Primo Grill

[CobNole]

I'm going to be buying a new grill soon and was interested in opinions of the Primo if anyone here has one. From what some say it is better than the Big Green Egg because of the oval design. I understand it can also be used as a smoker which I'd be interested in as well. I know of some competition guys that use them like Byron from Byron's Butt Rub,

 

[Navchop]

I'm very impressed with Primo grills. I was going to open a BBQ supply store a couple of years ago and did some research. The oval design makes it easier to offset your fire and use it as a smoker.

What I really liked about the Primo was it was the only Ceramic grill made in the United States. BGE has moved their manufacturing to Mexico and the others are made in China.

 

[skramer100]

Love my Egg. Can get it over 900, and can keep it at 225 for 12 hours. No idea about Primo, but the egg is legit.

 

[ericram]

I saw these at Costco not too long ago. Solid grill, but the stand wasn't as nice as the Egg.

 

[CobNole]

I saw these at Costco not too long ago. Solid grill, but the stand wasn't as nice as the Egg.

From what I've been reading, many owners build different tables/stands. This is what I'm looking at:

 

[ericram]

That's a nice stand. You planning on making that or is someone who manufacturers?

 

[NoleRN]

Had my eye on the Primo for a while now… My neighbor has one and it's great. Has 400 sq inches of grill space, you can line up 4 racks of baby backs beside each other, we had 6 chickens on it with room to spare. You can even bake in it if you want, they have a stone plate for cooking pizzas too. They have plans on their website to build a grill stand.

 

[CobNole]

That's a nice stand. You planning on making that or is someone who manufacturers?

That's available on Amazon now.

 

[CobNole]

Had my eye on the Primo for a while now… My neighbor has one and it's great. Has 400 sq inches of grill space, you can line up 4 racks of baby backs beside each other, we had 6 chickens on it with room to spare. You can even bake in it if you want, they have a stone plate for cooking pizzas too. They have plans on their website to build a grill stand.

I'm really interested in the pizzas. Curious to know if he has to wrap brisket and ribs as that's the one thing I miss with the bigger commercial smoker you didn't need to wrap anything except the bigger beef ribs.

 

[baldfsufan]

FIL has a primo and it is awesome. It does everything great. Pizza, wings, steaks, etc all cooked great on the primo!

 

[NoleRN]

I'm really interested in the pizzas. Curious to know if he has to wrap brisket and ribs as that's the one thing I miss with the bigger commercial smoker you didn't need to wrap anything except the bigger beef ribs.

When he does briskets n ribs he wraps them in foil to keep them from drying out, seems like the smoker is usually at 225. He does note baste his ribs in a sauce, just the dry rub.

Butts get wrapped(to rest) and left to sit up to two hours in a cooler to let them continue to cook.

When my neighbor gets home from work he cranks his up in short order and uses it to grill steaks, chicken, etc. gets the hard wood charcoal burning with a small torch or an electric starter. You never use lighter fluid or standard briquets in these komodo style clay ovens.

 

[DanC78]

I have been cooking a good bit on my Dads green egg. He claims it's a smoker too. But it really isn't a smoker. It holds smoke in better than your normal grill ever could, that's for sure. But you can't smoke your meat with it the same you can a traditional smoker.

Adding extra chips is very difficult to do and there is no place for a water pan, so your meat doesn't' stay as moist.

And don't get me wrong, it's an awesome grill. But after looking at it's cost and what it's actually capable off. I would get a nice Weber and a nice electric smoker separate...you would still have extra cash left over to buy a nice little fryer and work station. You'd be set on all levels at that point....cooking like a bauce!

 

[DanC78]

double post

 

[FSUTribe76]

I'm really interested in the pizzas. Curious to know if he has to wrap brisket and ribs as that's the one thing I miss with the bigger commercial smoker you didn't need to wrap anything except the bigger beef ribs.

I had never grilled pizzas until Memorial Day weekend. When I made pizza I would do it at home in the oven on a real pizza stone I purchased just for this purpose (my wife also has a stoneware cloche and a stoneware baking some for baking bread, so this is just for pizza). But for whatever reason my wife had read an article about grilling pizzas and wanted to do it while we were camping in Mississippi, so I brought the typical self lighting brickets not quality charcoal to use at the campsite grill and we brought some premade dough, premade pasta sauce plus some Havarti and fresh mozzarella to thinly slice and brought some prosciutto, salami and capicola for one and basil and grape tomatoes for the other. %*%+ed if that didn't turn out to be one of the best pizzas I've had no exaggeration (they looked ugly as it was windy and I couldn't toss just roll them and one got stuck on the first side and turned into a kind of Dali clock shape). I got the coals white hot and while still radiating heat I placed the dough directly on to the grill. Then after the top bubbled a bit I flipped it and quickly added the toppings. Let it cook for a couple of minutes until it looked good and bam! Took them off the grill.

Very simple and yet it turned out great.

 

[crooked_rain]

My dream upgrade for my Big Steel Keg is a Komodo Kamado

http://komodokamado.com/

 

[noleit]

I bought the Kamado Joe 'big joe' sized kamado cooker two months ago after months of looking. The Primo and the BGE were the others I considered. I chose the KJ because of their service reputation and because they offered the best design and features at a better price. However, any of those three kamado grills are good and better then the ones you see at HD. And for the poster that said the BGE isn't a smoker should tell that to all the professional BBQ teams that win with them every week.

 

[RTM58]

 

[noleit]

My dream upgrade for my Big Steel Keg is a Komodo Kamado

http://komodokamado.com/

Those are the Ferrari's of kamado cookers and are priced accordingly!

 

[RTM58]

My dream upgrade for my Big Steel Keg is a Komodo Kamado

http://komodokamado.com/

Was this pic taken on FF deck?

 

[crooked_rain]

Was this pic taken on FF deck?

HA. Didn't catch that. Possibly.

 

[Nole Lou]

I have the cheapo version of the kamado from Char Griller, I got it for $229. You can't beat it for the low entry. I'd really love to have a Primo, that's probably what I would choose if I was willing to spend that kind of money. Whether it's my skill set, or what I like to cook, I know I would not get ten times the improvement by spending ten times the money.

But I love it. I only smoke a few times per year, and the control is not quite what I would get on a premium kamado, I do have to keep a bit of an eye on it. Although I did ribs on Memorial day and got it to hold almost perfectly. But if I was going to smoke more, I would probably get a smoker.

 

[Navchop]

I got a weber Ranch Kettle and can smoke everything I want. I smoke at 250 - 275 and don't have any problem holding those. I can smoke enough for my family of 20 and if I want to grill there's plenty of space for that too.

 

[FSUTribe76]

I got a weber Ranch Kettle and can smoke everything I want. I smoke at 250 - 275 and don't have any problem holding those. I can smoke enough for my family of 20 and if I want to grill there's plenty of space for that too.

Wait...family of 20? Josh Duggar is that you? Quit raping the kiddies!

 

[Nole-4-Life]

I have a Weber kettle for grilling and a Weber Smokey Mountain for smoking. They both do fantastic jobs. I can't see spending what they want for a BGE or Primo when I can cook just fine on what I have.

 

[AllNoles]

I have been cooking a good bit on my Dads green egg. He claims it's a smoker too. But it really isn't a smoker. It holds smoke in better than your normal grill ever could, that's for sure. But you can't smoke your meat with it the same you can a traditional smoker.

Adding extra chips is very difficult to do and there is no place for a water pan, so your meat doesn't' stay as moist.

And don't get me wrong, it's an awesome grill. But after looking at it's cost and what it's actually capable off. I would get a nice Weber and a nice electric smoker separate...you would still have extra cash left over to buy a nice little fryer and work station. You'd be set on all levels at that point....cooking like a bauce!

I will disagree. You can put a place setter on the lower grill and put liquids in a big pan, no problem. You can also add to it pretty easily if you want to.

I have never had an issue with adding chips. Then again, I use chunks and at 225 they seem to burn/smoke through a whole cook.