M1/M36 grill vs Kamado

[MattNet]

You are a saint and deserve to buy all of the smokers you like!

Just kidding (well sorta), but I struggle with not having too many cookers and have been considering a M1 to consolidate, as well as to expand to stick burning. Sorry I don't have more to contribute, but best of luck!

Haha. Yeah never thought I'd end up having both my mother and mother in-law move in with my wife and myself. Fortunately they both are easy to get along with and wanted to help their retirement situations. We don't have any children as well so it will be just us four, we're about to run out of time to finally decide if we want a child and may still though. Though I like your logic!

I’m going to chime in again and at least let you know MY experiences:

Kamado- I had a primo oval xl for years and produced a lot of really good food with it. Jack of all trades. Master of none. For an all around cooker, hard to beat. I currently have a weber performer and a weber summit kamado. The weber summit kamado is far superior to my performer for grilling. I don’t smoke on it as stick burning produces much better flavor. On my primo and the summit kamado you are smoldering wood…far different than a clean stick burner.

Gravity fed - I had a stumps for a few years and it produced better all around bbq than the kamado. Can’t grill obviously

Pellets- had a gmg davey crocket for camping and yoder 640 and memphis elite…great all around cookers…more of a smoke seasoning vs a heavy smoke flavor. If I’m being honest, I liked the yoder better than the more expensive memphis elite. I’ve never had food off a Mak however

Stick burners - I have a m1 and I had a 24x48 pitts and spitts offset and have a workhorse 1975 waiting for delivery…there simply is no comparison in bbq flavor with a well run stick burner. It’s a much sweeter, easier going smoke flavor compared to charcoal and chunks. And much better than my pellet grills imo. The m1 is a good all around choice IF you want to burn sticks and grill on one unit. There are limitations due to design and size but it’s very good all around.

Hope this helps a bit


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I forgot. I had a wsm in the early years and while good, especially for the price, other units (at far higher price points) produce better results for ME and are easier to work with. YMMV


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Wow, invaluable feedback. Thanks for sh aring.

Where would you put the WSM in the mix among stick burners, kamados, and pellet burners?

One thought I have is that you may want a bigger, cleaner, less efficient fire. I think I burn a bigger fire on my WSM vs on my small BGE, for instance, and move more air through the cooker. So, while not a high airflow offset, I would think the WSM might produce a slightly cleaner smoke taste.

Does that make sense?

I'd be curious on this as well.

 

[Mrhdvrod]

32” big bad from Komodo Kamado, Mak 2 star, and Shirley will cover you

 

[gtsum]

Where would you put the WSM in the mix among stick burners, kamados, and pellet burners?

One thought I have is that you may want a bigger, cleaner, less efficient fire. I think I burn a bigger fire on my WSM vs on my small BGE, for instance, and move more air through the cooker. So, while not a high airflow offset, I would think the WSM might produce a slightly cleaner smoke taste.

Does that make sense?

It’s been awhile since I had the wsm, but pellets are the lightest flavor for me (memphis elite and yoder). Wsm maybe a little cleaner smoke flavor than a kamado as there is more airflow. I really didn’t like putting the wsm together and having to pull shelves to rotate etc. that being said, for the money, hard to beat imo. Gravity feed bbq can easily be over smoked if you are not judicious with the wood chunks. A well burning offset is impossible to beat for end results imo. And it seems the bigger the stick burning cooker, the easier it is to run smoothly.


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[BDAABAT]

This is an awesome thread! Lots of good feedback. Thanks Matt for posting. I'd not seen a Big M before. I understand you and your wife's appreciation of the appearance. It's a beautiful looking unit!

The justification for looking at a higher end unit is one that is interesting and one that matches my experience. I've tried to take a more measured approach several times in my life. In many instances, going with the less expensive option turned out to not be the right choice for me, which then resulted in spending more money to try to get the right choice. Seems reasonable to take your time, find the right thing for you, then spend the money to get what you want. If that happens to be a high end cooker, especially if your wife is supportive, why not?

Good luck! And please post pics once you get things settled!

Bruce

 

[jkief]

Of course everyone’s experience is different. This is my experience. I reached out to M Grills via their contact form on their website. No response. I figured maybe didn’t go through. I sent another. No response. I moved on. And yes, I considered calling. But I work in a secure bldg and can’t have personal cell phones when I’m in the office. When I’m out of the office, I’m usually on the pack floor or drop zone, so calls are intermittent. It wasn’t anything pressing, a question or 2 about their grill. Was seriously considering it, but not anymore.

 

[MattNet]

32” big bad from Komodo Kamado, Mak 2 star, and Shirley will cover you

That would certainly make an amazing BBQ trinity!

It’s been awhile since I had the wsm, but pellets are the lightest flavor for me (memphis elite and yoder). Wsm maybe a little cleaner smoke flavor than a kamado as there is more airflow. I really didn’t like putting the wsm together and having to pull shelves to rotate etc. that being said, for the money, hard to beat imo. Gravity feed bbq can easily be over smoked if you are not judicious with the wood chunks. A well burning offset is impossible to beat for end results imo. And it seems the bigger the stick burning cooker, the easier it is to run smoothly.


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Thanks for sharing, does seem to be consistent with other people's experiences. I am really brought in by the convenience of a pellet smoker, though I'm leaning to starting with a Kamado I really have kept my eye on those. The lighter smoke flavor is a factor, since I'm fortunate to work fully remotely being able to maintain something not too time intensive like a Kamado isn't a big downside. Though who knows I might end up with a pellet smoker anyways. If we end up really wanting something more convenient but still smoke flavor (unlike say an oven).

This is an awesome thread! Lots of good feedback. Thanks Matt for posting. I'd not seen a Big M before. I understand you and your wife's appreciation of the appearance. It's a beautiful looking unit!

The justification for looking at a higher end unit is one that is interesting and one that matches my experience. I've tried to take a more measured approach several times in my life. In many instances, going with the less expensive option turned out to not be the right choice for me, which then resulted in spending more money to try to get the right choice. Seems reasonable to take your time, find the right thing for you, then spend the money to get what you want. If that happens to be a high end cooker, especially if your wife is supportive, why not?

Good luck! And please post pics once you get things settled!

Bruce

Thanks for the encouragement! Everyone here has been amazing. A wealth of knowledge and experience. Exactly what I'm feeling. I do want to get something in the near term that still offers something different so a Kamado is seeming like a really good starter which can do a bit of everything, then get the big offset later. So many great options though.

Of course everyone’s experience is different. This is my experience. I reached out to M Grills via their contact form on their website. No response. I figured maybe didn’t go through. I sent another. No response. I moved on. And yes, I considered calling. But I work in a secure bldg and can’t have personal cell phones when I’m in the office. When I’m out of the office, I’m usually on the pack floor or drop zone, so calls are intermittent. It wasn’t anything pressing, a question or 2 about their grill. Was seriously considering it, but not anymore.

Thanks for sharing. I certainly think you came to a perfectly reasonable opinion based off of that experience. So a couple months back I did e-mail them about the Big M single door and got a pretty lengthy response from Travis answering my questions. Considering I was just some random person dreaming about a year + down the road I was impressed. I did respond with a couple minor additional questions and never got a response. I started following their facebook & instagram and noticed that was right when he went to a BBQ competition (where teams they were involved with won in a couple different categories) so totally makes sense with the bad timing of my follow up questions and being a small operation. Really weren't important questions so never followed up again. So I'd say in the end that was a positive experience for me.

 

[travismagee]

Of course everyone’s experience is different. This is my experience. I reached out to M Grills via their contact form on their website. No response. I figured maybe didn’t go through. I sent another. No response. I moved on. And yes, I considered calling. But I work in a secure bldg and can’t have personal cell phones when I’m in the office. When I’m out of the office, I’m usually on the pack floor or drop zone, so calls are intermittent. It wasn’t anything pressing, a question or 2 about their grill. Was seriously considering it, but not anymore.

Sorry about your experience. We had recently found out the contact form we were using for our Big M Commercial Smokers had a coding error and was sending everything to our SPAM folder. That has since been fixed.

You can also email us at info@mgrills.com or email myself travis@mgrills.com for any questions. I understand you have currently moved on, but if something changes in the future please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you,

Travis Magee

 

[Chester]

So one thing I'm considering as an option, probably a more practical option, is a Kamado Joe Jr. At that much lower price it seems like a good step into Kamado land (and BBQ and smoking land). It's something I could probably get immediately, or close to it, rather than saving longer and would be a good test bed to see where I might want to go beyond that. It seems to offer most of what Kamados offer, just lower capacity and at that side can't cook a brisket. In my household we'll have 4 people (my wife and we're having our two mother's move in with us) so the normal cook won't have to be high capacity. Though I like the idea of smoking a larger quantity and freezing some for convenient use later on, we're doing keto so lots of smoked meats will be valuable, but that can be something I can get later on.

I've also seen some people mention having something like a Big Joe and a Joe Jr but use their Jr at least as often or more because their common cooks are smaller and it uses less fuel and heats up faster. So probably would be a useful thing to have even if I do end up getting a bigger one or something else like a pellet grill, bigger smoker, etc.

Here is what I would recommend. Forget the Kamado, and buy a Weber 26" kettle and then a Slow N Sear for it. This will be half the price of the Kamado, and do everything the Kamado can do. They aren't an exact comparison, but close enough. Kamados excel at certain things and so does the Kettle, space being one of them. This will give you something you can learn on, and can play with a fire, and not break the bank doing so. The Weber can produce great BBQ, and you will learn what things you like and what not, so when you do go buy that bigger more expensive tool, you will come in better prepared.

 

[jkief]

Sorry about your experience. We had recently found out the contact form we were using for our Big M Commercial Smokers had a coding error and was sending everything to our SPAM folder. That has since been fixed.

You can also email us at info@mgrills.com or email myself travis@mgrills.com for any questions. I understand you have currently moved on, but if something changes in the future please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you,

Travis Magee

Travis,
I understand, stuff happens all the time. Once I move from MacDill to Ft Benning, GA I’ll be looking for a new cooker. I’ll keep you guys in mind! Thanks.

 

[MattNet]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice, I'm only starting my BBQ journey so I'm sure I'll be benefiting from the advice and wisdom of people here plenty more to come.

So I haven't moved to my new house yet but saw the Kamado Joe Jr on sale for $300 and couldn't help myself. Figured at that price there's no way I'll regret such a small investment wherever I end up going in my BBQ journey.

Got it last Friday and have cooked on it nearly every day and love it. I bought a Fireboard 2 Drive and their Blower fan to automate the temperatures and it works great at least on the shorter runs I've used it with. Love going from smoking to grilling.

I love being able to share the graphs on fireboard, here's one of my first sessions
https://share.fireboard.io/7BC921

I started getting temps high with direct heat to cook some burgers. Put in the deflector and set it to 275 and put on a pork loin roast. It maintained 275 extremely close with pretty much no work from me beyond firing it up. I let the internal temps get just a bit high at 155, would've preferred around 140-150, then I fired up the temps again and did some grilling again (either burgers or hot dogs, can't remember). It came out great and wonderful left overs.

This was my next session
https://share.fireboard.io/691DA0

Where I reverse seared some pork chops at 225 which it kept temps nice and balanced with no effort really again, to about 145-150. Then I seared the pork chops at high heat and they were definitely the best pork chops I've ever had. A nice (but not overpowering) smoke flavor with a great grill sear on it. Definitely doing pork chops again, so cheap and tasty.

Grilled some hot dogs as well and definitely came out great. Been many years since I've had charcoal grilled hot dogs or burgers, probably since I was a kid many years ago.

Loving it. It's small enough not to be much of a hassle for when move and can cook just about anything on it besides a full brisket.

Definitely planning to do some longer cooks with a chuck roast cooked brisket style, pork butts and shoulders, and definitely some ribs too. Did pizzas last night (keto pizzas actually) and the second one came out great, the crust came out far better than our oven.

Still planning to get the Big M Single Door down the road when we settle in our house, but this is definitely scratching the grilling itch I've had for years. Of course while at the same time giving me a deeper itch for more. Definitely going to have to up my BBQ game.

 

[gtsum]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice, I'm only starting my BBQ journey so I'm sure I'll be benefiting from the advice and wisdom of people here plenty more to come.

So I haven't moved to my new house yet but saw the Kamado Joe Jr on sale for $300 and couldn't help myself. Figured at that price there's no way I'll regret such a small investment wherever I end up going in my BBQ journey.

Got it last Friday and have cooked on it nearly every day and love it. I bought a Fireboard 2 Drive and their Blower fan to automate the temperatures and it works great at least on the shorter runs I've used it with. Love going from smoking to grilling.

I love being able to share the graphs on fireboard, here's one of my first sessions
https://share.fireboard.io/7BC921

I started getting temps high with direct heat to cook some burgers. Put in the deflector and set it to 275 and put on a pork loin roast. It maintained 275 extremely close with pretty much no work from me beyond firing it up. I let the internal temps get just a bit high at 155, would've preferred around 140-150, then I fired up the temps again and did some grilling again (either burgers or hot dogs, can't remember). It came out great and wonderful left overs.

This was my next session
https://share.fireboard.io/691DA0

Where I reverse seared some pork chops at 225 which it kept temps nice and balanced with no effort really again, to about 145-150. Then I seared the pork chops at high heat and they were definitely the best pork chops I've ever had. A nice (but not overpowering) smoke flavor with a great grill sear on it. Definitely doing pork chops again, so cheap and tasty.

Grilled some hot dogs as well and definitely came out great. Been many years since I've had charcoal grilled hot dogs or burgers, probably since I was a kid many years ago.

Loving it. It's small enough not to be much of a hassle for when move and can cook just about anything on it besides a full brisket.

Definitely planning to do some longer cooks with a chuck roast cooked brisket style, pork butts and shoulders, and definitely some ribs too. Did pizzas last night (keto pizzas actually) and the second one came out great, the crust came out far better than our oven.

Still planning to get the Big M Single Door down the road when we settle in our house, but this is definitely scratching the grilling itch I've had for years. Of course while at the same time giving me a deeper itch for more. Definitely going to have to up my BBQ game.

Awesome! Glad to hear the Joe jr is working out for you. I think the Joe series of kamados are tough to beat. Certainly prefer them over bge and the primo I had years ago. Post up some cooks!


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[Dweverett]

Nice! And I think you’re right about it being something that will be great even after you get the larger smoker.

 

[travismagee]

If anybody here is going to the State Fair of Texas, we have a booth (M Grills) with the new M1's, B2's, M36's, and M16's and great deals on all! Come by and see us!