I just noticed that Viking makes a ceramic cooker called the C4. It is a
Kamado style cooker with a complete Stainless Steel shell.

I have been trying to find someone who has a floor model to look at, and
have had no luck.

Has anyone here gotten a look at this cooker? Impressions? At $2,200 it
must be something special. I know everyone on here is enamored with the K's
in favor of the Big Green Egg, and just wanted to know what you Kamado guys
think of Vikings effort?

Matthew Brown
Memphis

Matthew Brown wrote:
> I just noticed that Viking makes a ceramic cooker called the C4. It is a
> Kamado style cooker with a complete Stainless Steel shell.
>
> I have been trying to find someone who has a floor model to look at, and
> have had no luck.
>
> Has anyone here gotten a look at this cooker? Impressions? At $2,200 it
> must be something special. I know everyone on here is enamored with the K's
> in favor of the Big Green Egg, and just wanted to know what you Kamado guys
> think of Vikings effort?
>
> Matthew Brown
> Memphis

It looks like a Dalek! http://www.vikingrange.com/welcome.html

Apparently the ceramic guts are from a primo.

Cam

"Matthew Brown" > wrote in message
...
> I just noticed that Viking makes a ceramic cooker called the C4. It is a
> Kamado style cooker with a complete Stainless Steel shell.
>
> I have been trying to find someone who has a floor model to look at, and
> have had no luck.
>
> Has anyone here gotten a look at this cooker? Impressions? At $2,200 it
> must be something special. I know everyone on here is enamored with the
K's
> in favor of the Big Green Egg, and just wanted to know what you Kamado
guys
> think of Vikings effort?
>
> Matthew Brown
> Memphis
>
For $2200 it better come with a guy to drink beer with while you're cookin'
and a whole truck full of beer .
Jack

Matthew Brown wrote:
> I just noticed that Viking makes a ceramic cooker called the C4. It
> is a Kamado style cooker with a complete Stainless Steel shell.
>
> I have been trying to find someone who has a floor model to look at,
> and have had no luck.
>
> Has anyone here gotten a look at this cooker? Impressions? At
> $2,200 it must be something special. I know everyone on here is
> enamored with the K's in favor of the Big Green Egg, and just wanted
> to know what you Kamado guys think of Vikings effort?
>
> Matthew Brown
> Memphis

$2200 for a cooker?? Holy moly!

I only spent $70 for my 55 gallon drum cooker. Hmmm... that leaves me
$2130 to spend on meat and margaritas.
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 20:15:49 GMT, "Matthew Brown"
> wrote:

> I know everyone on here is enamored with the K's
>in favor of the Big Green Egg....
>
Ummmm, I'm not. :-)

TNW

frohe wrote:

> Matthew Brown wrote:
>
>>I just noticed that Viking makes a ceramic cooker called the C4. It
>>is a Kamado style cooker with a complete Stainless Steel shell.
>>
>>I have been trying to find someone who has a floor model to look at,
>>and have had no luck.
>>
>>Has anyone here gotten a look at this cooker? Impressions? At
>>$2,200 it must be something special. I know everyone on here is
>>enamored with the K's in favor of the Big Green Egg, and just wanted
>>to know what you Kamado guys think of Vikings effort?
>>
>>Matthew Brown
>>Memphis
>
>
> $2200 for a cooker?? Holy moly!
>
> I only spent $70 for my 55 gallon drum cooker. Hmmm... that leaves me
> $2130 to spend on meat and margaritas.

Some people have waaaaaaaaaaaay to much $

--
Steve
Ever notice that putting the and IRS together makes "theirs"?

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 20:15:49 GMT, "Matthew Brown"
> wrote:

>I just noticed that Viking makes a ceramic cooker called the C4. It is a
>Kamado style cooker with a complete Stainless Steel shell.
>
>I have been trying to find someone who has a floor model to look at, and
>have had no luck.
>
>Has anyone here gotten a look at this cooker? Impressions? At $2,200 it
>must be something special. I know everyone on here is enamored with the K's
>in favor of the Big Green Egg, and just wanted to know what you Kamado guys
>think of Vikings effort?
>
>Matthew Brown
>Memphis
>
I saw this and had 2 thoughts...

1) Right now, this is a major luxury item for the well off. At over 2
grand it's double what I paid for my K7 WITH shipping.

2) Hmmm..if major manufacturers are taking note of ceramic cookers to
the point of selling high-end models, it may mean that more
inexpensive, yet well-made ceramic cookers may not be far behind. The
bigger companies have more $$ to invest in R&D and will likely have
ability to manufacture Kamado-style cookers at lower cost with better
fit & finish of the smaller players.

Don't say they will neccesarily decide to go into the market
wholesale, but if they do....well it will make for an interesting time
for the current batch of Kamado-Komodo-Primo-Big Green Egg
manufacturers out there.

I've always thought the Big Green Egg was the most accessible of the
Kamado cookers, because of their lighter weight, their fit and finish
and most notably, their ditribution channel (you see more of them
around your average town than any of the others).

Mind you, I'm very happy with my 2 Kamados (and my daughter likes her
little one) and haven't seen another that I'd rather have with the
slight possibility of the Komodo's if they are as good as their
claims.

Anyway, as I said, it will be interesting to see where the market
leads...




-Chef Juke
"EVERYbody Eats When They Come To MY House!"
www.chefjuke.com

frohe wrote:
>
> Matthew Brown wrote:
> > I just noticed that Viking makes a ceramic cooker called the C4. It
> > is a Kamado style cooker with a complete Stainless Steel shell.
> >
> > I have been trying to find someone who has a floor model to look at,
> > and have had no luck.
> >
> > Has anyone here gotten a look at this cooker? Impressions? At
> > $2,200 it must be something special. I know everyone on here is
> > enamored with the K's in favor of the Big Green Egg, and just wanted
> > to know what you Kamado guys think of Vikings effort?
> >
> > Matthew Brown
> > Memphis
>
> $2200 for a cooker?? Holy moly!

Well you would:
1) get it in a reasonable amount of time
2) support an American company rather than Mexican (as if the profit
wasn't huge already)
3) probably won't self destruct after a while like the K
4) actually have something that doesn't look like your grandmother's urn
5) have something with name recognition outside of the minor set of
people following something like the overpriced K
6) have a product with a stainless shell (material $$$) versus well
basically dirt and concrete
7) reiterate #4, it is pretty.

cl wrote:

> 6) have a product with a stainless shell (material $$$) versus well
> basically dirt and concrete
> 7) reiterate #4, it is pretty.

While the SS shell may look prettier to some than a tiled K, I can't
help but wonder if it provides *any* functional benefit at all. Consider:

- ceramic and tile do not rust; they are easily as tolerant of
adverse weather as SS
- SS conducts heat much better than ceramic, so it would become hotter
to the touch
- SS's thermal expansion rate is different from ceramic, so you will
likely develop a gap in between the shell and the ceramic over time

IMHO, the SS shell is an illogical addition to a ceramic cooker,
intended to please posers and spouses.

cory wrote:
>
> cl wrote:
>
> > 6) have a product with a stainless shell (material $$$) versus well
> > basically dirt and concrete
> > 7) reiterate #4, it is pretty.
>
> While the SS shell may look prettier to some than a tiled K, I can't
> help but wonder if it provides *any* functional benefit at all. Consider:
>
> - ceramic and tile do not rust; they are easily as tolerant of
> adverse weather as SS

Grout failures are common place in the K is it not? The Stainless shell
wount have this issue. Why do you think the stainless will rust?


> - SS conducts heat much better than ceramic, so it would become hotter
> to the touch

Not an issue. The ceramic take over the duties inner shell insulates. So
if anything you have a ceramic cooker with the extra insulation of a
layer of SS/air. Just take note of the outside temp of a double walled
GG vs single walled. Stainless isn't that good of a conductor anyhow (in
the world of metals)


> - SS's thermal expansion rate is different from ceramic, so you will
> likely develop a gap in between the shell and the ceramic over time

Not an issue. It is a simple engineering task to solve and prevent.

How'bout the K. Tiles that pop off the K? Doesn't the K also havea
stainless rim/joint?

The SS shell will protect the delicate ceramic from the elements. It is
functional and pretty.


> IMHO, the SS shell is an illogical addition to a ceramic cooker,
> intended to please posers and spouses.

So the gaudy tile work on the K isn't there for the same purpose?


-CAL

cl wrote:
>
> cory wrote:
>
>>cl wrote:
>>
>>
>>>6) have a product with a stainless shell (material $$$) versus well
>>>basically dirt and concrete
>>>7) reiterate #4, it is pretty.
>>
>>While the SS shell may look prettier to some than a tiled K, I can't
>>help but wonder if it provides *any* functional benefit at all. Consider:
>>
>>- ceramic and tile do not rust; they are easily as tolerant of
>> adverse weather as SS
>
>
> Grout failures are common place in the K is it not? The Stainless shell
> wount have this issue. Why do you think the stainless will rust?

My point is that neither rust, thus SS loses its primary advantage over
other materials used in cooking appliances. I myself am unaware of
problems with grout failures, but sure that may be true.


>
>
>
>>- SS conducts heat much better than ceramic, so it would become hotter
>> to the touch
>
>
> Not an issue. The ceramic take over the duties inner shell insulates. So
> if anything you have a ceramic cooker with the extra insulation of a
> layer of SS/air. Just take note of the outside temp of a double walled
> GG vs single walled. Stainless isn't that good of a conductor anyhow (in
> the world of metals)

I doubt the SS serves as an insulator in this application. My point is
that SS is hotter to the *touch* than ceramic of the same temperature.

>
>
>
>>- SS's thermal expansion rate is different from ceramic, so you will
>> likely develop a gap in between the shell and the ceramic over time
>
>
> Not an issue. It is a simple engineering task to solve and prevent.

That may be the case, but the remedy would be an added cost that so far
seems to provide no benefit.

>
> How'bout the K. Tiles that pop off the K? Doesn't the K also havea
> stainless rim/joint?

The SS bands are adjustable and can be tightened as needed.

>
> The SS shell will protect the delicate ceramic from the elements. It is
> functional and pretty.
>
>
>
>>IMHO, the SS shell is an illogical addition to a ceramic cooker,
>>intended to please posers and spouses.
>
>
> So the gaudy tile work on the K isn't there for the same purpose?

The tile work may be gaudy if you choose an unattractive color or if you
have something against tile in general, but it is the obvious material
to put on a ceramic cooker if your purpose is to protect the ceramic,
because the cost is much lower and it provides the same functional benefit.

cory wrote:

> The tile work may be gaudy if you choose an unattractive color or if you
> have something against tile in general, but it is the obvious material
> to put on a ceramic cooker if your purpose is to protect the ceramic,
> because the cost is much lower and it provides the same functional benefit.

Kamado cookers are available with textured surfaces. No tile, no grout.
Any color you want as long as it's black.

And terracotta, too, but I wanted to use the HF reference:-)

--
Matthew

I'm a contractor. If you want an opinion, I'll sell you one.
Which one do you want?