Vision P Review

[PRippley]

Hey KKer's, Since I got Saphira this summer and have loved cooking on her, I started thinking about a mini Kamado for camping. I joined the guru forum and looked around online. Funny how I had no problem spending money for Saphira, but wanted to spend as little as possible for a mini kamado, knowing it would not be a KK. Anyway, I saw some great posts over on the guru from a couple of folks who own Vision Ps (I think they were formerly called Kubs, so that is what I call it.) Found the Kub on Camping World for a screaming deal at approx. $145.00. I have since heard of folks who got one on eBay cheaper, but I liked the the price and ordered it. Camping World was fantastic to deal with, I had to call them since it was a "special" order, but they were very helpful, said they had 7 or so in stock and would ship one, at no charge for the shipping, right away. Received the Kub in less than a week, nicely boxed in its original Vision Grill box. It was nicely and securely packed and easy to put together, only had to put on the side shelves and handle. I didn't even need to ask for help! Charles are you proud of me?

My first impressions are this little guy is solid and pretty well constructed, but at probably 45 pounds will still take some special packing etc to ride securely in the camper. Second impression is the grilling area is tiny. The grate is round and 10.5 inches in diameter. Of course it is supposed to be a mini Kamado, so carry on. I looked around the house for small things to cook in and on and consulted the guru again for advice. My first cook on it was cornbread and it was an epic fail. Cooked in an 8inch round pie pan and tried to raise the cooking grate into the dome by perching a 10.5 inch round Weber grate I found at the local Ace hardware on top of the handles of the grill grate that came with the Kub. The thermometer is so long and sticks so far into the dome that it stuck in the cornbread, tilted the grate, pan and all and half my cornbread ran into the new Kub. Eek. No pictures of that failure, for obvious reasons, I was not at my best. Ok, new day dawns, regroup, decide my second effort will be my favorite most forgiving cook, beef ribs. From the guru tips I inverted a beer can chicken cooker in the fire owl of the Kub, placed the lump around it including a few pieces of cocochar and lit him up with the map torch just like I do Saphira. I had him pegged at 300 in no time and that little guy held there for like 4 hours rock solid. I used a small SS pan covered in foil on top of the inverted beer can chicken cooker to act as a sort of deflector and catch the drippings. I cooked a 3 rib rack of ribs directly on the main grate (could have fit 4) over the drip pan. Drum roll...they were excellent! The little guy totally redeemed himself after the failure. Or maybe I just got a lot smarter...not!

For some unknown reason I am having trouble posting pictures here that are not new ones, so once I get that figured out I will post a few more stand alone pics of the Kub and the ribs. Bottom line, I will be excited to use the Kub for camping. Usually we have just 2 adults, so I can make that work pretty easily. When we go with friends, I will still also take the table top gasser and the 12inch DO, because I will need all the options available. I will say after eating the ribs from the Kub my sweetheart asked if he could throw the table top cheapie in the trash! As for the Kub itself, I think Vision made a nice solid little kamado at a very affordable price, it is definitely for a very small niche market but it is capable of cooking great food. Last, I am posting this here because I appreciate you all so much and the group is so wonderful, I know some of you are campers and thought this might be helpful. I won't post the on the guru forum because I think they have covered the Vision P pretty well already. Any advice you would like to give about accessories or technique for me would be appreciated. First big camping trip planned for April, that is if it ever stops raining on the Oregon Coast! Happy trails.

[tinyfish]

Sounds like a great mini to hit the road with.

[tony b]

Can't beat that price point! My small Grill Dome cost me twice that, back in the day. For grins, just checked their website, the small is now $600 - Holy Shit!!! That's more than double what I paid back in 2010.

 

Only reason that I bring it up, PRippley, is that the accessory grates on the Grill Dome might fit yours and be a little more convenient than upside down beer can chicken cookers. 

 

http://www.grilldomeeshop.com/Infinity-Series-Small-2-7.html

 

If you are interested, I can measure mine and give you some dimensions? 

[PRippley]

I am interested Tony, please measure and post, thank you!😄

[PRippley]

Also Tony tell me about your cooking experiences with the grill dome. You can pm me if you think not appropriate for this forum. Thanks again! ðŸ»

[MacKenzie]

I can see fun times camping this summer with all those great eats you will be able to do.

[Rak]

That's a great review. Looks like you're going to have a lot of fun with that mini!

[tony b]

To be honest, PRippley, I never got as proficient cooking on the GD as I had originally planned. I bought it when I still had the POSK and wanted to do smaller cooks. The POSK would blow through charcoal, even on simple grilling cooks. I was blasting through 8 lb bags of Royal Oak like there was no tomorrow. Once I upgraded to the KK and bought the basket splitter, I rarely cook on the GD anymore.

 

Early on, I struggled with temperature control with the GD. One of the first things that I did with it, was toss that ceramic plate in the charcoal basket and DIY'd a more open grate that didn't clog so easily and promoted better air flow. It also allowed me to increase the spacing between the charcoal and the cooking grate, as I was burning stuff. I also went to Wicked Good Barbeque's briquettes over lump charcoal. I got pretty good at grilling on it (burgers, brats, chicken breasts, thinner steaks), but never attempted any actual BBQing on it, as if ribs or a butt would fit on such as small grill. 

 

I'll measure the accessory grills and post some pics for you, too. Might have to wait a day or two for the outside temps to warm up a bit more. It's 10F right now and snowing! 

[DennisLinkletter]

Wow.. amazing price but must be a lost leader.. Impossible to build and ship for that.  I've seen Chinese teak floors selling in the US at the blow out places that cost half of what I buy the material for.  I went into ACE hardware here once and bought 10 variable speed drills, Metal body.. they went to 3,000 rpm and came with a little box of carbide drill bits. The reason I bought 10 was they were $7.99  HUH?

[ckreef]

Nice little kamado. For a long time I owned an Akorn Jr (14" grate) that I took on vacations. I took it on my honeymoon at a cabin where I wooooed Mrs skreef with 4 nights of totally killer meals. Even took it to the beach once for cooking dogs and brats. Should have never gotten rid of that little kamado.

Check out a SS canning rack sold at Walmart. You can take the arms off with a pair of pliers. Makes a great extender rack. I've even cooked a few things directly on it. When I get home I'll measure the one I have to see if it would fit in 10".

Also cheap disposable pie pans should work for drip pans. You should be able to find them in a 8" version.

I've cooked just about everything on that little kamado including a 7 lb butt. The scarey faces picture (in the baking thread) was cooked on it. I owned two of them but sold them to help fund the KK's.

I was going to get a Primo Oval Jr with travel cradle to take on vacations but ended up pulling the trigger on Cassiopeia instead. I still want an oval Jr for travel but I doubt Mrs skreef will go for that idea. Might just have to take Prometheus on vacation one day - very heavy but I think me and my son could manage it.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

Edited January 20, 2016 by ckreef

[PRippley]

Dennis, yes the price was what got me, Camping World said that price was something like $190 off! Their website said I had to call to order so I figured it wouldn't be available, but it was. Thanks for the tips on accessories Charles, I will check them out. Tony, I am guessing I will mostly be grilling too, probably not too practical to be trying a long low and slow on it while camping, may try that at home for fun.

[Jon B.]

PRippley,  That was a sweet deal and it looks like a decent little cooker.  Like the wood side shelves!!!

 

We do a lot of camping and cooking on the boat.  We have used a Weber Q with the 1# propane cylinders, works great but it has a good size foot print and can be hard to store at times. Not a good smoker or low & slow grill.  

 

Bought a Weber Char Q before they stopped making them.  It can burn lump charcoal and is a decent smoker.  You can cook direct & indirect.... but low & slow is out of the question. Again it has a big foot print for storage.

 

Tried the Cook Air Wood Fired Grill also.  Small & compact, great for searing and getting some wood smoke but that is about it. 

 

Then we tried the Cobb Grill .  It is about the same size as your new Vision P.  It is the most versatile camping grill we have.  Small foot print, light weight, can grill & smoke, uses a small amount of charcoal (can use CoCo Char but not lump - melted the plastic ring), you can do a limited low & slow by controlling the amount charcoal (but needs to be replenished).

 

When the Joe Jr. came out, I bought one of those to take camping.  Does a nice job (13.5" grate) but is expensive and a little heavy to be carrying down the catwalks. When we are not traveling very far, we sometimes throw it on the front of the boat and tie it down but never bring it into the boat to store away.

   

Anyway the point I'm getting at, is...............when camping and when you don't have a huge amount of space.....I'm not sure there is one perfect grill.  Lord knows, we have tried!!!   

 

Your little Vision may not be big but it will do almost everything you might desire...just on a smaller scale.  On the similar sized Cobb, we have figured out how to cook in shifts, bought & modified cooking racks, bought special tools to add charcoal, small tins for heat deflectors, even have a special basket for cooking shrimp & scallops, etc.  Most of it fits into its carrying case and one small box.

 

I'm guessing by the time your done experimenting with your Kub, it going to end up being your best camping grill!!!!   Don't give up on it.  

[tony b]

As promised, here's the pictures and some key dimensions for the 2 extra grill grates for the Small (Baby) Grill Dome. Notice they've never been used, I wonder why? Can you say KK w/basket splitter!

 

Anyway, here they are - ones called the Extender and is like our Upper Grate. The other one is called the Indirect and is like our Lower Grate (and Sear Grate). You actually flip it over, with the legs up, and put it on the ledge of the charcoal basket.

 

 

As you can see the Extender is slightly taller than the Indirect Grill. 

 

 

Here are the key dimensions:

 

Extender: 

 

Grate diameter = 10"

Height = 5"

Center of grate to outer leg = 6"

Outer leg to opposite side of grate = 11" (What this means is that the leg sticks out an inch beyond the grate)

 

 

Indirect:

 

Grate diameter = 8"

Height = 3.5"

Center of grate to outer leg = 6.25"

Outer leg to opposite side of grate = 10" (What this means is that the leg sticks out 2 inches beyond the grate)

 

 

Just as reference point, here's the actual grill (when new) with the main grate. Notice the ceramic plate at the bottom of the charcoal area. That puppy went bye-bye pretty fast, as it clogged very easily and didn't promote very good airflow. Replaced it with a cheapo ($5) wire grate that I cut to fit. They'd burn out eventually, but for $5, Wah! Worked better than the original one. 

 

 

[ckreef]

I measured the canning rack. It's about 12 1/4" so it would not work in the Vision P. Sorry.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[PRippley]

No problem Charles, thanks for measuring!

[PRippley]

Tony how much does your grill dome weigh, just curious, couldn't find that spec on their website? I may order the shorter extender rack and see if that will work.

[PRippley]

Charles, I am searching hard for a Lodge 1qt. DO, with feet and lid. Cgriller 64 over in guru says it fits perfectly in his Kub. Thought I had one ordered from REI, but so far it looks like they thought one of their stores might have one but haven't confirmed.

[tony b]

Tony how much does your grill dome weigh, just curious, couldn't find that spec on their website? I may order the shorter extender rack and see if that will work.

 

Not exactly sure. Shipping invoice said 150lbs, but that included the cradle (which shouldn't weight more than 10 lbs). I'm kinda wimpy in my old age; I can't pick it up. It's in a cradle with wheels for when I need to move it about. 

 

Didn't see a 1 Qt one on Amazon, but this 3/4 Qt looks nice. Good price, too!

 

http://smile.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-DO-5-Mini-Quart-Dutch/dp/B0007LNJ3M/ref=pd_sim_79_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=51g6dMouUiL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1ARBC7AY082SJDH31XEJ

[PRippley]

Well, besides the price that would be way too heavy for me too! Thanks for the tip on the DO I will read the specs carefully to see if that will work!

[PRippley]

Good news, REI just sent me a shipping notice, they found a Lodge 1qt to send me! Yay!😊