At The Barbecue Lab, you can expect expert grill reviews, current BBQ gear reviews from seasoned pitmasters, "How To" videos on grilling tips, and recipes that'll make you the king of your backyard. In no time, you’ll know how to barbecue like a pro!
David has 20+ years of bbq cooking experience. He shows you how to get things right the first time so you don't have to make the same mistakes he did to learn how to barbecue.
There's nothing worse than investing your weekend on a 14 hour brisket cook just to learn that your backyard grill or smoker is a piece of junk that you never should have bought in the first place.
We evaluate the best and the worst grilling products to help you find the perfect smoker grill and grilling accessories. From pellet grills to probe thermometers, we got you covered!
The right gear, combined with proven cooking techniques, barbecue grill reviews, and killer bbq recipes will unlock your inner pitmaster. Welcome to the Barbecue Lab!
Purchased a ice cream maker with its own compressor over ten years ago. Pour some soda into it, turn it on, and like yours, slushie in about 15 minutes. Love it! Great video.
A couple of questions. If you have this grill in a built in space will that affect the ventilation at all? If you are on a patio with open sides but a roof above, does the smoke cause eventuall damage to the wood ceiling?
Thank you for the detailed review and video on the signals. I just bought one for myself. I don't do much BBQ (since I live in Canada where it's too cold most of the time) but I do long braises ALL the time. And that is something I do want to mention. What probe would I use for Braising? The product, in general, seems to be marketed towards smoking and BBQing (dry) rather than braising or Sous Vide (wet). Between talking to a thermoworks rep and what they have on their website, it seems like the probe itself is ok to be submerged but given the inside of a pot during braising is usually a very damp environment it'd be tricky to not get the whole thing wet. Their website suggests using the longer straight probe for submerging so you can keep the rest of it out of the water, which would work. They also have a waterproof high temp probe, which isn't rated for all liquids but should be OK? All in all, i found this very confusing. So far I've settled in on the high temp waterproof probe for the meat itself and the regular probe that comes with the signals with just the probe going into the pot to measure the liquid? would that work?
I used this recipe but substituted a couple of ingredients that I didn't have. I baked my chicken and it turned out delicious! I will be using this rub from now on.
just got my y series and did first burn. went really well im happy with the firepit but i will share something... the reason i went with the Y is because of the legs, and because its made in the USA (unlike the solo which is made in china) but i wanted to be able to burn on my lawn without harming the grass. I put the legs on the first (lower) position.. and it DID kill the grass. sooo just know if you want to not harm your lawn you will need to use the higher (cooking) setting for the legs.
I'm sure others have chimed in but for the Pit Boss with the ceramic coated griddle, you MUST only use silicone spatulas and tools or you WILL eventually damage the coating, get that in your food (yuck) and void your warranty - it looks bad all scratched up as well and it all could be avoided.
While the Weber Summit Kamado is not a ceramic kamado, it does a great job of matching their performance while weighing a whole lot less. I hope it gets reviewed along with the KJ C3.
Wife & kids brought one home for my birthday. I've be solely running the Pit Barrel cooker, but admitted some times the effort to prepare the charcoal and get timely cooks done don't always align and my wife just wanted something easy to startup in addition to the griddle. Time will tell, but I can guarantee that the PBC will still be there to continue the more important cooks that have made many neighbors envious.
Stopped watching as soon as you said KJ was on the way and you weren’t going to wait for the testing. Not interested in seeing a YT video that doesn’t have one of the most popular and well regarded Kamado grills. You should have waited IMO
Personally I've never used any Kamado type. With multiple cooking devices I've been toying with a Kamado type and gravity. The KONG intrigues me because of $ and features. Could KONG be your head-to-head?
Several years ago I purchased the Pit Boss model PB1000T2. I did have some problems with it when the augur motor died. After the second motor laid down on me I visited with PB and was told about the 5 year warranty. They replaced that motor and later the mother board after it shorted out due to operator error. The company has been great to work with. The only complaint I've ever had was that it didn't seem to get enough smoke flavor into my cooks. After I discovered smoking tubes I no longer have that problem. Thank you Pit Boss for your support and quick response to my problems.
Thank you for this information. You tested how to clean the grills, but not how to clean the grease collection or how to replace a burner. Is it possible to test those features as well?
Great video. I'm already experienced and actually judge bbq on the Memphis in May circuit. I thought you did a great job explaining. When I throw mine in a cooler, I lay some towels over the wrapped pork butts and if I have the time, I'll let them rest up to 8 hours. At that point, they are still quite hot when pulling with your hands. The long rest time really helps for timing your dinner so you don't have to be exact. 😋👍
I’m ready to get my first brisket, thank you for not making it way too complicated! I never understood the “pros “ over complicated injections, rubs etc. I would wonder if all the judges wanted to taste over seasoned injections etc. great job!
I am looking to get a family grill, and I also only cook on charcoal. I just can’t keep cooking family meals in that small Weber. Is the grill you reviewed here what you would consider the best charcoal grill on the market?
I used to be an egghead, but made the switch to the kamado joe c3. Honestly if you look at all the faults with the other kamados they have about addressed them all. I personally have the c3 and the konnected joe. You should also try out the connected digital control with great kamado flavor. I think it's becoming my favorite grill.
I am thinking of getting a griddle. I normally cook outside using my Kamado Joe. I have an ancient Webber gas grill that is rarely used and in need of some repair if I want to use it. From your video which I appreciate immensely my two favorites for my use case is the Gorilla Grill primate at the 36” Weber. That toast test is very important. Having hot and cold spots is bad when cooking for large parties or multiple ingredients.
Great video comparing these kamados, I sold my large BGE a few years ago and went with the Big Joe II. I would be interested in seeing how the Slo roller on the KJ 3 compares to any of the others or is it a gimmick.
Thanks for doing this. I have struggled to find ANY reviews on several of the models you featured here. I have 2 critiques from my own selfish POV. 1. You executed on the purpose of your video well. But, I wanted more individual attention to each one of these Kamados, mostly because they are lacking. If it ain't the Green Egg or Kamado Joe, there isn't a lot of review content or content in general. I have attempted to research the New Age, the 4K, and Blaze Kamado and outside of the manufacturer video, there isn't a lot out there. Had I seen this, I may have investigated the 4K more deeply, as it is my style, but I decided on the Blaze. 2. As to the Blaze, the critique was on the stand, which Blaze has 2 addition Blaze Kamado "spider" karts that would put it at the same height as the others. As of the time of this comment, I haven't received my Blaze yet, but your video has reinforced my choice. Thanks to you and your lovely wife for the information.
