BubbaKeg Big Steel Keg discussion

[sumrtym]

Well, I don't have a use for the 48" size myself, but if you entertained a lot I certainly see it (or catered). The 32" might be something to consider, but I wonder about how evenly it cooks. One of the stated reasons for the OTB shape was to better provide an even cooking surface over the standard round. Now we're getting away from that with the new shapes (necessary if expanding of course cause you can't keep increasing depth). Still, it makes me wonder if I might have to do less juggling of the things on my grill if you got an OTB instead of the larger sizes.

I had been after Dennis to make a portable unit, but now I think he probably ought to forget about the portable as I found another neat solution to that. I was perusing when I came across the Bubba Keg Grill. It's relatively new (last couple years) and is also an insulated style grill. It's stainless steel with sandwiched oven insulation between the inside and outside sheets, and the same size as a Big Green Egg large. In fact, the accessories for the large BGE fit inside it (platesetter most notably). The cast iron grill rotates to lock down for transport inside the cooker, and it comes with a trailer mount so that the cooker balances on your trailer hitch thus doing away with the problems of transporting a hot ceramic style cooker that takes a long time to cool down. It's being phased out for a replacement they're calling the Big Steel Keg with a few improvements, but for it you'll need to buy the trailer hitch mount separately (it comes with the Bubba).

As far as negatives, let me preface by saying I've seen them in person and my thoughts were:

1) The interior paint or whatever is protecting the steel on the inside would probably not survive the heat well over time, plus being scratched by the cast iron grill.

2) A floor model had a broken top grill. The welds had broken and looked very small / cheap, and I see why they failed.

3) I've heard a lot of the temp gauges were not coming calibrated right and were reading much too high. No biggie, calibrate it yourself, just something you should check.

4) Hard to get low temps maintained. Some of that was the temp gauge problem, and others were I think related to the damper. Additionally, I don't know that it shut down well enough to really save your coals from comments I saw again saying the damper on top doesn't get tight enough or needs some sort of cover to set over it aka Big Green Egg style.

The quality couldn't even be compared to Dennis units, but some of that too has to do with keeping weight lower if you're going to balance it on a trailer hitch, which I think is just a smart transportation idea. Given these are out there, I don't know that Dennis should push into a portable model, but if he does, I'd love to see many of the ideas of their design (weight, trailer hitch mount, locking mechanism for opening cooker and for locking onto hitch both, maybe even the turnable top grill, etc.) if he went this way with a stainless transportable Komodo Kamado. I'm not trying to point people away from Dennis at all, just we don't have a solution such as this currently that I know of for an easy to transport ceramic style cooker from him or any other manufacturer for that matter, so it's not really a competitor for that function (picnic, tailgate, etc).

[Porkchop]

I'm not trying to point people away from Dennis at all' date=' just we don't have a solution such as this currently that I know of for an easy to transport ceramic style cooker from him or any other manufacturer for that matter, so it's not really a competitor for that function (picnic, tailgate, etc).[/quote']

this has always been a OPEN forum, so you don't have to worry about pointing people away; dennis has always maintained that this forum is for US, and that comparisons are always welcome.

as far as a "solution", there isn't one... yet. dennis has got a thing for innovation and, from what i've seen, has never been a man to back down from a challenge. if anyone can figure out how to do it, he's the guy...

[sumrtym]

Ya, I know, I just didn't want it to come off wrong. I have the utmost respect for Dennis and the job he does with the cookers.

I just thought they were cool when I saw them (hadn't heard about them before) as there isn't anything else on the market that is a kamado style grill that is designed to be transported easily. I knew myself and many others had been looking for an easy to transport model to use for picnics, camping, etc, and here's an 18.5" (I think) grill size that fits the bill.

I just have visions of something with a rotisserie, dedicated temperature probe hole, and a bit higher quality while keeping all the benefits of the keg (the dolly style wheeling ability, big wheels for rough terrain, trailer hitch mount).

[Firemonkey]

So did you get one, Sumrtym?

I have been looking at that unit for a year or so, simply because of the trailer hitch mount. Being able to carry a grill on your hitch, for tailgating, or trips to the beach or park is golden. Ive done some more investigation as of late, too, and found a few interesting tidbits.

First, the pictured model, the Bubba Keg Grill is discontinued, and can be found in the $300-350 price range. That is absolutely worth it, even if it only lives as long as its stated warranty - 5 years.

And yes, there were some issues with the design, as outlined above. One thing that i did not see mentioned above was that the top damper, being vertical AND cup shaped, allowed rain to collect and drip down into the chamber. Thats a pretty big "oops".

The new Big Steel Keg units have supposedly addressed many of the issues, with a redesign of the shape of the cutouts in the top dial, to facilitate finer airflow control. Its also supposed to be heavier steel, and thus the warranty is now 10 years. But alas, the hitch is a separate purchase, with a cover included instead.

My reservations to buying one is that I wanted to modify my Weber to carry on my hitch, mostly because i already have it and it just sits in the corner of the patio year after year. Storing a grill which will get occasional use at best doesnt seem like a good plan either. The original $700 range price is also sort of high for just a travel grill.

But my biggest beef is with how the hitch attaches. The grill is held on the cart by the same mount you use for the hitch. You slide the grill off the rack, and onto the hitch. They say not to cook with it on the hitch, so that means you have to carry your cart with your, put the grill on the cart when you get there, then wait for it to cool enough so that you can handle it and put it back on the hitch. That isnt gonna happen for me. I will be cooking on the hitch. Even f that means getting an extension for the receiver to hold it out away from the bumper more.

An even better solution might be a hitch caddy, so you have a flat cargo surface to carry a cooler, and use as a prep area too. Sort of like THIS THREAD shows.

BTW, this is a good discussion, but has steered away from he original topic of Dennis bigger grill, so I will be moving it to a dedicated thread later today. I will leave it here for for now so people participating dont think the discussion was deleted.

[sumrtym]

Didn't buy one, but the last of the BKG here are at $450, not $300. I think they lowered briefly to $299 and then upped them to $449 since they started selling fast and they figured they could get the higher "reduced" price.

I think a lot of people will buy it to use at home but still have the ability to travel with it. It's also a nice thing for people in apartments that couldn't handle a Komodo Kamado due to space, moving, etc.

I don't know that the cup shape for rain changed between the Steel Keg and the Bubba Keg...I know the airflow cuts did.

With both Ace and another major retailer carrying the new ones, I figure at some point I can pick one up at a large discount again and have the benefits of the newer model. I'm patient (obviously, still lusting after a KK some day).

[Big Poppa]

I have one and love it...some people have a hard time with low temps but I dont

[TheNakedWhiz]

They were briefly for sale in a local Sam's club last year. I was hoping they would give me one to review, lol! Just quickly looking at the unit it the store, the gasket was worn through every location where they had a rivet on the rim. It didn't look like it would last very long, and it didn't look replaceable. It would have been fun thought to play with one....