Mistakes of a Primo Rookie

We purchased a Primo Grill for our outdoor kitchen area.  The promise of a wood-fired oven as well as a smoker for low and slow cooking of prime cuts of meat was just too enticing.  We chose the Primo over its more popular rival (The Big Green Egg) for a couple of reasons..

• The oval shape and cooking surface
• We like the dealer on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities - Corn Crib Nursery

For those not familiar, the Primo is a kamodo-style ceramic cooker.  It weighs ~200 pounds empty and burns lump charcoal - not briquets.  I was pleased when they offered to deliver the grill at no additional charge.

A few claims on the Primo Grills are worth noting...

• heats up in ~10 minutes
• Lighter fluid is not needed
• Holds temperature very steady
• Can reach temperatures of 550F or hotter
• Ideal for cooking low and slow - 225F

So how did it do against these claims?

Well the first night was as close to a cooking disaster as I've had in awhile.  I followed the instructions closely and I could not get the temperature above 350 even after an hour.  It was frustrating.  I had the vent holes fully open on the top and the bottom vent fully open and yet the temperature would not increase and certainly not in the 10 minutes that was claimed.  After about 90 minutes I got the temp to ~350 and said the heck with it and cooked the pizzas anyway.  Not bad pizza but the Primo Grill was a disappointment.  More research was needed.

Day #2 - much better results after I discovered my mistake.  The Primo Grill is great; the instruction manual is terrible and could be greatly improved for a much better user experience.
The issue was that the entire top vent can open; not just the vent holes.  Once I figured that out two things happened

• The grill came up to temperature, and
• It did it in ~10 minutes.  Problem solved.

Now for the next test, how would the Primo cooker do for the ultimate test of low and slow cooking of pork spare ribs?

It passed with flying colors.