Anyone have a blaze?

[mendozer]

I'm looking at used kamados in my area and for the past month have been sold on the Primo XL due to the oval size but Blaze has a promo right now with a free rotisserie kit and a price drop making it 1600 and primo brand new is 1619. now the size is dramatically different at 400 sq in vs 680 sq in. however i think you could find aftermarket stacking racks if you truly wanted (say from Grill Dome) for the Blaze since it's 20" like the average kamado. The advantage here is it'll never crack. I know the ceramic fireboxes crack and they're warrantied but I've heard you have to pay for shipping still. Also the control tower seems to have some issues. The blaze seems nice because everything's attached firmly. But.....it seems small. I'm coming from a pellet cooker thats at 692 (grilla silverbac) and I've never had to do ribs vertically like most people do on kamados. Wondering if the change will be too drastic for me.

At the same time that Blaze seems like it'll survive the apocalypse

 

[JLeonard]

Looks like a nice cooker. Be interesting to see what you choose and your thoughts.

Jim

 

[mendozer]

not a ton of reviews out there for it and it's been around for almost 8 yrs from what iv'e seen

 

[fltsfshr]

I have a Blaze and I love it. I've had 2 Kamado Joes over the years and I got tired of replacing clays, gaskets and stands. I live close to the Gulf. The Blaze doesn't get as hot as the Kamado Joe but it maintains temps perfectly. I have the SS griddle for it. Everything about is impervious to weather. It has a cap on the side that lets you insert temp probes. Here's a couple pics. While I haven't tried it it says you can use briquets in it.

 

[mendozer]

you can probably do wood wire in there if you really wanted to. I have a line on a used primo XL before they made the modern updates to the easy lift hinge and stuff. $400 and it's 11 hour round trip drive to get it...i think i'm gonna do it. $1600 for a new blaze and rotisserie vs $400 for a primo XL...hinge for $200, deflectors for another $175, new smokeware for $60, then I have savings for the primo rotisserie at $275...somewhere around $1000 including gas.

 

[mendozer]

you have any issue fitting a full packer brisket on there? 20 seems small but i drew the measurements on paper overlaying each other. 20 vs 25 wide. doesn't seem like a lot looking at it, and the 400 sq in is the same. i'm curious if you've been able to find a stacking system for it to expand it? also do you use a kick ash basket?

 

[fltsfshr]

I haven't used a kickass basket with it. Looks like a good idea. I have a couple stack grates I saved off an older Kamado.

 

[mendozer]

I think i only considered the blaze because it's on sale to basically equal the price of the Primo XL brand new. Plus a free rotisserie kit, which would be 255 for the primo. what heat do you struggle to get it to?

 

[mendozer]

how much height it there above the top grate? Curious is the lower grate could be the coal section and the 18" grate could be where you stack the multi-tier system for increasing total smoking capacity. a 20" grill is fine for me, but for smoking I would need to have tiers to accomodate the capacity i want.

 

[fltsfshr]

My Kamado Joes would go over 900. I had a temp fan & control on the coal door. The Blaze I've gotten a little less than 800. I rarely take it up that high. For my usage the Blaze is fine. Whatever you choose I'm sure it will do the job.