Grill Reviews

Kamado and ceramic grills: thick walls, small vents, and the diameter that matters

A kamado is a thick ceramic egg with a charcoal fire at the bottom and a grate above it. The ceramic holds heat and moisture like nothing made of steel, which is why one grill can smoke at 225 °F on Saturday and bake pizza at 700 on Sunday, and why it weighs what it does.

What the category is

An egg-shaped grill of glazed ceramic, or occasionally insulated steel, with a charcoal fire in the base, a heat deflector for indirect cooking, and a top vent and bottom vent that between them set the temperature. The mass of the walls means the temperature moves slowly in both directions: hard to overshoot, slow to recover. Kamados come in a few standard diameters and a great many prices.

How to read the spec sheet

Cooking diameter in inches is the first figure: 13 inches is a portable, 18 is the common family size, 22 to 24 is the large. A kamado’s grate is round, so a 24-inch grate holds far more than an 18 — the area goes up with the square.

Ceramic thickness, where stated, is the heat-holding specification; steel-bodied kamados quote insulation instead. A review should note when the sheet gives neither.

Temperature range: most quote something like 200 to 750 °F. The bottom of the range is the smoking claim and the top is the pizza claim, and both depend on the vents and the gasket more than on the ceramic.

Gasket and hinge: a felt gasket burns out and a fibreglass or wire-mesh one lasts; a spring-assisted hinge is what makes a 200-pound lid liftable. The sheet names both on the better models.

Included parts: a heat deflector, a second-tier grate, a cart or stand and side shelves are either in the box or sold separately, and a review should say which, because the deflector is not optional for smoking.

Weight: 150 to 250 pounds for a family kamado. It moves on its cart and nowhere else, and the number is on the sheet.

Who it suits

Someone who wants one grill that smokes, roasts, bakes and sears, has a fixed place for it, and cooks with charcoal by choice. A kamado rewards patience with the vents and punishes hurry.

Who should skip it

Anyone who wants to light a grill and cook in ten minutes: a gas grill does that and a kamado does not. Anyone who needs to move the grill, or who cooks mostly hot and fast for a crowd, is better served by a charcoal kettle with more grate for the money.

Where to start

Four of the 6 kamado & ceramic grills reviewed on this site, one per model, across manufacturers. Every review is written from the manufacturer’s published specifications — how, and what that leaves out.

All 6 kamado & ceramic grill reviews

Newest first. Consumables, accessories and parts that were once filed here are excluded.