A gas grill and a pellet grill all in one. The answer to all your needs. Right?
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Pit Boss KC Combo
Derrick Riches
Construction Quality
Temperature Control
Versatility
Features
Durability
3.6
PROS
- Has it all
- Vast cooking area
- Bluetooth connectivity
CONS
- Combo Grills are not good
- Lightweight construction
- 25-degree increment pellet grill
Specifications
- 27,000 maximum BTU output in the gas grill section
- Three 9,000 BTU stainless steel tubular burners
- Porcelain-coated steel cooking grates in the gas section
- Lightweight porcelain-coated cast-iron cooking grates in the pellet section
- Direct flame baffle over the pellet firepot
- 25-degree increment PID pellet controller
- Bluetooth and WiFi-enabled with Pit Boss SmokeIT App
- 180 to 500-degree temperature range in the pellet section
- Plate steel griddle for the gas section (removable)
- Stainless and enameled steel construction
- Total cooking area of 1,000 square inches
- About 400 square inches of direct cooking space in each chamber
- Firepot cleanout
- 26-pound hopper capacity
- Total weight 257 pounds
- Almost six feet long
- Made in China by Pit Boss Grills, a brand of Dansons
About Grades
Full Review – Pit Boss KC Combo Platinum Series Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker
Let me start by saying that I do not like combination grills. Never have. Probably never will. I have a good reason. They are almost never any good. Big box stores love combo grills. They are big and when a customer looks at one, they think, hey, it’s got everything. They are not wrong. To illustrate my point, let’s take a look at the Pit Boss KC Combo Platinum Series Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker. Note, that I am putting the whole title in the first paragraph because search engines love that sort of thing.
This grill, and no, I’m not going to repeat the name, is a pellet grill and a gas grill. It comes with a metal griddle that fits into the gas cooking chamber for extra cooking versatility. In fact, Pit Boss claims that this is
an 11-in-1 cooking device. One of those methods is barbecuing, whatever that means. The only way to look at a grill like this is to talk about the separate sections. We’ll start with the gas grill because that is easier to explain.
The Details
We have a 27,000 BTU three-burner gas grill. The total gas grill cooking area is around 400 square inches. This means that as a gas grill it is low-powered. Actually, it is very weak. It’s here because you can get a gas grill made in China for very little money and then just tack it on the cart. There is a griddle that isn’t bad, so you do get the flat top grilling functionality. Personally, I would have just skipped the whole open grill design and put in a better flat top.
As for the pellet grill, it does have Pit Boss’ new controller that is big and bright and Bluetooth and WiFi enabled. You have to be in the range of the grill to use the app, but it is an intuitive and nice-looking controller. There is also the Pit Boss direct flame cooking capability in this grill. It will do higher temperature grilling and can sear a steak. Again, this just points out the redundancy of the gas grill next to it, though. Aside from that, the pellet section isn’t huge. It will cook a pair of briskets, but not much more. Of course, most people don’t need that much space.
The Bottom Line
This grill sells at Walmart for around $750USD. You get a pellet grill and a gas grill. If one fails, you have a huge piece of cooking equipment that you can’t get full use of. There are a lot of parts, electronics, and that go into this product, for a very low price. Its real purpose is to sit on the storeroom floor looking impressive. For people who don’t know a lot about outdoor cooking, it seems to be a full-function choice. The truth is, you will use one section a lot more than the other. My recommendation is to get either a pellet grill or a gas grill and get one that is better quality. After all, a $750USD pellet grill is average at best. Carve out quality to add on the gas grill and you get a big pile of cheap grilling equipment.
