Kamado grills

Completely agree with Ronelle about their versatility. I love my bsk and my KJ jr. Very good all around cookers.

I love my medium BGE, and use it all the time. I've never used another Kamado so I've no basis for comparison. By brother-in-law likes his Kamado Joe, and I can confirm that it produces good grub. He doesn't seem to have any more trouble operating it than I do my Egg.

The medium was a gift. If I were purchasing my own, I'd probably go after a large because now I have more patio space and I'd like a little more grill space.

Love kamado grills! Have a large BGE, XL BGE, KJ Jr. and should have a MiniMax BGE before the end of the week. Had a Vision Classic M series but did not care for the cooking clearance room between the grate to the interior lid and the quality was quite a bit less in comparison to a BGE or a KJ, but so was the price, ended up selling it.

Primo Oval XL and a BGE-Mini here and my son has the Vision. All my friends and fam have the L and XL BGE. Every one of them says they wish their's was Oval. But they like green and are loyal eggheads. All three of these cookers are quality pieces of equipment. The Primo XL Oval in stainless cart will run you around $22-2700. The medium egg in nest are now available in Sam's Clubs and Sam's online. Vision is available pretty much everywhere. Vision cookers usually have a big sale end of season. I paid $199 a couple years ago for a Vision at Sam's.

Extremely happy with my Primo XL. Chose it for the oval and ability to split the firebox. I'll also agree that any of the quality ceramics are a great choice. Even my Akorn (made of metal instead of ceramic) turns out great cooks. Biggest thing for me was to trust the probes, close the lid, and don't peek until the food is done.

My opinion:

I would not buy any "kamado" from a big box store. I would stick with Green Egg, Kamado Joe, Primo, etc. Kamado Joe is just as Good as Green Egg and it's cheaper.

After owning a Kamado Joe for 2 years, I give kamados a thumbs down.

Negatives:
They can weigh hundreds of pounds and cost thousands. They are not mobile. They are fragile. They are a "Jack of all trades, master of none". Due to the heat source coming from the bottom, you're going to have issues with food being dry on the bottom on long cooks, the "deflector plate" does not help much. There's not much room on the cooking surface. You can only use lump charcoal and a lot of the bags of lump are mostly small bits that you cant use in the kamado because it will choke it out (frustrating). You can't add charcoal or manually stoke the fire once you put the food on.

Positives:
Highly insulated in case you live in Maine and want to cook in December. And they can hold a pretty steady temp with very little babysitting.

It's my opinion that a Weber Kettle puts out better food than my Kamado Joe did, lighter, mobile, and it's more versitile, at 1/10th the price.

That said, the Kamado will put way better food than your Masterbuilt ever has. It will be night and day difference. Your worst food on a Kamado will be better than your best food on your Masterbuilt.

I think bang for your buck it's hard to beat the Kamado Joe. All top end ceramics, BGE, KJ and Primo are fantastic, but the deal in in the KJ is a price point winner, had one since they first came out, excellent cooker.

Once you add in the accessories to the BGE the Kamado Joe is a better deal. Build quality is almost identical. The oval shape of the Primo is very nice but it comes at a pretty decent premium to the KJ. Regardless of brand though, they are quite a bit more versatile than the Masterbuilt. I don't know what else you have to know if that's important to you. I bought mine to have something to use during the winter here in CT. My Rectec keeps up fine in cold weather but it has to work harder to do it. I also wanted to play around with charcoal.

To be honest, when my oldest daughter buys a house I'll probably give her the KJ. Not that it doesn't do a great job but just because in my case I don't really need it. Between the gasser, pizza oven and Rectec I'm covered. If I didn't have all those though I'd be more than happy to keep it.

Rockinar said:

My opinion:

I would not buy any "kamado" from a big box store. I would stick with Green Egg, Kamado Joe, Primo, etc. Kamado Joe is just as Good as Green Egg and it's cheaper.

After owning a Kamado Joe for 2 years, I give kamados a thumbs down.

Negatives:
They can weigh hundreds of pounds and cost thousands. They are not mobile. They are fragile. They are a "Jack of all trades, master of none". Due to the heat source coming from the bottom, you're going to have issues with food being dry on the bottom on long cooks, the "deflector plate" does not help much. There's not much room on the cooking surface. You can only use lump charcoal and a lot of the bags of lump are mostly small bits that you cant use in the kamado. You can't add charcoal or manually stoke the fire once you put the food on.

Positives:
Highly insulated in case you live in Maine and want to cook in December. And they can hold a pretty steady temp with very little babysitting.

It's my opinion that a Weber Kettle puts out better food than my Kamado Joe did, and it's more versitile, at 1/10th the price. You can grill, roast, slow smoke and rotisserie.

That said, the Kamado will put way better food than your Masterbuilt ever has.

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I find the exact opposite. Food nice and moist, with or without the deflector. Have done low/slow 10-12lb briskests and never once had to consider refuelling - still had lump left over. Would recommend a quality lump that has good size pieces.

Nice sear on steaks, very good pizza. Meatloaf, lasagna.

My only complaint can never get chicken skin crispy enough for the Mrs.

For shopping around see if your local Costco is hosting a Kamado Joe road show.

Mikeincalgary said:

I find the exact opposite. Food nice and moist, with or without the deflector. Have done low/slow 10-12lb briskests and never once had to consider refuelling - still had lump left over. Would recommend a quality lump that has good size pieces.

Nice sear on steaks, very good pizza. Meatloaf, lasagna.

My only complaint can never get chicken skin crispy enough for the Mrs.

For shopping around see if your local Costco is hosting a Kamado Joe road show.

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Strange. The only thing my family liked about my Joe is that it would do crispy skin. Set my BBQ Guru to 400 and perfect crispy skin every time.

I love my kamado puts out great food easy to operate rock solid on temp and uses very little charcoal and is not affected by weather never have to refuel during a cook. the ceramic cookers are heavy and tend to cost a lot. they may not be for everyone but it's the most used cooker I have just because of how easy it is to use.

Mikeincalgary said:

My only complaint can never get chicken skin crispy enough for the Mrs.

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I am not sure what size kamado you have, but using BGE for size reference a large BGE with a small Vortex or a XL BGE with a large Vortex will get you consistent crispy chicken every time.

Vortex - www.OwensBBQ.com/vortex.html
If you are on Facebook check out a group "Vortex - Kettle and Kamado Grills" that is just shy of 600 Vortex owners - www.facebook.com/groups/1039201796130256

I had a medium BGE but sold it 2 weeks ago. it was great but severely limiting on cook space with a 15" cooking surface. Long cooks (8+ hours) on the medium I would have to add more coals. Not a huge deal but it became a pain in the butt taking it all apart to add fuel. And be careful with super high temps because it can (and most likely will) eventually crack the firebox.

On the other hand, it cooks everything and heat management was super easy. BGE has an amazing warranty. Keep your receipt and register it and you're covered if (when) the firebox cracks. Last but not least, go bigger than what you think you want. The large BGE is 18". think of an 18" Weber kettle... I think the XL BGE is 22".

Good luck with your decision! Lots of experience here on kamados to pull from.

geoff7877 said:

I had a medium BGE but sold it 2 weeks ago. it was great but severely limiting on cook space with a 15" cooking surface. Long cooks (8+ hours) on the medium I would have to add more coals. Not a huge deal but it became a pain in the butt taking it all apart to add fuel. And be careful with super high temps because it can (and most likely will) eventually crack the firebox.

On the other hand, it cooks everything and heat management was super easy. BGE has an amazing warranty. Keep your receipt and register it and you're covered if (when) the firebox cracks. Last but not least, go bigger than what you think you want. The large BGE is 18". think of an 18" Weber kettle... I think the XL BGE is 22".

Good luck with your decision! Lots of experience here on kamados to pull from.

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I can pull 20 hours on my small egg... How were you getting only 8 on your medium? My xl can run for 30+ on a load at 250.


I love my eggs. Very versatile and set and forget. The 24" XL is probably the best outdoor cooker for most people. It's long lasting, easy to maintain and can handle a huge variety of tasks. In 95% of the cases the green egg is a better cooker than people using it are cooks. It's an outdoor oven, smoker and grill. Learn to use it and you will do incredible things. Don't believe me? Go to one good Eggfest and sample the food.

I am in the market for one as well. So far I am leaning toward a large BGE and a Rig setup from ceramic grill store. I like the Kamado Joe as well, but I wonder when and where the people who say it is cheaper bought theirs. It seems Kamado Joe prices have jumped sharply and they are no longer trying to beat the egg on price.

The Joe comes with a cart and shelves I don't want, and yes, if you compare their default setup with a similar kit from BGE, it costs a bit less from KJ. If you want to drop it in a table and outfit it with a third party rack system, the BGE is cheaper based on the prices I am getting, and I like the accessories from CGS better. The crazy thing with KJ is you can get a standalone unit without the cart, but costs even more (?)

I have a kamado Joe and love it. If you keep your eyes peeled you can get them for a great price too. Saw the Kamado Joe Classic fully loaded at my local BBQ specialty store last summer for $699 and the same package deal at Costco during 3 day event for $849!

m-fine said:

I am in the market for one as well. So far I am leaning toward a large BGE and a Rig setup from ceramic grill store. I like the Kamado Joe as well, but I wonder when and where the people who say it is cheaper bought theirs. It seems Kamado Joe prices have jumped sharply and they are no longer trying to beat the egg on price.

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My Classic Joe was $800. Exact same Egg setup at the store I bought from was $1100 from what I remember.

This was probably 3 years ago. Maybe Joe has raised their prices?