- May 31, 2018
- 21
- 11
We’re building a deck this spring and despite the high cost of lumber and contractors, all I can think about is finally having a dedicated outdoor cook area and the urge to buy a new cooking toy or gadget to keep on said deck. Not having to haul the grills out of the garage every time I want to cook! My grill fleet is modest but entirely adequate, I have a couple Weber kettles (22 and 26) and a WSM 22. Really, I don’t NEED anything new but it’s fun to shop around for deals and think about the different things/ways you might be able to cook.
The three items currently on my mind are a Kamado (KJ or BGE), a dedicated pizza oven (such as ooni), or a flat top griddle (such as Blackstone). Curious to hear your experiences and what you feel might give me the most enjoyment, based on what I already have (kettles and WSM). I’ll share a quick rationale behind each:
Kamado - besides the dubiousness of keeping a charcoal grill on a deck, I now question whether I really need one. I have always wanted one and got the kettle and later WSM as placeholders since when we bought our home we had no deck and I would have to haul it out into the driveway. I’m realizing now that there is likely very little I can accomplish with a Kamado that I cannot with the equipment I already have. Yet, they’re beautiful, possibly more fire-safe for a deck, and amazing multi-taskers. On a side note, I would actually feel guilty for abandoning my trusty Weber 26”
Pizza oven - originally I thought the one big trump card Kamados held over a kettle was their ability to easily make wood fired pizza without the need for special accessories. My research tells me this possibly isn’t true, which is why the KJ Doe-jo exists. This was actually my entire rationalization behind getting a Kamado in addition to the kettles, now shot to sh*t. Enter my desire for a pizza oven, which is a unitasker if I’ve ever heard of one. Still, I’ve really gotten into bread making this past year and we make homemade pizza almost weekly, so I thought I may enjoy the equipment upgrade.
Flat top griddle - initially I scoffed at the blackstone craze that popped up a couple years back. I already have a stove range and a frying pan, and an old electric griddle that we don’t use. what more could I possibly accomplish with a dedicated outdoor griddle? Furthermore they seemed to be the newest consumer grilling fad, usurping pellet grills which in turn usurped the resurgence of Big Green Eggs, etc. Then we went to a hibachi place last fall and it all clicked as I pictured myself making mounds of fried rice next to steak and shrimp, or breakfast for a whole family reunion. Seems surprisingly versatile and fun.
The three items currently on my mind are a Kamado (KJ or BGE), a dedicated pizza oven (such as ooni), or a flat top griddle (such as Blackstone). Curious to hear your experiences and what you feel might give me the most enjoyment, based on what I already have (kettles and WSM). I’ll share a quick rationale behind each:
Kamado - besides the dubiousness of keeping a charcoal grill on a deck, I now question whether I really need one. I have always wanted one and got the kettle and later WSM as placeholders since when we bought our home we had no deck and I would have to haul it out into the driveway. I’m realizing now that there is likely very little I can accomplish with a Kamado that I cannot with the equipment I already have. Yet, they’re beautiful, possibly more fire-safe for a deck, and amazing multi-taskers. On a side note, I would actually feel guilty for abandoning my trusty Weber 26”
Pizza oven - originally I thought the one big trump card Kamados held over a kettle was their ability to easily make wood fired pizza without the need for special accessories. My research tells me this possibly isn’t true, which is why the KJ Doe-jo exists. This was actually my entire rationalization behind getting a Kamado in addition to the kettles, now shot to sh*t. Enter my desire for a pizza oven, which is a unitasker if I’ve ever heard of one. Still, I’ve really gotten into bread making this past year and we make homemade pizza almost weekly, so I thought I may enjoy the equipment upgrade.
Flat top griddle - initially I scoffed at the blackstone craze that popped up a couple years back. I already have a stove range and a frying pan, and an old electric griddle that we don’t use. what more could I possibly accomplish with a dedicated outdoor griddle? Furthermore they seemed to be the newest consumer grilling fad, usurping pellet grills which in turn usurped the resurgence of Big Green Eggs, etc. Then we went to a hibachi place last fall and it all clicked as I pictured myself making mounds of fried rice next to steak and shrimp, or breakfast for a whole family reunion. Seems surprisingly versatile and fun.