If you are looking for a grill that has it all, then one you may be recommended is the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill.
Best known for being the first half pellet smoker and half propane griddle grill on the market, the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill has gained some serious attention since its release back in 2020.
However, now we all have had time to properly use this grill, it’s time to give a completely honest review of the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill.
So, if you are considering purchasing this grill for your ideal outdoor cooking experience, check out our review below to find out if this grill is really the right one for you - or if you should hold out for the next model.
Let’s dive in!
Before we take a look at the grill itself, let’s take a quick look at the manufacturer, Pit Boss.
Pit Boss is a grill manufacturing company based in the US that is a subsidiary of Dansons Inc.
Their goals are to provide high quality yet affordable grills to make grilling and outdoor cooking an easily accessible experience for all, no matter your budget. Because of this, Pit Boss is not exactly the leading brand name when it comes to outdoor grilling pros.
There are other companies that produce larger, more professional grills but these are costly and not suitable for everyone.
However, if you want an affordable grill, they are definitely a company to check out.
They make a wide range of products, constantly pushing the boundaries of grilling and outdoor cooking, so everyone who wants to give it a try can find the right kind of grill that best suits their methods.
This means that they are always invested in research and developing their technology - and not just in grills! They want to provide the ‘full barbecue’ experience by stretching their ranges to include accessories, griddles, and fuel.
Most pro-grillers will use the word ‘innovative’ to describe some of Pit Boss’s products so it’s no surprise that they are ones behind the first half pellet smoker and propane griddle grill!
So, while Pit Boss grills are no Weber or Char-broil, they still have a lot of merit that makes them worth consideration.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at their Platinum KC Combo Grill to see what it has to offer!
Sometimes, we can be blown away by all the good gadgets and features of a grill that we forget one of the most important parts of it - its size.
Any pro outdoor griller will know that size is a hugely important feature for your grill and it can be a deal breaker for some.
After all, no one wants a grill that is too small or too large otherwise they will end up with a grill that cannot suit their needs.
So, if you are thinking of purchasing a Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill, first make sure that it has the right dimensions to fit your decking, and that it has enough cooking space for you to feed all of your guests and family.
Overall, the grill is 69 inches wide, 51 inches tall, and 26 inches deep.
That’s a pretty fair size for a with three individual burners and a pellet smoker - just remember to leave some space for your propane gas bottle.
As for cooking space, the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo boasts a fair amount of cooking area between its two main areas.
The pellet grill features a bottom grate of 439 square inches (roughly equating to enough space to book 20 burgers simultaneously) with an additional warming rack above that is 123 square inches in area.
This means that the pellet grill has a total of 562 square inches of cooking area - and that’s not all.
If you want to use the propane grill, then you will have an additional 439 square inches of cooking area to work with.
If you want to swap out the grill grates for the griddle attachment, then this will shorten down to 321 square inches.
Overall, the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo is a fair sized grill with a total of over a 1,000 square inches of cooking space so you can whip up plenty of food to feed to your guests.
This makes it a great grill for those who like to host larger gatherings.
Size is not all that matters when it comes to grills and the materials used in its manufacture can make a huge difference in its quality and longevity.
Because Pit Boss aims to make affordable grills, we assumed that their products would have a certain ‘cheapness’ to it, a drop in quality compared to some other higher-brand grills - but we were pleasantly surprised by the overall design and feel of the Pit Boss PLatinum KC Combo Grill.
Overall, the body of the grill is made from stainless steel but it is textured and designed with a certain finish that makes it look far more professional and higher quality.
The contrast between the black paint finish and silver combine great and help give this affordable grill and more classic look.
As for strength and durability, the doors are a little weaker than the grill itself as they use a 12 gauge metal while the grill uses a 14 gauge metal.
However, Pit Boss have double-walled their doors to help improve its strength although it does make the doors a lot heavier to lift.
So, the grill and doors feel substantial and sturdy thanks to its materials, thus making the Platinum KC Combo a long-lasting grill.
However, we do have a complaint when it comes to the overall design of the grill.
The underneath storage only contains a single open shelf that runs across the entire width of the grill.
It’s sturdy enough and includes plenty of space to store your accessories, but we would have liked protected cabinets instead.
An open shelf like this leaves your accessories at risk of being damaged by the elements or falling off the shelf when you roll your grill around to a new area.
Cabinets would have kept them safely secure and protected.
Other than that, the overall design of the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill is a success in our eyes.
There are two lights which help make grilling during the evening or early morning super easy (plus the button is easy to find on the digital controller so you aren’t fumbling in the dark for long).
There are two additional shelves used for storage found on the top part of the grill.
One is a very slim folding shelf found in the front of the pellet grill and the second shelf built into the unit as a side shelf.
Here, you can keep your spices or sauces or anything else you need to keep close at hand while you cook.
This in turn makes your cooking experience way more enjoyable and efficient.
If you prefer to move your grill in and out of storage for protection, then there are four wheels attached to the bottom of each leg.
Two of the wheels are lockable so your grill won’t roll out of place when you are ready to leave it stationary, and the wheels themselves are very sturdy and smoothly roll across all kinds of surfaces.
The weight of the grill can make it tricky to navigate but it’s great that Pit Boss included the option to make this grill maneuverable so you can wheel it in and out of storage for extra protection and longevity.
If you plan on leaving your grill outdoors, then we really recommend you find yourself a great grill cover.
This grill is half digital and to keep the electric components functional, you will need to protect it from rain and moisture.
One of the key features of the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill is the pellet smoker.
Its addition to this otherwise conventional propane gas grill is what makes the Platinum KC Combo Grill such a head turner, even for pro grillers who looked for more high-end brands than Pit Boss.
So, we paid extra attention to the pellet smoker to see how it works and if it’s a feature worth having.
The pellet hopper itself can hold 26 pounds of wooden pellets, which is a lot of pellets for the average pellet smoker.
This means that you can go a few cooks without needing to replace and reload the pellets. Judging on average amounts per pound, we assume you can go for three to four individual cooks before this.
This means that opting for the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill can save you on wood pellets by making each one go further during each grilling session.
When the time comes for cleaning, there is an efficient feature that uses Pit Boss’s new pellet clean out system.
This means that the grill features a clean out tray and its own unique brush to make cleaning out the pellet waste from the ash draw super easy.
In the past, we usually vacuum up the waste and this process can take a lot of time and fuss - but using the clean out system in the Platinum KC Combo Grill was quick and easy.
We are also really pleased with how the pellet smoker worked too.
The door seal is of great quality and this meant that no smoke was escaping through the door, unlike with some other pellet smokers we have tried in the past.
This meant that the food we were cooking turned out nice and smoky - the perfect taste and flavor for a traditional barbecue.
If you want your food to vary in ‘smokiness’ then Pit Boss have included a great feature on their pellet smoker known as a smokestack cap.
It’s adjustable and allows you to choose how much smoke you want to escape from the pellet hopper while it’s fired up.
This means you can manually adjust how smoky you want your food to taste, giving you more control on the outcome of your cooking experience.
We love this feature and we hope to see it included on more pellet smokers in the future.
With the Platinum KC Combo Grill comes Pit Boss’s new series of grills that feature their modern digital controller.
One of the best things about Pit Boss as a company is their constant drive towards testing new technology and pushing out new, innovative features - but not all of them are a success.
In the past, their digital controllers had a few blips and issues which, thankfully, they have addressed in this model.
The display itself features a range of different features for you to use. The most noticeable feature is the large display for the temperature of your pellet grill.
Next to it is a dial that can be easily used to adjust the temperature with just a press of your finger.
There is also a display light for the auger so you can see at a glance if there are any issues, a light for the igniter, and a fan light that tells you when the fan is running.
All of these display lights are great to keep an eye on all the functions of your grill at a glance, making your outdoor cooking experience more efficient and enjoyable.
There is even a warning light for when your pellets are running low or have run out, so you can quickly fix the issue while cooking without ruining your food.
It’s super convenient to have such a great fail-safe. Just use the ‘PRIME’ button to override the auger so you can feed in the pellets quickly.
So, the digital controller now boasts lots of convenient features to help make outdoor grilling and cooking a smoother experience.
This can also be seen in the PID (proportional integral derivative) controller feature.
This is an amazing new feature which helps your grill and auger adapt to the temperature instead of relying on previous time limits.
Instead of just relying on running for so many seconds and then holding, your auger can now run and hold depending on the temperature of the pellet grill.
This results in a more consistent internal cook.
The Platinum KC Combo is one of Pit Boss’s first attempts to use this controller and we have to say that we are definitely impressed with how it works.
The results are definitely noticeable and far better than previous pellet grill auger controllers.
It’s a real game changer and we seriously hope that it sticks around in future grill models, perhaps even becoming fully integrated with other brands and their products too - that’s just how good we think this feature is.
So, the PID controller is a must have feature!
Finally, we have come to the setting that everyone looks for in a grill controller - temperature settings.
This is probably the most important part of the digital controller because the temperature of your grill obviously has such a huge impact on the quality of your cooking, and certain foods cook better at different temperatures.
So, temperature control is a vital feature for a grill.
The KC Combo offers a ton of different temperature settings to try out, ranging from as low as a simple smoke at 180 to 200 degrees all the way up to a maximum 500 degrees.
You can increase from 200 in increments of 25 degrees to find the closest temperature setting you need.
While we will always advocate for a more precise temperature controller, the ability to adjust the temperature within a margin of 25 degrees still allows you to have a good amount of control over the temperature of your grill.
Despite all of the features crammed into this one digital display controller, Pit Boss have done a great job making each button clear and easy to use.
Even if you have big man fingers that struggle with the buttons on a TV remote, you won’t have the same issue when using your digital controller on the KC Combo.
Each button is spread out, clear to see and touch, making your cooking experience just that much easier
Another major feature of the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill is its compatibility with the Smoke IT app.
Pit Boss’s Platinum grills each one with Bluetooth functionality, which means that you can connect it to your smartphone and the Smoke IT app.
The Smoke IT app is a part of the Pit Boss app so download it, open it up, and find the grill icon on the top right corner of your phone’s screen.
This will help you connect your grill to your smartphone (compatible with both Apple and Android).
What can you do once your phone is connected to your grill?
Well, you can basically control the temperature of the grill remotely.
You can adjust the temperature, turn the grill off completely, check the probe readings, and more all through using your app.
Although we would never really recommend you leaving the grill running unsupervised, this can allow you to slow cook something while you prepare food elsewhere or set up your backyard ready for your guests.
It’s a handy feature to have but this doesn’t mean you can leave your home while your pellet grill is on.
In the interest of safety, it’s best you stay close to your grill but if you have to step away, at least you can keep an eye on your food and ensure whatever you are cooking doesn’t burn or undercook.
Compared to the modern digital controller and the pellet grill, the gas grill by contrast feels a lot more basic and traditional.
However, it still has everything you need.
There are three weight knobs that control each of the three burners in the grill, allowing you to adjust the temperature with ease.
You also get a range of heat tents and grill grates or swap them out for a griddle instead.
The griddle is super high quality as we found it great at retaining heat and it’s super heavy, making it high in quality despite the overall affordability of this grill.
So, the gas grill may feel basic but it has everything you need covered and to a really high standard while keeping the cost low!
Pit Boss’s Platinum KC Combo Grill has left a great impression on us after trying it out in a range of different methods.
For such an affordable grill, it is clearly very well made and put together although we would like to see something of better storage options for underneath the grill.
Despite this, there are a lot of features when it comes to grilling and plenty of ways you can maintain full control over your food even if you have to step away from the grill for five minutes.
The combination of a pellet smoker and conventional gas grill is genius and opens up many doors when it comes to cooking techniques.
You can do more than just grill and smoke - you can roast, sear, barbecue, even stir-fry and sauté using this one grill thanks to its removable griddle and grates.
You can also feel the quality in the make and materials from the gas knobs to the doors, proving that Pit Boss knows how to make great grills for a lower cost.
Because of this, we would definitely recommend the Pit Boss Platinum KC Combo Grill to anyone who's interested.
It’s a great quality grill with lots of functions that all work together to make your grilling experience convenient and with great results.
So, if you have been thinking of trying out outdoor grilling and cooking, then this is a great grill to use to step up your game and broaden your horizons when it comes to outdoor cooking.
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