The Gas Grill Review and Gas Grill Rating Guide - Helping you choose the Best Gas Grill

The Big Green Egg versus Primo Oval Shootout

With Some Bubba Keg Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) For Good Measure

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It's time for a shoot out between the venerable Big Green Egg versus Primo Oval XL. Finally, someone who has owned both has put their two cents in and I'm going to excerpt it, and also give you my feelings based on experience I've had with the Bubba Keg. But, let me start off by saying that whichever convection / kamado grill you decide to go with, you're going to get a treat. They are versatile and deliver serious taste bud extravaganzas.

I bought a Bubba Keg Convection Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) earlier this summer in the recent pursuit of the perfect charcoal grill. I didn't have a budget for a Primo or BGE, so I went with the new kid on the block. The taste is incredible whether you're smoking your food or grilling it. It's really hard to describe. But we're here to compare the Primo to the BGE, so here's the break down.

The Benefits of ceramic / kamado style convection grills

There's a reason folks love these grills. Actually, there are many reasons, so let's take a look at them:

They are extremely energy efficient - This means very little fuel is needed and very little "tending" is required. Once you lock the temperature in, it pretty much stays put until you're done.
They are vertical oriented - Smoke rises, so there's no need to come up with mods to your grill to ensure even air flow across the food.
They use natural lump charcoal - You get a better taste and there is less ash to clean up after you're done.
You're neighbor doesn't have one - You'll be the coolest dude on the block
They can cook low 'n slow, or at high temperatures for grilling - Nothing like having one unit that does it all, but, that does become a problem in certain scenarios (more later)
The food stays moist -these units hold the heat and moisture in.

The Big Green Egg, the Bubba Keg Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) and the Primo Grills all have these features. The each also have their own varying degrees of coolness. The Egg is different looking. The Bubba Keg looks like a beer keg, and is a great toy to take to a tail-gaiting party and the Primo, it just may have the perfect shape…oval.

Round Convection Cookers - Big Green Egg versus Primo Oval

While I've never cooked on a BGE or a Primo, I have cooked on a Bubba Keg Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) and can tell you that while I love it, there are some things that make life difficult. I imagine it's the same for the Large BGE or Big Green Egg XL. Here's a short list of my issues:

There is no place to set grimy parts like the grate or platesetter so it doesn't get all over your deck. Especially when they are hot
Once it's set up for indirect, it's a nightmare trying to reconfigure for direct while it's still ho
You can't do direct and indirect at the same time

Those aren't small issues if you only have one grill. Personally, I don't want to light up the gas grill for the direct cooking because I've become a charcoal snob since starting this site. Pretty funny when you consider it started as a "gas grill" website.

What I'd like to be able to do is have some chicken going indirectly and at some point introduce something that I want to cook directly. For example, maybe I want to grill some peppers or some corn on the cob directly while I'm finishing up the chicken.

It's just not easy to do on my Bubba Keg Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) because once I've got the platesetter in for indirect heat I'm locked into the configuration. That makes cooking this in parallel on one grill impossible.

The Primo Oval XL

Recently, Brett from Texas wrote a review about the Primo Oval XL for this site. Unlike many, he has both a Large Big Green Egg and a Primo. That's why I really appreciated his perspective. You can find the review here….

http://www.gas-grill-review.com/primo-xl-oval-review-by-bret.html

Here are some important excerpts from this review…

OK. All three do that so it's a tie.

The Bubba Keg Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) and the large Big Green Egg probably won't suffice for a large gathering. The exception, for me, was when I cooked 4 Boston Butts on my Bubba Keg. I didn't have to worry about cooking anything else for this picnic, so it did the job and passed with flying colors.

My Bubba Keg Convection Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) didn't come with any accessories. I bought a large BGE platesetter and it fit perfectly. The one thing that is unique to the Primo grill is the firebox divider. Because of the oval shape, this is possible. It reduces the amount of fuel required and allows for two styles of cooking at the same time.

Brett mentions he can get 4 levels of cooking with different grate configurations. I've found having a single grate to be a problem when I need to get at the coals (seldom).

This is the huge one for me. First, it allows him to use less fuel when he doesn't need the entire cooking surface. The other important factor is that he can cook direct and indirect at the same time. HUGE deal that can only be accomplished because of the oval design.

My Conclusion

If I were to go out and purchase a ceramic cooker today, I'm almost certain it would be a Primo Oval XL. I don't want to have 2 or 3 grills. I want one that does it all and has the room to feed my friends and family. Am I getting rid of my Bubba Keg? No way! But, when I get my next grill, it will either be a Bubba Keg Oval XL (I have no idea if this is on their road map), or the Primo. If the Bubba Keg Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) folks are listening, I'm putting my vote in for an oval XL version with all the appropriate gadgetry. It doesn't need to be portable!