My 42 is still mesmerizing

[johnnymnemonic]

Here I am on a beautiful not-too-hot summer Saturday gearing up for dinner tonight and a shawarma cook tomorrow for several guests.

 

I love my 42 SBB. It is the perfect grill and perfect smoker.

 

 

 

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[johnnymnemonic]

1 year 6 months in:

Notes:
I no longer use the basket splitter. I find for my purposes a pile of charcoal on one side is perfect for grilling. For smoking I fill the whole 42 box. Whatever gets used gets used and I grill with the remainder.

Largest cook - I paraphrase the movie “ office space”. - what would you do if you won a million dollars? “12 pork butts at the same time”. I did not win anything but I did do 12 pork butts at the same time and then felt like I had won a million dollars because of how damn good they all were.

Advantage of the 42-
Extra room. Multi-zone cooking to an extreme. I very often start vegetables indirect before my direct meat cook. I haven’t come close to reaching the full potential of this grill but I so appreciate all the room. It is a kamado but it is so flexible and easy to work with.

I thought I would regret going bigger.

I haven’t. Use dense lump. The 42 is pretty damn efficient on charcoal for its size.

I would say it uses double the charcoal of my large BGE for an average cook but the surface area is something like 6x larger. Well worth it.


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[C6Bill]

And it’s beautiful to look at 😁

[johnnymnemonic]

Normal night with my 42


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[Rob.C]

That grill is a Beauty and a Beast. I just left Primo for my First KK 23. Once I outgrow this I will be upgrading. Can't wait for my first cook.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Poochie]

I'm glad you're loving your 42BB. You got over missing the green one that you thought was the ultimate cooker and now you know who the king is. But I wish you 42 owners would just stop posting picture of it with food on it. I convinced myself I didn't need one and that picture isn't helping the cause. It must be some kind of virus!

[Paul]

4 hours ago, Poochie said:

It must be some kind of virus!

I hope vaccinations aren't mandatory!!

[johnnymnemonic]

But I wish you 42 owners would just stop posting picture of it with food on it.

I am sorry [mention]Poochie [/mention] . You may remember. For a while I had buyers remorse. My original order was for a 32. Dennis had a 42 cancellation and the rest is history.

I feel I would have very similar experiences with the 32. I probably would not have been able to do over 100 lbs of raw pork at the same time but otherwise very similar. Also I feel the 32 being smaller might be the better smoker. Although I have done some great things with the 42. Def superior to “the green one”. It is not about “need”. And if you already have a 32 I know how much you love it. Keep loving it. Move the KK and love the KK 32. I still wonder what it would be like if I had the slightly smaller one.


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[DennisLinkletter]

On 6/25/2023 at 3:50 AM, johnnymnemonic said:

Notes:
I no longer use the basket splitter. I find for my purposes a pile of charcoal on one side is perfect for grilling. For smoking I fill the whole 42 box. Whatever gets used gets used and I grill with the remainder.
 

Not Suggested
Air takes the path of least resistance and will most go around your pile of charcoal...
The area on the other side of the charcoal splitter has those plates to force ALL the airflow thru your charcoal. This makes it light MUCH faster and gives you total control of your airflow/temperature. 
With the massive size of the firebox in the 42", I felt it would be wrong not to have it so it's standard, not optional like all the other grills.  When you are smoking, and you choose not to use it.. I suggest completely filling the charcoal basket so the airflow is uniform thru the charcoal also.

I'm happy to hear you still love your grill.. thanks for the kudos!

[johnnymnemonic]

@DennisLinkletter good point.  When I'm smoking I do fill the firebox.  When grilling, I haven't had an issue without the splitter, but I will re-visit.

[johnnymnemonic]

On 7/20/2023 at 4:39 PM, johnnymnemonic said:

@DennisLinkletter good point.  When I'm smoking I do fill the firebox.  When grilling, I haven't had an issue without the splitter, but I will re-visit.

I re-visited.

You get more control with the splitter in, for sure.  And having the splitter in is probably the only acceptable way to do it if you're using the lower grate.  I get higher / quicker temperature spikes without it.  If you like to grill with the lid open, you can leave the lid open longer with the splitter in place.

One day perhaps I will make a video on the difference.  Easier to show it than to write it.  But anyway.  I'd consider no basket splitter to be "viable".  One reason why maybe I had acceptable results is lighting with a looftlighter.  I always light the center of my charcoal and I think that naturally pulled some air through adjacent charcoal in my pile without the basket splitter, so I didn't have so much air "going around" the charcoal.  But - now that I have gone back to the splitter, I can see how it's more "ideal".

question: is it considered mandatory to put the screws in the basket splitter?  

Call me the "lazy" 42 griller.  

[tony b]

1 hour ago, johnnymnemonic said:

question: is it considered mandatory to put the screws in the basket splitter?  

Must be a 42" thing. Mine doesn't have screws. 

[DennisLinkletter]

On 8/21/2023 at 11:33 PM, johnnymnemonic said:

question: is it considered mandatory to put the screws in the basket splitter?  
 

No the bolt just holds the far piece in place making it easier to slide the fence around.. Only on 42" grills with a huge splitter

[C6Bill]

That topic has me thinking, could i use a second basket splitter in my 32 to just create a small fire in the center ?

[Cheesehead_Griller]

1 hour ago, C6Bill said:

That topic has me thinking, could i use a second basket splitter in my 32 to just create a small fire in the center ?

Dennis and I are working on a solution. The prototype should've arrived to the USA in July. Due to Dennis injury, I have not reached out to discuss. Stay tuned. 

[C6Bill]

Looking forward to seeing that