Best Kamado Grills for True Grilling Addicts

Kamado Joe is a well-known name among grilling aficionados and a top-seller brand in the premium class market. On the basis of an ancient-style kamado, they create well-crafted ceramic grills distinguished by elegance, quality, and innovation. Taking the best of original kamado style cooking, Kamado Joe grills also provide the best of what modern grilling technologies can offer and the Big Joe is truly the pinnacle of their innovative approach.

Right off the bat, featuring the egg shape of its old-time prototype, the Big Joe is made of highly durable glazed ceramics. For added strength and longer lifespan of the whole unit, inside the shell is a multipanel firebox. Also made of ceramics, it features a six-piece design that prevents breakage. A double-thick fiberglass gasket in between the shell parts will ensure perfect seal while a strong latch will keep the base and the lid tightly closed. A lower intake vent and precise Kontrol Tower exhaust vent on the top allow accurately setting up optimal airflow for the best cooking results.

However, the biggest Kamado Joe breakthrough and their patented frill is the Divide and Conquer™ flexible cooking system that allows cooking different foods at different temperatures at the same time. With most other round cookers, to do the same, you’ll have to move your foods closer to or farther from the coals using different accessories and special grates. Meanwhile, the Divide and Conquer™ system offers multi-level cooking. The Big Joe comes complete with a multi-purpose stainless steel rack, two halved grates, and two ceramic heat deflectors. These accessories will let you create 2 cooking zones. In a low-temperature indirect zone over the heat diffuser, you can cook chicken, sausages, and burgers while a direct heat zone without a deflector is a nice place for juicy steaks. And you can cook those dishes at the same time.

Unlike snap-to-operate electric grills with adjustable thermostats, charcoal grills need a bit more fuss and skill. However, no electric or gas grill will provide an authentic woody and tangy flavor of foods cooked over the natural charcoal. And every extra effort you’ll take is worth it. If you want to start to charcoal grilling experience with a kamado style grill, which is easy to manage even for a beginner and that will stay with your for long, turn your eyes to the Vision Griller.

First things first, you’ll get a true kamado with a glazed ceramic body and enameled steel parts. Rugged steel legs with crossed stiffeners in between will securely support the unit while strong castors with locking mechanisms will make a heavy construction portable and keep it safely in place when needed. Two folding wooden shelves on the side provide added working surface for preparing foods and keeping towels, utensils or the necessary dishware within easy rich. A spring-loaded lid is easier to lift and close while a wooden handle will stay cool and eliminate the risk of burns when opening a hot lid.

Usually, one of the biggest issues for a novice kamado griller is to ignite the charcoal. Most other kamado-style grills leave this task for the user and it might appear a pretty tricky task since the use of lighter fluids is not recommended. In the Vision Griller, they solved this issue by equipping the cooker with a special ProZone™ starter port and an electric starter. Through a small door in front of the unit, you’ll be able to place the starter over the charcoal, plug it in, and in about 10 minutes, charcoal will be burning. A sliding ash drawer is also there to help you neatly remove the ash when cooking is complete.

Badly want a kamado cooker, yet, you don’t have a large yard, deck, patio, or terrace to accommodate one of those egg style grills replicating centuries-old kamados? Not only are modern kamados pretty expensive due to construction quality and technologies applied but also they are rather bulky and definitely need some extra space to be placed. This is where a mini kamado from Akorn will come into play.

The E06614 model is times more compact than full-scale kamado cookers that makes it suitable for any outdoor space, be it a small backyard, garden, patio or even a porch in front of your house. It is also a great choice for small countryside villas and cottages where you spend your family holidays and weekends. Due to mini dimensions (as for a kamado), the unit provides a moderate cooking surface of 153 sq.in. that is half the size of an average original kamado. However, it is enough to make 6 steaks or 8 burgers at a time and will fit for family use and small gatherings. What’s more, your steaks will be ready in about 3 minutes, hence, it is not a problem to cook several batches if you host a party.

Despite a smaller cooking surface, the Akorn E06614 is in no way inferior to traditional models in terms of cooking performance. Though not made of ceramics, it still delivers the outrageous flavor and taste of kamado cooked foods. To ensure the heat retention of pricey ceramic grills, the manufacturer applied its branded triple-walled technology combined with a porcelain coated interior. As a result, the unit can maintain cooking temperatures from 200°F to 700°F and offers a range of cooking options typical for a kamado, from grilling and roasting to smoking and slow cooking. The upper and lower dampers along with a thermometer are also included in the design to allow for easy and precise temperature control.

Are you an occasional griller with the hobbyist-level experience dreaming to upgrade your skills to a professional level? If so, the Kamado Joe will become a decent upgrade to your current grilling equipment and even if you’ve never practiced kamado style cooking, you’ll be amazed how easy it is with the right cooker at hand.

In contrast to ordinary charcoal grills mostly suitable for grilling steaks, burgers, and homemade sausages at high temperatures, the Classic II boasts multi-tier cooking system that makes a multi-functional cooking device suitable for searing, smoking, slow cooking, and baking as well. Yet, in Kamado Joe, they went even further since their patented Divide and Conquer grate system will let you cook at high, moderate, and low temperatures at the same time. Two halved grates can be installed on a rack at different levels while a ceramic deflector will dissipate the heat and ensure a lower cooking temperature where you need it. Thus, you can sear succulent steaks and grill veggies or bake pizzas simultaneously. Besides, you can use Classic II to smoke a whole chicken, large ham junks, pork ribs, a lamb leg, and more or slow cook mouth-melting stews and Asian style rice. Two handy dampers will let you control the cooking temperature by adjusting the air circulation inside the shell while the ceramic interior and an all-ceramic firebox will ideally maintain the heat.

As far as the unit design is concerned, Kamado Joe models stand out for durability and quality, and the Classic II is not an exception. The branded ceramic shell in bright red color will turn heads and withstand years of extensive use. Equipped with a wheeled cart, locking lid latch and handle, and foldable side tables, the grill is a breeze to move around and very convenient to use. As solidly built and dependable as it is, this model will become your faithful outdoor cooking assistant you’ll sign away to your kids and grandkids.

Original kamado cookers appear to be the most expensive grills on the market. And though a high price is fully justified by the quality, durability, versatility, and excellent cooking performance of the units, it is still a pretty big investment for many users and definitely won’t fit into a limited budget. Besides, one more weak point about premium ceramic kamados is their relative fragility. Though the likelihood of being tipped over is low, in case a heavy ceramic kamado falls, it will break. To cut down the final price and keep the benefits of ceramic grill cooking, Akorn has redesigned the authentic kamado concept and represented its Char-Griller E16620 kamado style cooker.

First off, what they did in Akorn to balance the price tag is swap traditional ceramics for a powder-coated steel shell. It allows not only to significantly reduce the unit cost but also to make it more lightweight and much more durable. You would claim that steel doesn’t stack up against ceramics in terms of heat retention, and it is true. Yet, to minimize the heat loss and ensure the heat retention and distribution typical for kamados, the Akorn E16620 features and insulated triple-walled construction with a porcelain lining from the inside. Besides, a cast iron cooking grate also better retains the heat for consistently even cooking results.

With this model, you’ll get 314 sq. in. of the cooking surface to match the grilling needs of an average family. Two dampers for convenient temperature control are also present, thus, expanding the Akorn functionality and turning it into a versatile cooker a kamado should be. By using the lower air intake vent and the top release damper, you can vary cooking temperatures from 200°F to 700°F to grill, roast, sear, smoke, slow cook, and more. And a built-in thermometer on the lid will display the current cooking temperature inside the unit. Kamado grilling is not an easy-to-grasp technique and needs some practicing. To help you out and taper off the guesswork, the unit comes complete with an illustrated guide displaying the proper bottom and top damper positions for different cooking techniques.