Bubba Keg Grill Shootout - The Bubba Keg vs. The Chargriller and Kingsford Charcoal with Hickory vs. Kingsford Competition Charcoal

I recently received a Bubba Keg Convection Grill for evaluation purposes and have been putting it through its paces to see how it performs.  After some initial struggles, I decided to use the first nice weekend day to stage a cookoff.  "In this corner....weighing 50 pounds....the Bubba Keg Convection Grill...."  You get the idea.  I wanted to put this newcomer - this unknown, untested cooker - up against my tried and true Chargriller Smokin' Pro.  A simple enough premise, but it lacked a little zing.  I badly needed a hook.  Then it came to me.  I have been playing with all these new charcoals that Kingsford has introduced this season.  I would do a showdown at High Noon between not only the cookers BUT the charcoal as well.  It's a two-for Tuesday (except that it is a Saturday...meh)!  I would pair the Bubba Keg Grill with the Kingsford with Hickory (reasons to be explained later) and the Chargriller with the Kingsford Competition Briquettes.  The stage was set.  The cage had been lowered onto the ring and this was to be a no-holds barred battle royale (Rick Flair where are you???).  

The protein for the challenge was baby back ribs - one rack for each cooker.  I loaded up my chimney with Competition Briquettes for the Chargriller, and I filled the fire bowl of the Bubba Keg Grill with Kingsford with Hickory.  Each set of charcoal was fired at the same time.  It took approximately 25 minutes for the chimney to reach the grey ash stage.  The Bubba Keg took off much quicker, reaching 200 degrees in 5 minutes.  However, the Bubba Keg proved to be tough to dial in.  After initially spiking, it dropped and then quickly shot up over 300 degrees.  At the 25 minute point when I dumped the chimney full of charcoal into the side fire box of the Chargriller, I was still tweaking the Bubba Keg's air flow to try and get it to settle down.  At 35 minutes, the Chargriller was at a stable 225 degrees, while the Bubba Keg was still climbing towards 350 degrees with the damper all but totally shut down.  The ribs were loaded onto each cooker, even though I was not comfortable with the high temperature of the Bubba Keg.  As far as the hickory briquettes go, they put off a nice amount of hickory smoke.  I was impressed with the basic premise of a natural wood infused charcoal.   Shortly after the hour mark, I checked on the competition briquettes.  They had burned down substantially more than a normal briquette would have at that point.  I'm just guessing, but their higher burning temperature definitely results in a shorter life.

At the two hour point, the Bubba Keg had still not settled into a suitable smoking temperature.  It was above 400 degrees at this point.   I had played with the dampers to the point of frustration.  Nothing was working.  I had read up on this phenomenon before trying this experiment.  If you miss your window on a kamado-style cooker, you will never get it back down to an appropriate temperature because they are so well insulated and efficient.  This was definitely my experience.  On the other hand, the Chargriller was chugging along like it always does at 225 degrees with a wide open damper.  My only complaint was that I was burning much more charcoal than I usually did.  At 2 and a half hours, I pulled the ribs from the Bubba keg and put them on the chargriller.  I didn't want them to be ruined.  It's good pork after all and should not be wasted.  I chalked the failure of the experiment up to user error.  The Bubba Keg is a completely different beast.  Whatever you know about offset cookers, or any other style cooker, does not apply to a kamado style grill.  I still have a LOT to learn.

Conclusions:

Kingsford Competition Charcoal is not great for long smokes.  It is perfectly suited for high temp grilling.  It has very little off flavors and leaves little ash.  Kingsford with Hickory behaves much like regular Kingsford.  It does work as advertised.  The hickory flavor and smell carry through like they should.  I don't know if they work as good as chips and chunks, but it is a passable substitute.

The Bubba Keg Convection Grill is unique.  It does not behave like any other smoker (other than the Green Egg/Primo/etc.)  I'm thinking it might be a great candidate for a BBQ guru.  The limited amount of cooking surface is an issue.  I have cooked a dozen baby back racks on a chargriller using rib racks.  I'm guessing I could do three or four baby backs at the most on a Bubba Keg grill.  Also, the Bubba Keg grill does not come with a diffuser plate of any variety, so you are stuck smoking over direct coals.  This is far from ideal as far as smoking goes.

As a grill, the Bubba Keg Grill offers a lot in the high temp category.  It is not difficult at all  to get it up to 800 degrees.  This is ideal for searing steaks, scallops, shrimp, or doing grilled pizza.  However, if you want to do a half chicken or something that requires a moderate temperature and the ability to use indirect heat then the Bubba Keg fails pretty miserably.  There is no way to cook indirectly on the Bubba Keg.  It is direct heat or nothing because of the relatively small cooking surface and the design of the fire bowl.  Previous to this experiment, I had tried to cook some Cornell chicken on the Bubba Keg.  Cornell chicken requires basting every three to five minutes.  Opening the lid of the Bubba Keg and basting the chicken resulted in flare ups every time and resulted in a really spikey temperature profile.  Allowing for user error and inexperience, the Bubba Keg Grill seems to be a niche appliance, suitable for certain applications and not for others.  I will continue to experiment and play with the Bubba Keg because I love the idea, but I'm not sure that it will be my go-to for smoked meats and indirect cooking.  It may just be a really awesome, efficient grill.

Comments

[Jim Cain]

Hmm. When are you trying the "other" charcoal in each smoker? Your comparison currently has too many variables to really help a fellow like me.

No, you can't borrow my Guru, nor my Stoker. Nor my other Guru. I need them. All of them.

[Mike Boysen]

Hi Mike,

I had much better luck. I've done a number of cooks at 250. Here's a link to my successful sparerib test

http://www.gas-grill-review.com/spareribs-on-a-bubba-keg-grill.html

On this one, I loaded the bowl and I think I had some airflow issues. Last time, I hardly put any lump in and it still had plenty left over after 4 hours. Had the vents about a dime's width on the bottom and barely visible on the top.

[Frank]

I watched the Bubba Keg videos and they stressed that you only use lump charcoal, not briquettes, but they didn't say why. Do you think that your use of the Kingsford Hickory Briquettes may have contributed to your lack of temperature control?

[nicholas]

Interesting experience. Definitely let me know how this evolves.

[Diver Dave]

I have two eggs and thinking about a bubba for portability. I also have a large off set smoker that I fire with wood. After using lump for several years now I will never return to briquettes or my gas grill. Keep trying when you get the hang of it your temp control will be great. I was told the egg accessories will fit the bubba, so try the plate setter for indirect smoking. Good luck

[Dave]

I have a bubba keg and LUV it. The large Big green egg plate setter for indirect cooking fits perfectly. After the lump has a pretty good start ( 20 mins ) close the lid and crack the top and bottom vents to a dimes width. It will idle at 225-250 for 12 hrs. I load the fire box up with lump, I fill it 3/4 full.