One of my very first barbecue units was a Kamado pot that was originally purchased in Japan by a Pan American Airways captain from whom I bought my first house in California. When we bought his house, he was retired from Pan Am and I was flying for United Airlines. As I say, he bought the thing in Japan and brought it home with him in the cockpit on one of his flights. We bought that house in 1971, and he’d owned the pot for several years by then. So, in some respects, I guess I’m an early adopter?
I always thought the Kamado pot was unexcelled for chicken and ribs. People always raved about the chicken I cooked in that pot – including some black friends who once old me I was the first white guy they’d ever met who know how to cook chicken. As they put it, “You can’t dance worth s***, but you sure can cook chicken"
Since leaving that first California house, I’ve had basic barbecue grills – mostly Weber kettles. But, just the other day, I ordered a PBC. In our present house, we inherited an old Weber Summit 4-burner grill (hard wired for natural gas) that’s on it’s last legs. Almost everything needs replacing: the flame bars, the flavor bars, and the igniter (which I’ve already replaced once). Truth be told, I hardly use it any more. I almost always pan fry my burgers (from a Cooks Illustrated recipe) and cook my steaks on a cast iron skillet I’ve pre-heated in a 525 degree convection oven. (From a NY Times article by Mark Bittman).
What I like most is ribs (both pork and beef), poultry and lamb. From what I’ve seen of the PBC videos, I’m going to be fine with it as my primary (if not my only) cooker. If I get another cooker, it’ll be a charcoal weber kettle. I’m done with natural gas.
