"Big Red" Kamado Kooker at Menards

It's a proud 1/8". It'll work well.

Here is a link to a video for a BGE gasket install. Start about 4 minutes in. Its not hard but there are a couple of dos and donts when installing these gaskets. I think if you follow the same technique it would work well on the ash pan. It will also give you a good visual of the thickness.

I bought one at Menards about 4 weeks ago. I do not have any experience with the BGE. I have researched the Kamado form factor. After using my cheap charcoal grill as a smoker and grill, I knew what I wanted. This unit fits the bill.

Pros so far:
Cast Iron Grate. Awesome!! Flavor savor!
Insulated. Holds heat well. Probably not as good as ceramic, but close enough for me.

Cons so far:
Need to make indirect grilling plate for it.
The rope seal has went 'flat'. Still better than nothing, and appears to maintain a fairly good seal.
The top vent was really loose. This was annoying and I thought it would be a problem. After use, however, it has built thick grease film which prevents from moving unless I move it. Solved.

All in all, for the price point this is an excellent unit in my opinion. I would say without any experience other than research, if your expecting the performance of a BGE, you will be disappointed. Their are some metrics the BGE has that will not be met by metal.

I use to cook on a GrandHall gas grill till last year when I bought a cheap ol' charcoal grill (didn't know if I would like cooking with charcoal). My gas grill sits forlornly by the side now.

I have even baked cookies one night on this thing. Awesome.

My steak and burgers where good off the gas grill, but they are incredible off this thing. It seems to maintain juice better.

OK I gave up and bought a gasket from high-que.com. I still say its a bargain if I can track down the air leaks.

i just bought the regular felt gasket. I didnt see any need for high temp one. I should hopefully be getting it this week.

I bought the big red kamado cooked last week. It works great, just slow reacting and hard to bring temp down after being above 500 deg. I have smoked with it mantaining 230 deg. I suggest getting a high temp gasket for the ash pan. I have had mine hot enough to discolor the ash pan while searing steaks.

Great grill for the money!

I have had a lot of problems trying to get this thing down to a temperature of 180-190 and maintain it. I want to make my brisket again. With my old cheap charcoal grill, I could do it. It was a bit of a process, but it turned out excellent.

I finally got this thing to 180-190 for an extended period of time. I cut out the bottom of small clay pot and put it in the middle of the bottom, so when I open it to put more fuel in it, it goes to the pot. With the pot, I am able to keep the fuel together and use less. With about for 4-6 pieces of charcoal with this setup, I got the temperature where I wanted and was able to add fuel later.

Now I just have to make a racking system for my brisket and I should be good to go....

I have not had problems with the bottom gasket. It gets really hot down their, but it seems to hold up. The upper gasket too is holding up well.

OK got the hightemp gasket installed....... Better temp control but still cant get it below 400 with everything shut down. Each time after I use it I shut down all the vents but it keeps on cooking til the charcoal is gone. Any Weber charcoal grill I have had easily shuts down shortly after the vents are closed.

virtualfriday said:

OK got the hightemp gasket installed....... Better temp control but still cant get it below 400 with everything shut down. Each time after I use it I shut down all the vents but it keeps on cooking til the charcoal is gone. Any Weber charcoal grill I have had easily shuts down shortly after the vents are closed.

Click to expand...

That is some kind of major leak. How does the dome set on the base, any chance that it is off somehow and there is a leak there?

Mine is stock for gaskets, etc. I had the problem of the coal burning all the way down too. I took a small washer and put it on top so it prevents the vent spring from going halfway into the screw hole. It tightened it up fine. I also too to spraying the vent with Pam to get a thick layer of grease built up. Coals do not burn down now! When I close both vents, it goes out.

On a side note, I am now able to regulate the temperature down to 150-190 for several hours. I bought a smaller Weber rack to put down in the fire box, cut hole in middle. I can now put a pan between the fire and the cast iron grate. I have my first briskett cooking as I write! The pan I fill with water.

Purchased at Menard's only 2 left at Sedalia, MO Menards.
Smoked Turkey Legs for a couple hours - came out nice and juicy!

Has anyone seen the ceramic grill Menards has on sale for $499? Its called the "Avocado Kamado", seems pretty nice.

Now the Avacado Kamado is on clearance for $399! My wife would kill me but I'm so tempted to buy it!

I just got this weeks Menards sale flyer by email, the Big Red is on sale for $248. I fixed the ash pan seal problem by glueing some 5/8 stove door tape, not rope, around the top edge. Now it seals correctly. It was a design defect, the fire box was pop riveted through the gasket so there was no way it could seal, the rivet heads kept a gap open.

I was in Menards the other day and they also have an Avocado Kamado Cooker. It's ceramic and more of an olive drab than green. The dome is not as tall and it's much thinner ceramic.

jetmechG550 said:

I was in Menards the other day and they also have an Avocado Kamado Cooker. It's ceramic and more of an olive drab than green. The dome is not as tall and it's much thinner ceramic.

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Uhhh.....look just 2 posts above yours. Clearance for $399.00! It comes with tons of accessories as well.

The Avacado is $289 after rebate and has been for the last couple of weeks. I started with the Big Red Kamado Cooker, I added a felt type gasket at the ashpan and lid and still can not get low temps so I bought the Avacado. The stand is terrible, otherwise it seems like a bargain for under $300.

pickles said:

Uhhh.....look just 2 posts above yours. Clearance for $399.00! It comes with tons of accessories as well.

Click to expand...

Clicked on first new and it took me to the one above mine, didn't see it cause I didn't scroll up. I was in there again today, avocado cooker is still priced at $499 here.

Bought one this spring. I had a char-griller with an offset firebox for six years previous. I love my big red. It can't grill as much, but I can light it up, get it at 250 and cook for ten hours without having to add fuel. I can control temp anywhere from 200 to 650 without much fuss. Everything I cook on it comes out professional.

Pizza in big red.

Chicken on big red.

I saw this at a newer "super" Menards in Marion, IL killing time waiting for 17th St BBQ to open. I have an older Komado and a pellet grill so I don't need one, however it looks like a good alternative for someone that can't afford a $1-2K smoker. Question is can it stand/reach temps of 600* +. As far as making it indirect it doesn't take much, but a pizza stone that you "shape to give you max coverage works. Just as important is a drip pan. These are kind of small, but do look promising as a starter smoker.

I was out and about looking at stuff and saw this year's version of the "Big Red", but in brown at Meijers and black at Lowe's. I didn't check Home Depot, but now there are three sources for this kamado all priced at $299. After using mine since last year I can say it was a steal, and, once you "tweak" it, does a great job. The new ones have better seals and the vent cap is not the flimsy SS they had last year.

Walkabout said:

I was out and about looking at stuff and saw this year's version of the "Big Red", but in brown at Meijers and black at Lowe's. I didn't check Home Depot, but now there are three sources for this kamado all priced at $299. After using mine since last year I can say it was a steal, and, once you "tweak" it, does a great job. The new ones have better seals and the vent cap is not the flimsy SS they had last year.

Click to expand...

Do you have a link for it?

MC

It's made by Char-Griller but it's not on their website. Here's the link to the one at lowe's:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_131712-4976...uct_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=Char-Griller

My looked terrible after only about 3 months outside, looks like its a 10 year old faded piece of junk. Anyone ever get a cover out of Chargriller? It is easy to use and I like the way it cooks.

Red always seems to fade when exposed to strong sunlight. I'm going to repaint mine with tractor paint from TSC. Their farm implement paint is bullet proof and is designed to be outside all the time. I might go with "John Deere green"...

I was going to repaint mine but thought the powder coat finish would have held up better. I have a felt gasket at the ashpan and another on the lid contact surface and it seems like I still have an air leak? Has anyone found any other leaks?

I think it's the vent cap, that may be why this year's model is totally different. The new one is heavier and seems to have a much better natural seal. I replaced mine with a 35 year old cast iron one that I saved from my first Kamado. I'd order one of the new ones from Char-Griller.

Thanks. I will give it a try. It just seems like you should be able to shut it down quicker and control temps easier.

Just saw the new version at Meijers. It's definately reengineered. It has a "cast" metal top vent (looks like pot metal though). Picture shows a cut away of the sides and it actually contains insulation between wall. Gaskets look similar to the old ones (only going from memory). No price tag on it. The sign say you can get an optional ceramic place setter.

Just purchased the Char-Griller Kamado from Lowes over the weekend. The ash pan now has an oven door type gasket similar to the lid gasket. I looked down through the vent cap with both the lid, and the bottom air vent closed and saw no daylight.

The top vent cap has a silicone o-ring where it meets the top lid, and the whole mechanism is very tight.

Fired it up for the first time yesterday afternoon- after seasoning the grates, I made pork-chops. They turned out awesome! After some initial skepticism, my wife gave her overwhelming approval of my purchase soon after her first bite. My first Kamado- lots to learning and experimenting ahead.

FYI- my Lowes has grill covers from Char-Griller in stock- around $25.00- seems like good quality.

I just got my Menard's sale flyer by email, the Big Red is on sale for $249. Check it carefully to be sure it's this year's model, not leftover from last year. If the vent cap is black metal it's a new one.

Question: Is it not unusual for the Big Red Kamado to take 2+ hours to cool to 200 degrees from 450? I seasoned the grill and after closing the dampers, it took about that long for the grill to cool enough that I was comfortable with wheeling it into the garage. (Had the garage door cracked open a bit to ensure air flow until the charcoal died.)

I bought my Big Red from Menards yesterday. It must be a "newer" model--the ash pan gasket is similar to the top lid gasket. The floor model at the store had a felt-like gasket in the ash pan.

In a pitch black garage, I placed a high-intensity flashlight in the grill and looked for light "leakage". There was no light escaping through the seals but there were a few hairline leaks where the welding job was shoddy or absent.

Mine had a significant gap between the ash pan damper and the ash pan--about 1/8". It looked like a manufacturing defect--someone dented the pan. I managed a bead of high heat silicone to seal it.

Also managed to squeeze in a bead for the damper on the lid.

I am guessing that air manages to seep through the rope seals as the burning charcoal creates a vacuum...

Any thoughts from you more experienced BBQ-ers?

BTW, this is my first kamado style cooker.

Its normal for me and I have upgraded the lid and ashpan seal. Must be some other leaks we have not found.

Ordered one from lowes. can't wait to post pics! glad to hear about the upgrades from lastyear's model.

I just discovered something bad with last year's model, the inside of the ash pan is not heat resistant. I took mine off today to clean it and found that, since it's the same powder coat as the outside, that the hot ash/coals that fell on it cracked the paint. One other thing is if you don't have a cover and leave it outside, water leaks in and makes a puddle in the ash pan. Well, the water got under the cracked powder coat and started to rust the steel it's made of. Good thing I had a can of heat resistant paint in the garage. So, if you have one of last year's models you better check for this and if the new ones are the same you'll need to make an aluminum foil liner.

Picked mine up last night... The top vent is a huge upgrade to lastyear's model. The ash pan seems to be better with a porcelain coated tray inside... Did the old version? Seems like they made all the right changes.

Has any one bought the smokin stone, if so where? Can't find it on the chargriller web site.

I picked one of these up at Lowes on Thursday and made a couple video reviews of what I have if you are interested in taking a look...

http://youtu.be/OmWZ7h-aZdw - Walkaround Review
http://youtu.be/h-Wifp2CKiE - Seasoning Burn
[ame]http://youtu.be/jxyZasR9aF0[/ame] - 7lb Boston Butt Cook

It has an air leak at the lower vent but I'm not 100% concerned that it's a problem. I haven't made up my mind if I'm going to remove the vent and seal it up yet or not.

Struggling a bit to get it under 300 degrees without it putting out the coals. Any advise? Also, the thermometer on mine is off approx 50 degrees.