New to pellet grills with KC Combo

mwemaxxowner · Jul 1, 2023

Hey y'all.

I brought home a new KC Combo from Wally World today. We've put a lot into upgrading, renovating, and expanding our pool house and patio over the last 6 months or so, and decided to get a new grill to go with it.

My wife sort of had a non negotiable requirement for a griddle top of some kind (which I wanted too), and I wanted a grill. I was going to get the Char Broil gas grill/griddle combo unit, but I stumbled across this KC Combo. I looked at grills and read/watched reviews over the last week or so and decided a pellet grill would be right up my alley.

I constantly fought temps erratic temps with my old gas grill. The temperature was uneven and I had a hard time keeping temps low. I'd set the knobs all the way down and next thing I know it crept up to 500 anyway.

I like the idea of being able to set my temperature where I want it on the smoker side and maintain it. I've never done any smoking but I'm excited to experiment with some low and slow cooking, and I can't wait to try a reverse sear on some steaks.

Also pictured is the space we'll be using it in, and the old grill. The old grill was awesome and a very high quality unit, but it just wasn't what we wanted and I didn't enjoy grilling on it. I did like the rotisserie though! It's probably 20 years old and I got $350 for it locally.

I did read some negative reviews, but so far I am pleased. It went together well, I was able to connect it to the app with no issue, and ran my first heat cycle. The temp ran where I set it and it was awesome to monitor from on the house and shut it down remotely.

The gas grill side is probably a little underpowered when you look at the burner BTUs, but I think I can work with it.

Mike From R.I. · Jul 2, 2023

Welcome

Jimsmokes · Jul 2, 2023

Welcome from SC

Sparky · Jul 2, 2023

Welcome to the group. I have had my KC Combo for 3 years now and enjoy using it.

Cowboy1955 · Jul 2, 2023

Welcome from Texas to the group!
Congratulations

on the new grill
Roll that smoke

Steve In Pa · Jul 2, 2023

mwemaxxowner said:
Hey y'all.

I brought home a new KC Combo from Wally World today. We've put a lot into upgrading, renovating, and expanding our pool house and patio over the last 6 months or so, and decided to get a new grill to go with it.

My wife sort of had a non negotiable requirement for a griddle top of some kind (which I wanted too), and I wanted a grill. I was going to get the Char Broil gas grill/griddle combo unit, but I stumbled across this KC Combo. I looked at grills and read/watched reviews over the last week or so and decided a pellet grill would be right up my alley.

I constantly fought temps erratic temps with my old gas grill. The temperature was uneven and I had a hard time keeping temps low. I'd set the knobs all the way down and next thing I know it crept up to 500 anyway.

I like the idea of being able to set my temperature where I want it on the smoker side and maintain it. I've never done any smoking but I'm excited to experiment with some low and slow cooking, and I can't wait to try a reverse sear on some steaks.

Also pictured is the space we'll be using it in, and the old grill. The old grill was awesome and a very high quality unit, but it just wasn't what we wanted and I didn't enjoy grilling on it. I did like the rotisserie though! It's probably 20 years old and I got $350 for it locally.

I did read some negative reviews, but so far I am pleased. It went together well, I was able to connect it to the app with no issue, and ran my first heat cycle. The temp ran where I set it and it was awesome to monitor from on the house and shut it down remotely.

The gas grill side is probably a little underpowered when you look at the burner BTUs, but I think I can work with it.

Looks like smoker’s heaven

primeone · Jul 5, 2023

Awesome setup! Welcome to the forum @mwemaxxowner

mwemaxxowner · Jul 6, 2023

Tuesday I did my first real cook. One night prior to that I threw on some quick frozen burger patties but that doesn't count.

Tuesday I bought 4 ribeyes and one NY strip. Just USDA choice, nothing special, but they looked good for grocery store steaks.

I rubbed them the morning of with some Kinders Caramelized Onion Butter seasoning that we had in the cabinet already, and salt/pepper. I pulled it out of the fridge for about an hour before I put them on.

I smoked at 200 and they cooked way quicker than I anticipated. I pulled them off at 140 and seared on the griddle. They finished about 180, way over my goal of 145ish.

What I'm excited about is, even though I overcooked them they were still JUICY and delicious. They could have been more tender but in that respect still weren't terrible. I'm looking forward to next time, and I'll pull at maybe 110 to sear and see how that goes. I don't have a great deal of experience grilling nor am I much of a cook otherwise. I greatly underestimated how long I'd need to sear each side and how much the IT would rise.

My wife (who is an excellent cook) suggested I add some finishing salt, but still very much so enjoyed hers. She's picky and she doesn't mind giving the criticism. I consider that a win.

A complaint is that the cover on the smoke stack is stripped out. It will spin around and around in either direction and will neither close, nor come off. I guess I'll be calling pit boss about that. Seems to be stuck around half open.

mwemaxxowner · Jul 15, 2023

My latest cook was a batch of chicken legs.

I rustled up a recipe online that said to grill them at 300 until internal temp was 185-190 which should be about 90 minutes.

I pulled them out and rubbed with my Kinders Caramelized Onion Butter seasoning, pepper, paprika, and baking soda. Let rest for about an hour.

I threw them on the grill at 300 and quickly realized the meat probes were going to be no good in these. Too much was sticking out of the meat and they were reading grill temp.

So, I prayed the recipe was right and grilled for 90 minutes. I sprayed with cooking spray every 30 min and flipped.

At the end I opened the sear plate for a few minutes on each side .

They were delicious!! My wife isn't crazy about chicken in general and my daughter is picky overall, but they both loved them and that is a huge win. They were juicy and flavorful and perfectly done. I could taste the smoke flavor and really get a whiff of it in my nose when I took a bite (which may have fooled me into "tasting" the flavor more than. I did).

For some reason I love a good chicken leg, always have. I've never made some that were particularly good myself, but these were winners!