PK Grill Review – A Walk Down Memory Lane

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PK grill review

When I am not grilling, smoking, or writing about outdoor cooking and everything related I am reading about it. And sometimes you run into something that is worth sharing here.

The reason for me to start this PK grill review is to help you find out more about them.

I ran into it PK grills(1) by accident and to be honest had never heard of them and this intrigued me. Enough reason to do some research and see if they are worth an indepth PK grill review.

What was supposed to be short research ended up taking more than two hours and I am happy that I did this and will write a real review in the near future since I was so impressed.

History of PK grills

The pk grills were manufactured in Tyler, Texas in the 1950s and ’60s. In the year 1960, the company was moved to Little Rock, Arkansas after being sold. Unfortunately, they went out of business in the 1970s.

Like many quality items, the PK grills became a collector’s item in the 1980s and 90s. There was one collector who was so crazy about these grills that he bought the rights and started to build them again in Arkansas.

The reason I am talking about a trip down memory lane is that these top-rated charcoal grills were and still are made of thick aluminum and I have not seen any other brand that is still using this unless you take about the old-timer vintage campers.

How are PK grills made?

As you can see they are made by hand of real thick cast aluminum and how they are built give you a lot of options. From direct grilling to indirect grilling and even low and slow.

This is all thanks to the ways you can control the airflow by adjusting the 2 air inlets at the bottom and the two air outlets at the bottom you can adjust the PK grills to all types of grilling and smoking.

Where Are PK Grills made?

The PK grills are made in Arkansas by the Portable Kitchens company.

Features of the PK grills

As you can see there are a lot of pros to mention about these grills. The Aluminum is very thick and that will hold the heat very well. The second advantage of aluminum is that it will never rust. I have seen a picture of a guy who still cooks on his original PK grill from the ’60s.

What about the price?

After looking at all the pros and cons it was time to have a look at the price of these grills and to be honest again I was pleasantly surprised.

Where To Buy PK Grills

You can buy the PK grills from their website and they are also sold on Amazon.

You can have a look below to see some of the prices.

You can also have a look at the PK Grill products below.

PK grill versus Weber

I am a big fan of the Weber grills and many grills are compared to Weber’s when it comes to comparing quality, performance, and price.

Weber is an American brand and I have reviewed many models here, but parts are also made abroad, and as far as I can check the PK grills are made in America all the way. For some people that can be a decisive factor.

I like the fact that the PK has more options to control the airflow with four vents compared to Weber which comes with 2 air vents. Air vents are very important to regulate the temperature in your grill.

In my Pk grill review, I will have a good look at how many square inches the PK is compared to the Weber and how this affects how much you can cook on it.

PK grills Review – My Opinion

As I mentioned above I was surprised by the quality and performance of the PK grills. The prices were also lower than I expected. I am planning on doing a whole PK grill review after doing more research to make sure I leave nothing out. sign up for my newsletter to stay informed!

I had a good look at the PK grill website and know I can find a lot of information there and also on their nice YouTube channel.

I found a comment from someone who mentioned he sold his Kamado cooker and bought a PK for that money. I Am not sure if I would do that. I love Kamado cookers as you can read here, but it shows how great these grills are.

Questions I found about the PK grills.

Are PK grills worth the money? In my opinion, they are worth every penny you pay for them.

How hot can a PK grill get? The seals are very tight and this allows the grill to reach up to 750 degrees.

How do you clean a PK grill? You can use dish soap in your water since cast aluminum is rust-free.

I found a ton more and it would take up a whole page here on Better Grills. However, it shows how popular the PK grills are, in my opinion.

Feel free to add your opinion in this PK grill review if you have one and will share how you use it.

Eddie van Aken

Eddie van Aken has years of experience in running his full-service restaurant and with this came working with using and dealing with all types of kitchen equipment. With his experience, he can find all the pros and cons of grills and add them to the grill reviews he is doing. You can read more on the about page for Eddie van Aken

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