Ottawa Area Pitboss

[ZuliTwo]

Posted over in the deals forum as well. The Kanata Costco has the 24" Pitboss on for $599. I'm pretty sure it was either 699 or 799 last week. If anyone was waiting to pull the trigger on this one, it might be the right time!

 

Cheers

[docdvm]

Went to Costco Gloucester to buy the 24 inch Pit Boss and left empty handed. The display was terrible! Looked nice from a distance. Liked the thermometer but the lid and hinge just did not work. The lid was heavy , the hinge was creaking and neither held open well nor would it close. Popped open enough that I can imagine a major air leak. The grill was tipsy and the inside pot was also tipsy (Lots of movement) 

 

Now is this typical of Pit Boss quality issues or assembly by a couple of partying high schoolers?

 

In addition the top vent is a real step down from both Kamado Joe and BGE. I would guess that most people just keep it closed.

 

Now as a background I have never owned a Kamado. I smoke with a Weber Smokey Mountain with a pitmaster IQ 110. Does a good job smoking . The decision was whether to get a Weber BBQ or combine both purposes with a Kamado. (Smoking and BBQ)

[docdvm]

O and the Pit Boss 24 inch is $799 in Gloucester.

[Jack.]

 docdvm.

[m-fine]

Went to Costco Gloucester to buy the 24 inch Pit Boss and left empty handed. The display was terrible! Looked nice from a distance. Liked the thermometer but the lid and hinge just did not work. The lid was heavy , the hinge was creaking and neither held open well nor would it close. Popped open enough that I can imagine a major air leak. The grill was tipsy and the inside pot was also tipsy (Lots of movement)

Now is this typical of Pit Boss quality issues or assembly by a couple of partying high schoolers?

In addition the top vent is a real step down from both Kamado Joe and BGE. I would guess that most people just keep it closed.

Now as a background I have never owned a Kamado. I smoke with a Weber Smokey Mountain with a pitmaster IQ 110. Does a good job smoking . The decision was whether to get a Weber BBQ or combine both purposes with a Kamado. (Smoking and BBQ)

My hinge required some minor tightening out of the box. Other than than I have none of the other issues that the display you saw had. The thermometer you liked is actually the worst part of the package. Some seem to be OK, mine is beyond useless. The big issue that I see is they all benefit from some extra felt gasket to help both dampers seal better. Personally I think the top vent is OK but could be better, but I would say the BGE top vent design is actually worse. At least the one on the PB won't lose the setting when you open the lid.

[nvestr]

That is crazy - I paid $999 from Costco.ca - my local store (Moncton, NB) did not have any Pit Bosses in stock... Very dissapointing that I paid $400 extra, although to me it`s very much worth the money, always sucks to miss a deal though!

[ZuliTwo]

If it helps, it wasn't there a couple of days ago when we were at Costco. I guess it was the floor model and someone picked it up. Sounds like they got a good deal!

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

[docdvm]

Well after criticizing the display model at Costco, I bought one anyway. Took a bit of time assembling it since I was alone and needed help placing it on the nest. Have had absolutely no issues and just love the unit. Sure leaked on the top and bottom gaskets which is easy to fix. Thermometer was great on the first couple of cooks but now is useless. Good thing I have a maverick. 

I ordered the heat deflector and pizza stone from Pit Boss. Hey,  CDN company out of Edmonton.......

 

Anyway mostly grilled to this point and even cooked a delicious pizza tonight. Having lots of fun. Will try a low and slow cook and some point but with grilling I am learning how the Pit Boss works and retains heat without overcooking a 6 or 12 smoked piece of meat. I know that the rib steaks were outstanding as was the garlic lemon chicken breasts and the basel pesto chicken.

 

Next week will be smoking some St. Albert cheese!!!

 

I would still like to get a good dome thermometer. Any suggestions? Will use my maverick most of the time but good to have a dome thermometer s a quick reference.

 

Next I will be looking at a DigiQ ot Pitmaster IQ 120 or Flame boss for those lone slow cooks especially during our cold winters. Any recommendations. Maybe I should have started a new thread?

 

 

[Jack.]

 

 

I would still like to get a good dome thermometer. Any suggestions? Will use my maverick most of the time but good to have a dome thermometer s a quick reference.

 

 

Check out TEL-TRU thermometers, specifically item # bbq 225.

I've replaced the dome thermometers on my Primo and on my Vision with TEL-TRU and they function as accurately and as well as a dome thermometer can be expected to perform.

If you are replacing on the PitBoss, you need the bbq225, 2.5" shaft, 1/4" round diameter screw type. About $27 US.

[djsomers]

Dome thermometer is good for sort of gauging whether temp is climbing, holding, or whatever. Grill temperature will be a lot higher.  I am going to start collecting measurements  each  time I use my PB so I get a sense of what the relationship is. Will be different for indirect and direct grilling, etc....

 

For any type of cooking, you probably also need two probe temp guage (Meat and grill), and perhaps a infrared gun for pizza/baking. Cant have too many!