Interesting thread as I am looking for a "low & slow" smoker that ideally does regular BBQ as well.
The kamado units look great, they seem very versatile, the primo oval in particular.
One question though, it seems the kamado's are primarily direct heat bbq's that can be adapted to function as smokers and low-slow cookers. How do they perform in this regard compared to purpose built low-slow smokers such as the weber smokey mountain or traditional type horizontal barrel type Traeger smokers?
They actually work superbly. Once you put a barrier between the fire and your food (clay pot, pizza stone or cast iron pan) you get the full indirect cooking (you can also put a pan here to catch the drippings). The nice thing then is that you are getting even heat. With any off-set smoker, the temp is not uniform as the heat/smoke comes from one side. Excellent cooking of course can be done with any smoker
. But the ceramic units are very nice in this regard. In addition, they maintain the moisture better as they are full sealed with heavy gaskets and such eliminating the need for water pans, mopping more sauce, etc. Combined with the even cooking temps, you don't need to do anything to your meat (unless you want to).
Their main drawback is their massive weight and the fact that they don't hold much. You can stack the food vertically and the larger units do the job (I feed up 20+ people with mine). But they still don't compare the massive surface area of an offset smoker.