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You’ve pretty much covered everything. I have a 19”, a 23”, and a 32”, and they all have their virtues. I got the 32” most recently, just when the 38’s were released. I really thought the 32” would be more than I’d ever need, but once I got it, I sometimes wish for the 38”. I’ll say this, the grates on the 32” are fairly heavy, and I understand that the grates on the 38”/42” are multi pieced, which could be an advantage. In your situation, I’d have way more fun with two 32’s, given the extra flexibility of two completely separate cookers. The big grills are designed such that they can cook like a small one given the basket splitters, which I believe are standard on the 38” and 42”. Either way, you’re going to really enjoy your cooker (s), whatever you decide. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As I consider my first KK cooker (coming from Primo Oval XL), I have been heavily leaning towards the 38 or 42. However, I realized that I should also consider the 32 while leaving open the option to add a second 32. Most of my cooks are for 5 people with the occasional larger cook (10-12 people) a few times a year. Pros of two 32s Two independent cooking zones allowing both different temperatures or methods (indirect in one, rotisserie in the other) When cooking small, the smaller KK is theoretically easier to deal with? I prefer the looks of the 32 vs the 42. Perhaps easier to move the grates around since they are in one piece? Or are they more of a pain because they are heavier? Pros of the 42 Easier to cook a large quantity of food The capability to cook longer food items, such as a pig or large in-tact fish. I like the wider charcoal basket which gives more room directly above the coals I suppose a compromise would be to start with the 38 with the option of adding another cooker, but I risk the mental torture of "I should have gotten the bigger one!" or "I should have gotten the smaller one" haha Anything else that I am missing?

Double check with Dennis, but he's made some improvements, including doing some initial curing at the factory now and you may not need to do it? For us with older KKs, there was a curing step needed before taking the grills above 350F. You can cook as much as you want without doing it, as long as you don't go above this temperature. To cook at higher temps, like for pizzas, you need to incrementally heat the KK in about 50F steps from 350F to 550F, letting the KK stabilize at each step before moving on to the next one, then letting the grill soak for about an hour or so upon getting to 550F. What you're doing is curing out the solvent from the layer of material behind the tiles. You will begin to smell the solvent as it heats up. Keep going until the smell is gone. You might see some whitish gunk leaking out between the tiles. It's easily wiped off with a wet sponge. But, be careful, at this point the exterior of the KK will be quite hot, so be safe and keep pets and kids from touching it until it cools back down (takes hours!) Some tiles might bulge up, as well. You just press them back down as the grill cools down enough to be safe to touch again. We tell folks to make the best of this situation - fill the charcoal basket totally full (it's going to burn a LOT of charcoal), fill up a cooler with your favorite adult beverage and a nice chair to just ride it out. Also, a good chance to continue to learn temperature control by taking some notes on top hat positions at each temperature stop. It's safe to actually cook during this process, as the solvent is on the outside of the grill and not near the food. Good opportunity to make some pizzas.

What is the "initial curing process" for the 32" Big Bad; is that a requirement for all KK's?

The 32, 38, and 42" are the same grill with different center sections. The outside sections of the grates are the same on the 38 and 42; only the center section changes.

A breakfeast sausage that just might be a keeper. So on a 1lb basis it'll be, 1lb ground pork, 1.5 tsp crushed sage, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp salt, 2tsp brown sugar, 3/4 tsp blk pepper, 1/4tsp red pepper flakes, 1/4tsp nutmeg, 1/4 cayenne or Tabasco as I substituted 6-7 good squirts for a 5.5 pork butt. Additionally you can add corriander 1/4tsp, 3 tsp maple syrup, 1/2tsp paprika. Fresh ingredients optional were 1/2 diced red pepper, chives and parsley. Fashion into balls, place on a sheet of cut wax paper with one on top and press with a plate to flatten. Two per vacum seal bag and freeze. Now I did cook these in a fry pan, however the KK or any charcoal grill will also do. Keep in mind the sage and thyme were dry, next time I'll use fresh and let the mix stand overnight in the frig, I anticipate an even better result.

I feel that a 38 would give just enough to fit a small pig/lamb/goat on the spit but also reduced heat soak / charcoal usage for smaller cooks vs a 42. The effort to setup and or relocate (I’ve moved multiple continents with my 32”) would also be a bit less I would think.

Good idea

You might want to just pick up the phone and call Dennis, he can probably answer all of your questions in one call 👍

I believe all dimensions are on the website. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Does anybody know the dimensions of the charcoal caddy for the 32, 38, or 42?

I don't think we have any 38 owners on the forum yet ????

One can butcher or request "country-style ribs". They are indeed cut from the blade end of the pork loin, near the shoulder, often with generous meat. I used to cut these myself, trial and error after buying bone-in pork loin roasts. I'd always put the bones back in, and eventually it dawned on me...

I think this i where the splits are? Looks like the middle grate is the one that changes size between the 38/42

It was a good intro into cooking on a ceramic grill at the time. I chose it because of the tiles and color options, as opposed to a BGE (boring!), the only other choice at the time. It was a good grill until it started to fall apart, as almost all of them did, due to poor material selections. Hence, the oft-used moniker, POSK (Piece of Sh!t Kamado). Plus, the owner (RJ) was more of a con-man than grill manufacturer - would take people's money for grills and accessories then not deliver, plus wouldn't stand behind them once they started falling apart. And if you complained too much on their forum, you would get banned. It actually became a badge of honor to get banned there. Someone started a separate website for folks to bitch about the company and to post pics of their grills cracking and shedding tiles in large sections. Dennis actually moved into their old manufacturing plant in Indonesia (RJ had skipped town by then and went to Mexico) and hired many of the laid-off workers. He upgraded the materials and improved the design immensely. Many of us older POSK owners became KK owners.

How did that Blue Kamado perform for you?

If you haven't yet seen it, here is video from Dennis comparing the main grate sizes among his KKs: Toward the end of video, you can see the 38" compared to the 42" and he removes the ends and center section of the 38". It doesn't precisely address your question, but may help.

@DennisLinkletterFor the 38 grates vs the 42, how does the square middle grates (lower and main) compare in width? Has the 4" been removed from the center section, the outer sections, or both?

I also like how in the 38 and 42, the grates are divided into thirds which I'm hoping makes them a little easier to manage (although perhaps a little slower, but I have the time).. Hx31416, why would you choose the 38 over the 42?

I’ve owned both a 23” and a 32”. Doing indirect cooks on 32” became much simpler plus adding the basket splitter helps on charcoal management for smaller cooks of just 1-2 steaks.. The one thing i would say is that the bigger you go, the heavier the grates. This is probably the only cons I noticed when kickstarting any cook plus the cleanup process afterwards. But if I had the option of a 38” when buying the 32”, I would have definitely gone with the 38” just for maximizing those large piece cooks on a rotisserie spit, or for having more real estate of a 2 zone cook setup..

If I know if is going to be a lot of dripping like for pork butts i put something like a stainless serving tray or a cookie sheet under the foil, just to be safe, you don't want to accidentally dump a bunch of drippings into your KK.

Interesting. Those side spring mechanisms look weird. The Green KK I posted has a low serial number in the 200s on the inside. It must have been a very early model—or, as they say, a collector's item. The unit seems well-built and heavy as hell, though the front latch doesn't work. Also, it doesn't say Komodo Kamado anywhere on the unit.

I'm not a direct help here, as I own a 23". But, in all the years on this forum, I've never heard anyone complain/regret going bigger on their grill size when choosing between sizes.

That's an older KK. Back in the day, there were more tile color options than now. Like Dennis said, if it was a POSK (by RJ), the legs would be square, and you would see the 2 spring rods on the rear on each side. I would know, I owned one - my first kamado grill.

If you are constantly doing large cooks then it makes sense to get the 42. If you want to cook a few chicken breasts or a few steaks for you and you wife the 32 or 38 will be sufficient. I own the 32 and feel it 's a great size. The smaller size requires less lump for those smaller cooks. From a capacity standpoint, I can easily get 8 pork butts on my 32's two top racks Whatever fits your needs. That being said, I have considered adding the 22 Beast to use for smaller cooks as my 32 can seem a bit large for doing just a few steaks, pork chops, etc.