PK Grills?

[SmokeZilla]

I’d say the heat-up time is longer than what one would see on a Weber just because cast aluminum takes longer to heat than a steel kettle. All the coals were to the right of the drip pan, so it was all indirect heat and it cooked very evenly, with no flipping. My wife says as long as I keep feeding her great (grate) food, she’s OK with my toys!

GJ,

Mine was the same until the kid count hit 10 units. Then she said it was graduation time for the older cookers. My neighbors love her position as they typically reap the rewards from the cooked protein parties and the leftover grills.

 

[Greg Jones]

I’m actually now at 10 myself, although there are 2-3 I keep hidden!

 

[SmokeZilla]

I’m actually now at 10 myself, although there are 2-3 I keep hidden!

That’s funny. I do the same. I call them the camping grills. lol.

 

[SmokeZilla]

I’d say the heat-up time is longer than what one would see on a Weber just because cast aluminum takes longer to heat than a steel kettle. All the coals were to the right of the drip pan, so it was all indirect heat and it cooked very evenly, with no flipping. My wife says as long as I keep feeding her great (grate) food, she’s OK with my toys!

You’re a blessed man. If the wife allows it that means you must be extra good. haha.

 

[charlesrshell]

@Greg Jones when I had charcoal grills I always laid down heavy duty foil under the charcoal for easy clean up. Can that be done for your new PK grill?

 

[Greg Jones]

@Greg Jones when I had charcoal grills I always laid down heavy duty foil under the charcoal for easy clean up. Can that be done for your new PK grill?

Not easily. The two bottom vents would make that difficult. I have a dedicated ‘hot’ fireplace vac that makes ash cleanup in all my grills easy, then I empty it in the garden or compost bin.

 

[charlesrshell]

Not easily. The two bottom vents would make that difficult. I have a dedicated ‘hot’ fireplace vac that makes ash cleanup in all my grills easy, then I empty it in the garden or compost bin.

Thanks Greg. Do you use regular charcoal, lump charcoal, wood, or something else? Also what is a hot fireplace vac?

 

[Greg Jones]

Thanks Greg. Do you use regular charcoal, lump charcoal, wood, or something else? Also what is a hot fireplace vac?

The vac, I’m not sure if it is still made. It was discussed here a few years ago which is how I learned about it. It has a steel drum, a foil lined hose, and other parts that make it more fire resistant. It wasn’t designed to vac hot coals, but if you have some still warm coals in the mix, they won/t catch the vac on fire. it works great.

I plan on using the PK similar to how I’ve used the Wyldside. The Wyldside, I use lump and wood. The PK, I’m starting with a mix of wood, lump, and regular charcoal. Only experience will tell me how I might need to change that up a little or a lot.

 

[charlesrshell]

The vac, I’m not sure if it is still made. It was discussed here a few years ago which is how I learned about it. It has a steel drum, a foil lined hose, and other parts that make it more fire resistant. It wasn’t designed to vac hot coals, but if you have some still warm coals in the mix, they won/t catch the vac on fire. it works great.

I plan on using the PK similar to how I’ve used the Wyldside. The Wyldside, I use lump and wood. The PK, I’m starting with a mix of wood, lump, and regular charcoal. Only experience will tell me how I might need to change that up a little or a lot.

Thanks again Greg. I Googled the hot vac. Pretty kool vacs.

 

[Greg Jones]

So, pardon the off-topic grill discussion but the PK is back. I’ve not yet done a low and slow/butt or brisket cook on the PK yet, but that changes tomorrow. I‘m going to be cooking a nice pork butt on game/race day, and it should be fun.

This afternoon I prepped the grill for the cook. I bought an aftermarket ash basket that lets me build a charcoal snake to get super long cook times out of the charcoal. It’s not easy to see when it’s fully loaded, but the right two dividers are not full length. The charcoal burns down the right lane, makes a turn and burns up the middle lane, then down the last lane. I have two rows of Kingsford briquettes on the bottom then topped with one row of the larger Jealous Devil briquettes. I have cherry scraps from my woodworking to add as needed. A hotel pan added with water and to catch the drips, my ThermoWorks pit and meat probe at the ready, and early tomorrow morning i‘ll be at it. Should be fun-really interested to see how well the ‘snake’ works.

I forgot to mention-one thing that really sets the PK apart from other charcoal grill/smokers are the dual air vents top and bottom. Tomorrow for a low and slow, the meat goes on the left side of the grate. The bottom vent will be open on the right to feed air to the fire. The top right vent is closed. The opposite is the case on the left-bottom vent closed, top vent open. This gives max smoke exposure to the protein without a hot fire directly under.

 

[Pacman]

Very interested to see how this plays out. I remain interested in getting a PK at some point to replace my bare bones Weber kettle.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I too have pressed my nose against the window looking at PK grills for decades. The owners are cult-like in their praise of the PK. I always was fascinated as to what the secret might be to these simple grills.

I think I'm starting to figure it out. They are well built and simple. They were never cheap. At a glance, they don't have any gimmicks or automatic anything. These simple traits attract the attention of advance skill grillers and bbq'rs like Greg, whom I suspect could make a great gourmet dinner over a cooker comprised of a pile of rocks on the ground using an old oven rack and a trash can lid.

 

[sdynak]

@Greg Jones ..

This is indeed very interesting. Might be a simple question but, how do you go about lighting the coals so it limits the start of the right side snake pattern? I'm so used to using the charcoal chimney for the kettle but this is intriguing and looking forward to how it plays out. I just hope this doesn't cost me "another" grill . I just don't have the room lol.

 

[Greg Jones]

@Greg Jones ..

This is indeed very interesting. Might be a simple question but, how do you go about lighting the coals so it limits the start of the right side snake pattern? I'm so used to using the charcoal chimney for the kettle but this is intriguing and looking forward to how it plays out. I just hope this doesn't cost me "another" grill . I just don't have the room lol.

This morning was the first time I’ve done this, so I may still be in for a surprise! The concept apparently was created with a Weber kettle, using a row of stacked briquettes where they overlap. I used a wax starter under the first briquette, as it burns it lights the next in line, and so on. A search for ‘charcoal snake’ will return lots of hits and videos on the process.

 

[sdynak]

This morning was the first time I’ve done this, so I may still be in for a surprise! The concept apparently was created with a Weber kettle, using a row of stacked briquettes where they overlap. I used a wax starter under the first briquette, as it burns it lights the next in line, and so on. A search for ‘charcoal snake’ will return lots of hits and videos on the process.

Ahh.. that makes sense for a starter under the 1st. Will look into for the kettle. Hope it all goes great for your first!

 

[RattleR]

@Greg Jones this looks very interesting. Might I ask you ring the dinner bell early? I don’t have a Ferrari and pushing the Yugo is time consuming

More to the snake I was just thinking about doing this on the Weber when I started reading this post. Very interested in how it works out.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

@Greg Jones this looks very interesting. Might I ask you ring the dinner bell early? I don’t have a Ferrari and pushing the Yugo is time consuming

More to the snake I was just thinking about doing this on the Weber when I started reading this post. Very interested in how it works out.

I recall seeing some pix. Maybe over on TVWBB. Anyway, found these...
https://perthbbqschool.com/2020/02/19/how-to-the-snake-method/

 

[RattleR]

I recall seeing some pix. Maybe over on TVWBB. Anyway, found these...
https://perthbbqschool.com/2020/02/19/how-to-the-snake-method/
View attachment 17681

Looks like snake made easy, thanks for the info!

 

[Greg Jones]

At the 4.5 hour mark, the first row of briquettes are gone. I’m feeling very confident that this setup will give me 14+ hours of cook time without reloading briquettes. The vents are set for a pit temp of 225° and the IT of the butt is now 122°.

 

[charlesrshell]

At the 4.5 hour mark, the first row of briquettes are gone. I’m feeling very confident that this setup will give me 14+ hours of cook time without reloading briquettes. The vents are set for a pit temp of 225° and the IT of the butt is now 122°.

View attachment 17682

Wouldn't the meat drippings on the charcoal make it more favorable?