First step in this journey, help me answer the subject questions. Let's pretend money and spousal consent isn't a barrier for a moment . I'd appreciate your thoughts.
1) How Many?
I think this one is easy -- I like having two cookers for both capacity and flexibility in terms of temps and cook types when cooking for a crowd (20-30'ish hosted at our house twice per year). Don't know if I'd buy both at once, but two makes sense.
2) What Size(s)?
I currently have a six-shelf, 1500 square inch smoker that runs from 225-325o and has been my go-to for larger cooks. For those cooks I'm often running at capacity with two meats plus sides and appetizers. Don't need to have all that in one cooker (although it is comparable to a 32" KK), but want that cumulative capacity and/or a bit more. My first inclination is a pair of 23's, but would like to better understand the advantages of the others (both smaller and larger) before settling on that. Moving away from a dedicated smoker to two versatile Kamado's opens the range of cook styles for when we host crowds (grilling, rotisserie, etc.).
3) Where/How to Deploy?
See the attached image. That's my house (ignore the neighbor uphill). I post this because I'm expecting challenges in getting any KK to it's destination in my backyard. Trucks stop at the top of the driveway. They'd hand truck my crated KK to my garage. But, there's no walkway to the back corner of my house, and the red lines highlight the sloping terrain from front (high) to back (low and sloping). Any KK will have to be carried by multiple burly folk (that's not me) down sloping terrain. Further, that white structure is my sunroom with wood deck underneath -- not the optimal spot for any grill, but I currently survive by rolling my cookers into the yard, than back to the deck between cooks. That won't work for a KK (there's a small step down from the deck), so if I'm to do this I'm thinking I need to build a small patio area with large stone pavers off the deck and leave the KK(s) in the open. Any advice on moving a KK into position over sloped terrain with burly folk to deploy on an open patio? Others done this? I'm thinking the heft of a 32" and the terrain to be navigated takes a 32 off the table.
