Indirect Heat vs Heat Deflectors

[ottbbqnewb]

Here is the background - I have decided to buy myself a ceramic style grill/smoker for my 40th birthday.  I have it narrowed down to the Big Green Egg and a Primo Grill.  I know I can't go wrong with either one.  I have one question.  I may not be a big deal, but I just want to get some opinions before I pull the trigger.

My question - is there a difference in the final product (i.e. the food that was cooked) when it is smoked over true indirect heat (like in the Primo grill using the box divider) vs. using heat deflectors?  I understand that Primo can do both, and the Big Green Egg just has the heat deflector.  I have no intentions of entering BBQ competitions; just doing some fun BBQ for my family and friends.

I have pretty much made up my mind on what I will get, but I am always open to others views/opinions on the subject.

Thanks 

 

[noboundaries]

OttBBQNewb, welcome to SMF.  I see this is your first post.  Please stop in over at Roll Call so folks without charcoal smokers can say "hi." 

I'm somewhat familiar with both equipment due to friends.  With my personal equipment, I have a deflector vs indirect set up when comparing my 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain (deflector) with a 22.5" Weber Grill (divider). I don't use water in my WSM so the water pan is basically a deflector.  In the grill I've used the Smokenator and fire bricks as dividers.

As far as taste goes, no real difference. 

The divider in the grill cuts down the available space I can use on the grate, but that's really the only drawback. 

Refueling:  I can easily refuel either of my equipment when needed.  I need the hinged grate on the grill to refuel.  The BGE can go a long time without refueling on a smoke.  If you had the split grill on the Primo, you could easily refuel the smoker for long smokes.    

Hopefully, bumping this up will get you someone with experience with the BGE and/or the Primo.

 

[wittyuname]

I've got a Primo Oval XL (that I've had for several years and am very happy with FWIW).

I can't tell any difference in the finished product between cooking indirect vs with a deflector in the Primo. For convenience of being able to get to the fire I take out the grates on one side and build the fire there when what I'm smoking will fit on one side. For bigger cooks I use a deflector. Note that cooking indirect on a big offset is different in that there's a lot more air flow - some folks like Aaron Franklin say that makes a big difference in the finished product. As long as I'm getting a nice thin smoke in my ceramic I've never had an issue that the airflow is less and, it seems reasonable that higher airflow would increase the chances of over drying the meat. I've had great bbq out of all kinds of cookers so I'm not taking a stand either way.

I do have the divider, but couldn't tell you the last time I used it, I just pile the lump up on one side when I'm cooking that way. Sometimes I'll get too much direct heat cooking that way but a piece of aluminum fold doubled over once or twice makes an easy to deploy temporary heat shield - just tuck it into the grates and let it hang down between the meat and the fire.

My only complaint with the Primo is the amount of grill space. I can do two turkeys at a time if I place them just right. I can maybe do three racks of ribs (without a rib rack) if I put one rack on the extended grates or two racks without the extended racks. I'm thinking of moving away from the ceramics just to get more rack space. But if you're OK with the size, it's hard to beat the ease of use of ceramic whether it's BGE or Primo. The split grates of the Oval XL really do add to the ease of use and versatility, I've got to say. 

 

[ottbbqnewb]

Thanks for the info.