What are the 5 Best Kamado Grills for the Money?

Things We Like

• Ash pullout pan. At this size, you’re guaranteed to have some ashes. If the competition had these, we wouldn’t make a big deal about this—but they don’t.
• Although it’s an optional item, the Big Joe is the only Kamado that has a rotisserie kit. Seriously? Do we even need to point out how this is an advantage?

Things We Don’t Like

• The weight. Of course, the other Kamados of this size are in the 400-500 pound range, so no matter what you buy, you’re going to be glad the stand comes with wheels, and you’re going to need a couple of folks to help you put it in place.

Bottom Line

If you want to go all-in, this is our recommendation. ‘Nuf said.

What is the Largest Kamado Grill?

The Big Joe III is big, but the Green Egg is bigger yet. Big Joe three has a 24-inch diameter while the Big Green Egg 2XL’s diameter rounds out at 29 inches.

But. Big Joe has a larger overall cooking area—864 sq. inches, versus the 672 sq. inches of the Big Green Egg. And weight? Big Joe wins out again at 487 pounds. That’s a 100 pounds more than the Big Green Egg weight of 375.

So, you get to pick the winner. Big Green Egg will no doubt claim it’s the biggest, but Big Joe will claim that two out of three wins.

Whoever wins, their both large, able to cook 35-40 burgers at once, or 10+ chickens, or 18-20 steaks, or 15+ racks of ribs hung vertically, or even a small suckling pig (separate accessories needed for the last two).  That’s quite a cookout.

Size Isn’t Everything

In the size competition, we’re calling the Green Egg the winner. But big isn’t always better—especially when it comes to features and accessories. Check out the differences between the Big Egg and the Big Joe.

You can order the Big Joe online at Amazon (Prime members get all 455 pounds shipped for free). Or you can drive to Home Depot or Ace to look under the lid before you buy.

If you want to buy a Green Egg, you can’t go on-line, and you can’t buy it directly from the manufacturer. Instead, you’ve got to find a dealer.  The website is easy to use—type in a Zip Code or city and find a dealer. If you manage to find one on-line, through a second dealer, then the company will not honor the grill’s warranty.

As you can see, a Kamado Grill is not your typical backyard grill. But if you’re new to the world of Kamado Grill’s, you might have a few questions about how they work, how they’re built, and how to operate them. Rest easy: you’ve come to the right place for the answer.

What’s a Kamado Made Of?

Traditionally, Japanese Kamados were made from clay or other ceramic materials. Clay has a long tradition in cooking. The Egyptians and Mesopotamians are credited with being the first to use clay in cooking. After starting a coal fire on a hearth, they would take a clay pot and turn it around before placing it on the hearth. The “Tandur” oven, or tandoor, was an improvement that led to more consistency in baking.

Other clay cooking vessels developed in China, also using ceramic materials for baking. In Japan, what was to become the Kamado started as a clay pot with a domed lid. Eventually, portable kamados were built; these were known as “mushikamados.” By this time, dampers and draft doors had been added to better control heat. Soldiers brought them back from Japan after the second world war, which is how Americans were introduced to them. Eventually, the mushi was dropped, and the clay, egg-shaped grills became kamados.

Most Kamados are still made of refractory ceramics, which are ceramics that can withstand higher heat than other ceramics. Constructing the grills from these materials meant the grill could keep steady temperatures even at high temperatures. Also, improved insulation meant a fire could be kept hot with less fuel. Finally, earlier Kamados that used regular ceramics had a tendency to crack.

How Do I Operate a Kamado?

Operating a Kamado is similar to any grill. The charcoal will get warmer more quickly, and you have to be careful about how you work with higher heat.

1. Fill firebox just above airholes
2. Once the fire is lit, open bottom and top vents so that you have maximum airflow.
3. Ten to fifteen minutes later, begin manipulating the vents until you get the temperature you want
4. Three to Four hundred degrees are the most common temperatures for direct grilling
5. If you’re cooking at temperatures above 500 degrees, you want to be careful to avoid something called flashback. This happens when you open the lid too quickly. A rush of oxygen will charge into the grill and then come back at you in the form of white heat.
6. Avoid this by slowly lifting the lid a couple of inches, wait 5 or 10 seconds, and then lift it the rest of the way.

Starting a Kamado—Three Methods

Since you don’t want that lighter fluid taste (and the manufacturers strongly advise against using lighter fluid), consider using one of these methods:

Lighter cubes.

• Place two or three lighter cubes on top of the charcoal and light it up. These cubes are readily available anywhere you buy your grilling supplies. They are made of paraffin wax, which is a fancy way of saying a white wax that is a by-product of oil, shale, or coal.

Electric Starter.

• Maybe you didn’t know this was a thing, but an electric starter sits on top of a bed of charcoal. After a few minutes, your charcoal is burning—if you plugged the starter in! Unless there’s a plug close, you’ll need an extension cord. Seems like it’s a little too much work. This might be one of those for-the-guy-who-has-everything gifts. Still, if you’re interested, the Kamado-Joe KJ-ES gets high marks.
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Charcoal Chimney.

• If you want something more resourceful and old-timey than lighter cubes, a charcoal chimney is the way to go. You load the charcoal in the chimney, put some crumpled up newspaper underneath. Light the paper and wait a couple of minutes. The charcoal should be glowing and ready to put into your Kamado. To see how they work—check out this video.

Using Your Kamado to Smoke and Roast

Most folks, when they want to smoke a ham, buy a separate smoker. Because of the Kamado’s egg-like shape, smoking is a natural. Here are a few tips on how to use that Kamado to roast yourself a chicken or smoke that ham.

• For smoking and roasting, you’re going to be using the deflector plate that came with the unit.
• Once the kamado’s temperature is where you want it, place the stand in the kamado and deflector plate inside
• Ideal smoking and roasting temperatures are between 180 to 225 degrees.
• After you have prepped your food, the deflector plate is ready to start roasting.

Baking With Your Kamado Grill

Since baking is a feature that is unique to a kamado grill, let’s take a few minutes to go over the basics.

1. Start your grill the same way—light the charcoal, open the vents, and wait until the charcoal is lit and ready to go.
2. This time you’re going to place a heat deflector and pizza stone into the grill.
3. Give the pizza stone 10-15 minutes to heat up
4. Get the temperature inside to be 425 to 550 are the typical baking temperatures
5. Slide the pizza on the stone (you might want to season the stone with some cornmeal)
6. Close the lid and wait about 15 minutes

Cleaning Your Kamado Grill

Cleaning your grill is similar to using a self-cleaning oven.

1. Light the grill
2. Bring its temperature up to 600 degrees
3. Burn it, with the lid closed, for 15 to 20 minutes
4. When it cools, brush away any remaining char
5. Every five to 10 cookouts, you’ll want to remove the ash that’s gathered.
6. When you get ready to do so, stir remain
7. Check the air holes to make sure a small piece of charcoal isn’t blocking one
8. Afterward, remove the ashes through the opening, either using an ash can or an ash collector