The Best Kamado Grills of 2023

Years ago, I ditched my charcoal grill for an easier-to-use, more convenient gas grill. As a professional chef, I knew that charcoal grills create superior flavor, but I couldn’t be bothered to spend the time to ignite the coals and fiddle around with the vents.

Over the last few years, I’ve tested more than 30 gas, charcoal, and electric grills and smokers. None of them convinced me to buy a new grill until I started working with quality kamado grills.

Why Invest in a Kamado Grill?

While charcoal-fueled kamado grills are significantly more expensive than a regular charcoal grill, a ceramic cooker is totally worth it.

A kamado grill has thick, insulated ceramic sides that can retain heat more than a regular grill. You can use it to cook steaks or burgers over direct heat, or you can add a deflector plate and use it to smoke meat or cook a whole turkey.

Play around with the vents, and you’ll turn the kamado into an outdoor convection oven, allowing you to bake bread or make wood-fired pizza. Using one is slightly more complicated than a regular grill, but once you get the hang of using the vent system, you’ll find it’s almost as easy to use as a set-it-and-forget-it gas grill.

Additionally, kamado grills also have a reputation for being super durable. Many people say you should ask your grandkids what color they want because it will last that long! So if you’re tired of buying a new grill every few years, a kamado grill might be the way to go.

How Kamado Grills Work

While gas grills have a BTU—British Thermal Units—rating to measure the amount of heat each grill can produce, with a kamado grill, you get full control of how much heat your charcoal grill produces.

It takes a little practice to get the hang of it, but it’s all about controlling the airflow, the coal patterns, and the food’s proximity to the hot coals. You’ll learn to allow oxygen into your grill by opening up the bottom vents, fueling the coals and creating intense heat.

Close ‘em up to choke off the oxygen and lower the temps. The top vents give you some control of the heat, too, but they also change the flavor of the food by venting the hot exhaust or keeping the smoke inside the dome. You can also control the heat by managing your coal bed and rearranging the coal’s placement inside the grill.

Some kamado grills allow you to create a two-zone fire, but you may have to buy an additional accessory to do so. The firebox's oval shape doesn’t allow much room to separate the coals, so creating indirect heat is usually done by adding a deflector plate.

The other thing you’ll notice about kamado grills is that most of them have stainless steel grates as opposed to gas grill’s heavy cast-iron grates. Before you bemoan the loss of grill marks, know that they’re entirely overrated. Sure, they look great, but stainless steel grates give your food better overall browning, crusting your burgers and steaks with extra caramelized flavor. Plus, the stainless steel grates are lightweight and easier to clean.

How to Start a Kamado Grill

There are multiple ways to start a charcoal grill, but the easiest way takes advantage of the kamado’s insulated firebox. No matter how you start your charcoal, always avoid using lighter fluid or any easy-light lump charcoal soaked in lighter fluid. You can not only taste the lighter fluid in the food but it also seeps into the unglazed ceramic firebox, permanently contaminating the kamado grill with petrochemicals.

You could use a chimney starter like you would on a regular charcoal grill, but I find it’s easier to light the coals directly inside the firebox.

The vents on a kamado grill allow you to regulate the amount of airflow inside the unit, giving you absolute control of the grill’s temperature. That means you don’t really need to worry about how much charcoal to add at once, so go ahead and fill the firebox to the top line.

Once you’ve added your charcoal, bury one or two fire starter cubes in the pile. After 10 to 15 minutes, the coals around the cube will be red-hot and ready to go. Spread out the coals and close the lid. From here on out, you can use the vents to control the heat.

The trick is not letting the coals get too hot. It’s easier to increase the oxygen flow and heat up the coals, but it’s much harder to cool down the thick, ceramic walls.

For high-temperature searing (like cooking steaks and burgers), open the top and bottom vents as wide as they go. This allows maximum airflow into the grill, boosting the temperatures as high as 700°F.

For lower temperature cooking (like smoking a pork shoulder or cooking bone-in chicken), close the vents to reduce the amount of air allowed into the grill.

It only took us one or two sessions with the Big Green Egg to get the hang of this. Positioning the bottom vent halfway open seemed to achieve temperatures around 400°F, and reducing it to a half-inch maintained 275°F the entire time I smoked the pork shoulder.

Can you use regular charcoal on a kamado grill?

Almost every kamado grill manufacturer recommends using lump charcoal over charcoal briquettes. Many of them even sell expensive private-label charcoal. In our experience, briquettes may cost less, but lump charcoal is better suited for a kamado grill. It can reach higher temperatures and it tends to smell better as you cook it, too.

If you do want to use briquettes, read all the fine print to make sure it won’t void the warranty of your very expensive grill. As I mentioned earlier, you’ll definitely want to skip the instant-light varieties that contain lighter fluid.

Check out our comprehensive charcoal review to learn more than you ever wanted to know about these lumps and bricks. (Spoiler alert: Royal Oak Lump Charcoal is our favorite overall.)

What Makes a Kamado Grill Different?

Regular charcoal grills come in two shapes: round or oval kettle-style grills and barrel-shaped grills. They’re usually made from steel coated with porcelain-enamel or cast aluminum. Kamado-style grills are in a league of their own. They’re based on the clay and earthenware cooking pots that have been used for thousands of years in China, Japan, and India.

These ancient cooking methods evolved over time, finding their way into Japanese households as mushikamado rice cookers, charcoal-fired cooking devices with a damper and draft door to control the heat. Americans stationed in Japan during World War II brought these devices home, and entrepreneurs like Ed Fisher transformed the domed, clay cookers into the original kamado grill the Big Green Egg.

Over time, the clay was replaced with more durable porcelain glazes and ceramics, making them sturdy enough to last almost a lifetime. These grills function a lot like wood-fired ovens because the thick sides can absorb a ton of heat. They also tend to be more efficient with their use of charcoal and cook food more evenly than grills made with plated steel.

Keep in mind that, unlike regular charcoal grills, you’ll want to use a kamado grill with the lid closed—even if you’re cooking something like burgers.

Unrestricted air access can cause the coals to overheat and damage the ceramics. And, because the design is airtight, you’ll want to “burp” the grill before opening it to prevent fireballs (seriously).

It sounds scarier than it really is, but always open the lid slowly while standing to the side. It’s always a good idea to wear fire-resistant gloves with these grills.

Then, when you’re done, close the vents fully to cut off the airflow. It takes a while for the grill to cool down, but the coals will extinguish very quickly. Any excess coals will be preserved for the next time you grill. No waste here!

When it comes to price points, you’ll find that kamado grills are significantly more expensive than charcoal or gas grills. And many of them arrive barebones: grill only. If you want a side table or a stand, that’s extra. Adding these types of accessories can add up pretty quickly.

However, you'll see a return on your investment: more expensive kamado grills are built to last a long time with proper care and maintenance, and many of them have fantastic warranties.

It’s worth noting that, while the firebox and lid of a kamado grill are heavy-duty, their interior components are made from unglazed ceramic and are more fragile. If you’re taking a kamado grill apart for cleaning, be careful when working with the firebox and fire ring nestled inside the grill. Luckily, you can buy replacements if they chip or crack.

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