You’re on crack! Joe is not much if any cheaper than BGE but has better features! Do you research!

BGE by far of the choices

All those electric smokers suck

Some won’t admit because they paid out the azz for a cheaply made pos

Or buy a stick smoker

What about the Pitts and spitts pellet smoker? I have been considering this as they are fabricated from steel plate not sheet metal. Higher than giraffe junk though.

This, BGE had its time, and got passed.

Didn’t realize how expensive these things had gotten. My neighbor a couple doors down gave me his XL bge before he moved out of state because he said he didn’t want to hassle with moving and unloading it and he knew I liked a good steak. I cooked with it maybe 7 or 8 times and it did a great job. Just not as fast/easy as my gas built-in, so I ended up giving it to my buddy. He loves it and cooks pizzas, steaks, & brisket on it all the time.

You screwed the pooch on that deal ya moron

Well, I sure wasn’t using it and I didn’t pay anything for it. Passed it on to my best friend since high school and he really put it to use. (Dax, you met him at the shoot). Wouldn’t feel right charging him for something that was just given to me.

I see why Dax keeps you around you hooligan.

For pellet smokers, Rec Tec is where it's at. Definitely not cheap, and definitely not cheaply made. It's built like a tank. A stainless steel tank. And the meat tastes fabulous.

P.S. I've won a couple of small competitions on a stick burner. I no longer own the stick burner.

have my stick smoker that makes a great brisket. when i have time and a good pile of wood on hand i fire it up. otherwise i use my traeger, and make damn good brisket. Doesnt matter to me how its cooked, i care about what it looks and tastes like. Plus I do reverse sear steaks quite often, way easier to fire up the traeger when i get home from work, smoke for an hour, sear and eat.

Greg, don’t listen to the this degenerate, he has a nice stick burner that I sold him and he hasn’t used it in at least 2 years.

Picked up a Kamado Joe a few years ago, and absolutely love it. Once you get your temp stabilized it will burn well for 12-18 hours without needing any additional charcoal added. Everything has turned out awesome steaks, pulled pork, ribs, pizza. You won’t regret it

Love my BGE. I’ve had it a few years and unless I break it somehow, it’s made to last a long time. Can’t speak for the KJoe but I’m sure most ceramic cookers do a similar job. Like everything else, they add features as the years go by. I bought for longevity (friend has had one for years), and flexibility. Smoke at 225 to 250 range and steak or pizza as high as you want it. Everything that I’ve cooked on it comes out good and brisket is exceptional. I like the consistent temperature without having to babysit. The pellet style caught my attention but I settled on the ceramic for all the reasons above.

For brisket go with a pellet smoker. I have them all and each has it's place but I prefer the long smokes on the pellet smoker.

best stick smoker is your neighbors

Egg cookers have worn out their welcome

re-tec pellet good, would buy over the egg

good bbq depends on meat quality and prep

go cheap like me 22" WEBBER Kettle

Ceramic for sure, any of them are more than fine. People will get into brand name pissing matches, overall concept is the same on all of them. I have had a BGE for 8-9 years now and serves multiple purposes and serves them all well.

There are a lot of differences between a BGE and A Big Joe.

Here are some examples. I did my homework before shelling out close to 2K

The biggest problem I have with the Joe is it is made in China out of lesser quality ceramics, the features of it are nice. I bought a truckload of China made Kamado grills, and again, they work about the same, even the video you posted says that.
I would own any of them, Primo being a contender for me against the BGE. One thing BGE has all others beat for me is the support network. My platesetter got some grease on/ in the ceramic and next time I used it it cracked. Local dealer swapped it for free, no questions asked.

I like my Weber kettles but rarely use them.

My Weber Smokey Mountain 22" smoker is great and I use it often.

You cannot prove KJ it is lesser ceramic materials. BGE is made in Mexico.

Plus the better build qualities of the KJ better than the outdated BGE hands down. You are correct like the video says tastes the same, but I want more features and durability. Hence the belting, gasket, hinge, aluminium air escape top, and the easy clean ash drawer for cleaning.

Read about KJ wattanty as well unprecedented. My ceramic smoke deflector was missing and sent KJ bill of sale and they sent me 2 the next day.Easy Peasy, free.

But hey, YMMV.

To answer OP's question - not a Traeger.

These are awesome!

No way, though. $$$$$

https://komodokamado.com/

I can probably do some digging, it has been some time, but someone did a side by side cut away and showed the differences in ceramics. BGE was solid where as the Joe was porous, almost spongelike. And yes, BGE is made in Mexico, BUT they are made in Mexico by DalTile who has been a leader in ceramics for over 70 years. I will give the accessories a leg up to Joe, BGE doesn't include anything, everything is a la carte. The Chinese ones I had for sale, sold a few on here even, had great accessories as well, all were stainless steel.

I actually had a Vision grill (China I believe) Costco special 499.00 worked great and no worries. I just wanted a larger Kamado.

This KJ I have had about 2 months is on point. Hold perfect temp for a looong time. Time will tell. I really like the "ceramic inserts as well, held n]by the metal ring up top. Let's the Kamado disperse heat better than my old Vision grill. So far taste is same as long as I used lump oak.

Either way I am happy.