DWFII

I was 71 (?) when I put mine together...by myself in less than one day. Looked terrific until I tried to lift it into the shed At which point, the 'connectors that held the bottom shelf on, and which are made of plastic, broke. It was no easy fix. I had to re-engineer the whole attachment and shelf support using really large washers and a bit of aluminum tubing and long bolts. Did that right before winter. Come spring the connection on the other end sheared away as well and I had to repeat the whole process. But by gum, it's solid now and won't ever break again. And I am happy with my Akorn...I'd even buy another one despite knowing that I would have to go through that all over again. And FWIW, I called Chargriller and gave them he**, sent photos, etc. . But you know how that goes. I doubt they'd really pay attention--once something is designed and implemented like that it costs too much to change. Bottom line, whoever designed that rinky-dink bit was no engineer or materials specialist, that I can guarantee.

I've spatchcocked chickens (used to beercan them) and turkeys, but as good as they turn out both my wife and I like the looks of a whole bird for presentation on the table. Is there any reason a person can't just roast poultry (whole) in a kamado? Are there any tricks to make it come out better or cook more evenly?

I have a stainless steel Amazn smoker tube...is there any reason I can't fill it with chips or pellets and place it on my plate setter or smoking stone? Will the chips smolder?without catching fire? Anyone tried this?

How do you do that?

So, have you stopped using chips and pellets too? Or do you handle them some other way?

I have a lot of smoking pellets. When I had my WSM, I used to make up foil packets of these pellets to create and add smoke flavour. Sometimes though, when the cook was done, I noticed that the foil was burnt through...almost as if it had oxidized. With all the talk about galvanized steel being toxic, I wondered what happened to the aluminum and whether it created harmful fumes. Anyone know anything about this?

Well, I'm interested but an internet search for "rotisserie for Akorn" brought up several mentions of gaps of an inch or so when using the Joetisserie on the Akorn. Can anyone confirm the fit?

I have always brined chicken and turkeys. I think it makes them significantly more moist and tastier than if unbrined. Of course, I don't buy injected anything. I'm not all that fond of the skin...even so, a brined and spatched chik will get crispy skin if that's what you're looking for. I brined a pork shoulder last summer and I liked it. My wife thought it was a little too "hammy" but that's exactly what i was looking for. There's certainly enough fat and connective tissue in a shoulder to keep it moist without brining. FWIW & YMMV

That's the one I have too. Love it.

FWIW. I had a LBGE given to me. It was a mess. I spent near $500 on accessories, etc.--a new firebox, grid, grill, and so forth and had half again that much in parts and pieces given to me by generous people over on the egghead forum. When I got into seriously putting it all back together, I discovered I had a hairline crack in the base. Being retired and on a very limited income, I was sick at having sunk so much into it. People advised me to just cook with it, anyway. So that's what I did. I've had zero problems despite a slight underbite that I cannot seem to get rid of--it holds temp really well and shuts down relatively quickly. Makes a killer pizza, as well as butt, spatchcock, and brisket. But so does my Akorn.

I found this very interesting. Looking forward to your first cook using this method.

Some one said above that this was a boobytrap waiting to happen. And I have to second that. When I first got into Kamados i bought an Akorn from a large online dealer. When I got done putting it together I noticed that it had a major dent in the dome. So I called Chargriller and eventually sent it back for an exchange with the retailer I bought it from. This happened two more times--major production flaws and almost always a dent. The last time I got the Akorn assembled and the dent in the dome was minor...and I was sick and tired of putting them together. I sent Chargriller some photos and got some sort of authorization to send the grill back...I don't recall the details...but I was determined to keep the grill. Having got it assembled and being relatively satisfied, I decide to move it into a shed (it was February) for storage until spring. I grabbed the front handle (all the grids etc. were inside) intending to roll it out of my shop. Now you have to understand the wheels are right below the handle. And you also have to understand that I was tired and sick and tired of building Akorns with all the attendant unpacking and fussing, etc.. The problem was that when I grabbed the handle I hadn't made absolutely sure the dome was latched. And the none of the latches on any of these had a spring closure and, in my experience, the latches were universally sticky, in any case. I tipped the Akorn towards me and the wheels immediately rolled backwards dropping the whole bottom half to the cement floor. The Akorn fared no better than Humpty-Dumpty did. The bottom half was so damaged the whole thing was unusable. It's a booby trap. The latch doesn't automatically close, hinge opens fast, it's top heavy (as they all are) and the wheels force you to tip the Akorn to move it. Almost a definition of booby-trap. Eventually I bought another Akorn...this time the one with the cart. No tipping no worries. The kamado is fine. The cart is not that well designed much less well made, however, and the whole bottom shelf structure can break and detach just moving it over uneven ground. But I managed to jury-rig a fix for that with some bolts and fender washers and a drill bit...and it is even more solid now than it was originally. I am quite happy with my Akorn now but whoever designed this thing wasn't thinking long term. Just my opinion...YMMV

IIRC, the old rule was 1.5-2 hours per pound...it doesn't make any difference if a 7lb. butt is cut in two pieces, it's still 7lbs of meat. Do the math...7x1.5 =11 hours minimum, 14 hours max.

Probably. But the trick is not to bring it up too fast. I light one starter cube in the center of my charcoal and let it come up. Start closing vents about 75-100 degrees before your target. Not really that difficult esp. if you read some of the posts here and take note of where vents want to be for any given temperature. The only time you might want to dump a chimney full of coals into a kamado is if you're shooting for a high heat cook--like pizza. Even then vent management can easily keeps things in control esp. if you anticipate. And somewhat out in the weeds...why worry about how long it takes? Why barbecue at all if it is just gonna be another of those frantic, rush-rush activities that weekends are supposed to free us from?

Well, I'm not an expert and I've never even seen the Summit in person. That said, while it is true that kamados take longer to get up to temp than, say, a Weber kettle, or a barrel cooker, there's not a lot of difference between the Akorn, for instance, and a Weber Smokey Mountain. Both take about 20 minutes. And once at temp, the kamado will hold temps better than anything I've used over the last 40+ years. I've never had a problem getting up to or controlling temp with either of my kamados--BGE and Akorn. Cool-down...to zero or close by...on the other hand, takes three to four hours. It really depends on what you want to do. Open air grilling isn't really a thing on Kamados. But pizza is! 'Nuff said.