here are some pics so you can see how it is set up. Check out the last photo that shows the completed charcoal, ready to use on the grille or in my egg....

Jim


Wood is starting to gas off after only 15 minutes on the burner


The best thing about using a propane turkey fryer burner is that I can regulate the temperature inside the wood drum. I have found that Hickory wood best converts into charcoal at 500 - 525 degrees and the propane setup allows me to raise / lower the internal temperature as needed.


After 2 hours the pyrolysis process has started and the gasses are burning off. I let it burn for about an hour and then shut down the burner, cap the pipe vent on the wood container drum and let it cool for 24 hours


24 hours later and here is the final product ready to be used. So it takes time, but what the heck - my time cost nothing, and it keeps me entertained and out of trouble. All I use is free hickory wood, ten bucks of propane, and I get the best darn charcoal I have ever used. And just think, If I went and paid for this charcoal it would only cost me about 16 -20 dollars. But there aint no fun in buying it when I can make it myself !!!!!

This is awesome!

If it swims it dies, if it flies it dies, if it lands it dies, they all taste good smoked!
 
That's interesting to say the least.

I can't wait to try this. I love this kind of stuff. I looks like there are several different ways to do it, but I like the turkey fryer method best I think.
 
I have so much Maple around my place all seasoned and ready to do this it is ridiculous. Plus I have barrels too. This is in my plans for this spring for sure.
 
I got my new grill today & got it all put together. Now I'm ready to try it out. I hear chicken might be the best for a newbie like me to start one. Any other suggestions you guys might offer? I have always been a little partial to a boston butt, but I don't want to rush into it & waste a lot of meat. I'm looking for some ideas on what to do after I do chicken 2 or 3 times.
 
Nah  start with something simple like chicken and sausage, That way you can check out your new toy and make sure it's working the way it's supposed to and give you time to get familiar with it as well.  Post some pics of it

Gary
 
Thanks for the reply Bama.

Do you know if charcoal or wood is the best to use in this? It says that charcoal is recommended, but I have 12 acres with tons of wood that needs to be used & I thought if wood works fine, I would use that. I could cut it up into small chunks & get a great bed of coals with that. That is actually what I use on my little cheap grill that I have now. I almost never use charcoal. 

Sorry for the delay. I've been out of town. He uses lump charcoal.
 
Myself I would do a no meat cook to start. Do a seasoning cook at about 350° for a couple of hours to get the grill seasoned and get a handle on controlling the temps. You can then drop the temps and see what it takes to hold about 225°. Charcoal is cheap and you will gain some confidence with the grill. When you feel you have things in hand, do a nice splachcock chicken cook. You will be amazed how moist and tender it will come out.
 
Ok. Some you are going to shake your head at me, but here we go. Let the head shaking begin. 
no_no.gif
 Or as Mr. Avatar would have it, let the finger shaking begin...

I wanted to do chicken first, I really did. I promised I did! I know some of you will want to put me here 
pb.gif
& some may even want to 
Bottom.gif
but this is me over here just doing what

my wife told me to do 
th_INGardenbbq7.gif
except it's this

   

& I'm struggling to keep this 
in this  .

I hope it's good, because I'll be up late tonight.

I'll keep you updated.
 
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