Related: Best Kamado Grill for Beginners: Forgiving First Ceramics
I've cooked on six kamados in five years, cracked a firebox, froze an egg shut, and turned a ~$1249 brisket into a charcoal briquette because I couldn't choke the temp back down. Here's what I'd tell a beginner to buy.
The Akorn is the best kamado for a beginner, because it's cheap enough to learn on and it'll hold temperature well enough to teach you the basics. But it's not a lifetime grill. The Kamado Joe Classic II is the one you should buy if you know you're in this for the long haul.
Kamado Joe Classic II
Air hinge, Divide & Conquer system, real ceramic heat retention
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Char-Griller AKORN Kamado Charcoal Grill & Smoker
Looking for great searing, smoking, & superior low & slow cooking? Look no further than the Char-Griller AKORN Kamado charcoal grill, slate. With features like an easy dump ash pan & Dual adjustable d
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Big Green Egg XL Cast Iron Fire Grate
Legendary durability, dealer support, fifteen-year owners
Visit on Amazon →Char-Griller® AKORN® Kamado Charcoal Grill and Smoker with Cast Iron Grates, ...
The Kamado Joe Classic II includes new innovation, featuring a thick-walled, heat-resistant shell that locks in smoke and moisture at any temperature. Smoke at 225F with precise temperature contro usi
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I'm Big Hank. Eighteen years of competition barbecue, six years of kamado ownership, two briskets a week out of my shop in the Midwest. I've got a Kamado Joe Classic II I bought for ~$749 on Black Friday and a beat-up Akorn that's my backup when I cook for a crowd. My dog Biscuit sleeps on the porch next to the Big Joe during overnight cooks. He's learned to ignore the smell of burning lump.
I don't get free grills. I buy them, I break them, and I tell you what happened.
The short version
If you're new to kamados and you're not sure you'll use it every week, buy the Akorn. It's ~$249, it'll teach you heat soak and vent control, and when you crack the firebox in three years, you'll know exactly what you want in your next grill.
If you've cooked on a friend's egg and you're hooked, skip the beginner step and buy the Kamado Joe Classic II.
It's the best all-around kamado I've tested for the money.
Design and build
The Akorn is a steel-bodied kamado with a ceramic liner. It weighs about 80 pounds, which means you can move it around your patio without calling for backup. The Kamado Joe Classic II is a full ceramic grill that weighs 185 pounds.
It's got a cart with wheels that work fine on concrete, but the whole thing wobbles if you try to roll it across grass.
I've nearly dumped a ~$90 brisket twice because I got lazy and tried to wheel it over the lawn.
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The Big Green Egg Large is the heaviest of the bunch at 162 pounds for just the ceramic body. You're paying ~$1,099 for the grill alone, and it doesn't come with a nest or a stand. That's another ~$300 if you want it off the ground. My buddy Ray has had his Egg for fifteen years and only replaced the gasket twice. That's real durability. But the price of entry is a kick in the teeth.
The Vision Grills Pro S-series sits at ~$499, which puts it right between the Akorn and the serious ceramic grills. It comes with a cast iron grate, which is a nice touch at that price point. But the ceramic is thinner than the Kamado Joe or the Egg, and the paint starts peeling after a couple of seasons in the weather.
It holds heat worse than the bigger names, too. I've seen reports of it eating through a bag of lump in three hours on a low-and-slow cook.
That's not a kamado. That's a charcoal pit with a ceramic liner.
Performance and temperature control
Here's the thing about kamados. They hold temperature through heat soak. You light the lump, you overshoot your target temp by 50 degrees, you let the ceramic absorb the heat, and then you choke it down to 225 and it sits there for eight hours. The learning curve is real. My first brisket was a hockey puck because I kept chasing the temp and fighting the vents every fifteen minutes.
The Akorn will hold 250 degrees for six hours if you don't open the dome. That's a solid start. My buddy Ray has an Akorn he uses for tailgating, and he's done pork shoulders that came out juicy and tender.
But it won't hold heat like ceramic. On a cold Minnesota night, you'll burn through more lump keeping it at temp.
The firebox liner is cheap, and I've seen it crack within a year of regular use. I replaced mine twice before I gave up and bought the Big Joe.
The Kamado Joe Classic II holds 225 degrees through anything. I've cooked through a thunderstorm, a blizzard, and a ninety-degree Georgia afternoon where the dome temp crept up to 275 and I had to choke it down. The air hinge is the real deal. No more holding the dome with one hand while you flip a steak with the other. That's worth the price of admission alone.
The Big Green Egg holds temperature just as well as the Kamado Joe. It's thicker ceramic, and it's been doing this for fifty years. But the felt gasket is a known weak point. It peels off after a couple of years, and you're looking at a ~$40 replacement.
Ray's had his Egg for fifteen years, and he's replaced the gasket twice. That's not a design flaw, it's just a maintenance item.
But the Kamado Joe's gasket peeled off after a year of heavy use for me, and that's faster than it should be.
Durability and warranty
This is where the real price of a kamado shows up. Ceramic cracks. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. I cracked my firebox on a cold rain hit after a hot cook. That was a ~$300 mistake, and I learned to warm the grill up slow from then on.
The Kamado Joe Classic II comes with a lifetime warranty on the ceramic parts, including the firebox. I've heard stories of people getting replacements shipped without a fight. That's the kind of support you want when you're dropping ~$800 on a grill.
The Big Green Egg has the same lifetime warranty on the ceramic, and the dealer network is real. You can walk into a store and get a replacement firebox the same day. That's worth something.
The Akorn has a five-year warranty on the steel body, but the firebox liner is only covered for one year. That's the catch. The firebox is the part that cracks. When mine gave out at eighteen months, I was on the hook for ~$60. That's not a dealbreaker at ~$249, but it's part of the math.
The Vision Grills has a two-year warranty, which is shorter than the competition. And based on what I've seen of the paint peeling and the firebox issues, you might need it.
The accessories game
Here's where the Big Green Egg loses points with me. The grill itself is $1,099, and then you need a nest ($300), a deflector ($80), and a cast iron grate ($150) to make it usable. That's another ~$530 on top of an already expensive grill.
The Kamado Joe Classic II comes with the Divide & Conquer system in the box, which includes a half-rack and a deflector.
That's a functional difference, not just a price complaint.
The Akorn comes with a simple grate and a deflector stone. It's enough to get started. You'll want a charcoal basket eventually, and the Kick Ash basket fits both the Akorn and the Classic Joe. That's the single best accessory I've bought. It keeps the airflow clean and makes ash cleanout a five-minute job instead of a vacuum session.
For a beginner, here's what I'd buy first: a good digital thermometer, the Kick Ash basket, and a Looftlighter. Skip the temperature controller until you've done a few overnight cooks by hand. You need to understand how the vents work before you let a computer do it for you.
Should you buy a kamado as a beginner?
Yes, but buy the right one. If you're not sure you'll use it every week, get the Akorn. It's ~$249, it'll teach you the fundamentals, and when it wears out in three or four years, you'll know exactly what you want. If you know you're hooked, go straight to the Kamado Joe Classic II. It's the best value in ceramic kamados, and it'll outlive your kids.
Skip the Big Green Egg unless you've got money to burn and you want the dealer support. Skip the Vision Grills unless you find it on sale for under ~$400 and you're okay with replacing it in five years. And skip anything that's a metal knockoff with a ceramic liner and no brand name behind it. That's not a kamado. That's a charcoal pit with a fancy lid.
What I'm testing next
I've got a new temperature controller that claims to hold 225 through a thunderstorm. I'm also still trying to crack the chicken skin problem on the kamado. My theory is it's about drying the skin before it hits the heat, but I'm not there yet. I'll update this when I've got something worth saying.