Ceramic BBQ Grills.. Green Egg, Primo, Kamoda Joe.. Grill Dome.. Which do you have?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
rodog123

rodog123

0
Nov 13, 2013
311
Pearland, TX
Ok I'm currently researching ceramic grills and prices. Let me know your thoughts/prefferences and ideas...Here is what I have so far. Prices collected from the Houston area.

Green Egg - great market share and name recognition. Seems they get you with all the attachments and add ons. Ceramic thickness smaller compared with the rest of ceramic cookers Large $799 Medium $699

Primo - looks great, Made in the USA! heavy well built has all the attachements not included with the big green egg, heat deflectors, added grill grate. price for large $999. Ceramic thickness thicker than Green Egg, worried about spring hinge in Primo and Green egg seems it would wear out over time and need replacement.

Kamoda Joe - Large $949 Has the thickest ceramic out of all Green Egg and Primo, hinge is well built and heavy duty although replcement would seem very difficult if replacement was needed.

I could not find anyone in the Houston area that sells Grill Domes. I wonder if the outside gets hot or not since they are not ceramic.

Which do you have? and why do you love it so much?
 
I have a Broil King Keg...insulated steel instead of ceramic. Looks like they've raised the price on them since I bought mine, so rather than being a few hundred less they are about the same price. The ceramics will get quite hot; the steel less so. It won't instantly burn a toddler, which is a plus if you have kids or have them around. It also doesn't weigh 500 pounds, and I can kick it over without it shattering.

I would get the "large" at minimum. My BKK is that size and I often wish it was larger...can't fit a whole brisket without bending it, can't fit more than a couple racks of ribs without getting creative, only fits 3 pork butts (and they have to touch each other :( )

Also, don't buy the branded accessories; they are far overpriced. If you roam around on some BBQ forums (bbq-brethren.com is my favorite) you can see how others have done the same thing for far less money.
 
I love my Primo XL.

Here's why I bought it over the BGE
Made in USA
Oval shape holds lots-o-meat
split grills let's you tend the fire easier

Here's why I love it after using it for 18 months
Holds lots-o-meat
holds a temp at 225 for 20+ hours without ever opening it or reloading
It is fool proof, I've only had fire go out one time

Since then I bought the CyberQ Wifi and now I can control grill temp and 3 meat temps from anywhere on the web!

It does weigh some ridiculous amount, maybe 500lbs or maybe only 490. :) But, I don't think you could kick it over on purpose. My experience is that it doesn't get that hot, especially on a low and slow smoke. No issue with the hinge.

My brother has one of the metal smokers egg shaped and seems happy with it so far. I haven't sampled any products yet, but will be visiting soon for some samples.

I think the bottom line is that they all work pretty well once you get your technique figured out.
 
Well, kicking is an exaggeration, but lots of people have busted the eggs while pushing them around on the little carts that BGE sells for them.

Do you ever really use the split grills? I can imagine some scenarios where I might, but it seems like more a gimmick.
 
Yes, definitely the opportunity to drop it and break it exists. Yes, the split grill is great for stoking up a hot fire and searing steaks. You can poke the coals around and make a hot side and cool side. Pretty handy. Not needed for a low and slow cook.
 
I have used many different ways the split/multi-tiered racks.

20150314_192432-M.jpg


20150404_190948-M.jpg


(deflector plates out of grill on right)
20150405_174836-M.jpg


20150405_174957-M.jpg


20150404_181623-M.jpg
 
From what I remember reading over on the bbq forum, the vision is well-regarded, as is the cheaper Char-griller Akorn (may have a different name now) that home depot/lowes sell. They all seem to perform pretty well. I haven't looked back over there in a while, so I don't know if reliability issues, etc. have come up.
 
I'm and Egg guy. Can't say it's any better than the other ceramic cookers out there, since it's the only one I've owned. It is a fantastic grill and and a good smoker. Since it's so efficient, like other ceramic cookers, it can be a challenge to get a lot of smoke on your food. Some of the family favorites are brisket, pork ribs, boneless beef short ribs, smoked chicken and turkey. Once and a while, I'll run it wide open 700+ degrees and make pizzas.

It holds the temp well and can maintain 220-250 for 20+ hours. (depends a bit on the charcoal too)

Like other posts, I too have an ATC (Automatic Temp Controller), the Stoker. With which I can monitor and change temps from anywhere. I wrote a web application a few years ago to accompany the Stoker. https://code.google.com/p/stoker-web/.

Forgot to mention that I live not far from Egg headquarters and it's very handy to exchange warranty parts. Went there last month and they replaced my cracked firebox, no questions asked. Fantastic!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Who needs ceramic? I've got a weber smokey mountain cooker that I'd put up against any of them. Makes fantastic pulled pork, baby backs, brisket, chicken, etc. With a full load of charcoal, I can dial it in for a 16hr cook low and slow at 225 using nothing more than the bottom air vents. This thing is amazingly easy to use.

I'm convinced just about any smoker will work, once you've figured it out.
 
Yeah, I think so! All you need is time, lump, wood, fire, smoke and meat and something to put it all in.

Although, I did try an electric, mini-fridge size, smoker a few times and that thing was messy and didn't hold enough wood. It didn't last long around here!
 
I have several, a Weber Smoky Mountain, a couple of Weber Kettles, a Weber Gasser circa 1991 (runs like a champ), a Smoky Joe and my Komodo Kamado (pictured below). Prior to moving into our new place (1.5 years ago) I did a lot of grilling and smoking (thus my name), the backyard in the new house was un-finished so I hated going out there to grill or smoke, can't wait for our current pool build to be done so I can enjoy being outside smoking and grilling again.

 
Those Komodo Kamados are super fancy! I love them. Especially blue ones with meat inside! How come there isn't any smoke coming out of the top of that? :-D
 
I've got a Vision pro and love it. All ceramic and can withstand the Hi temp pizza cooks and does very good on the low n slow cooks also.
 
pooldv said:
Those Komodo Kamados are super fancy! I love them. Especially blue ones with meat inside! How come there isn't any smoke coming out of the top of that? :-D
Click to expand...

Actually I think that was the day she was delivered. She's had plenty of cooks put through her now. Love the versatility I've smoked cheese very very low and done steaks approaching 1,000 degrees and everything in between.

About 40 lbs of pulled pork


Some baby backs just sauced


One of my favorites
 
rodog123 said:
Ok I'm currently researching ceramic grills and prices. Let me know your thoughts/prefferences and ideas...Here is what I have so far. Prices collected from the Houston area.

Green Egg - great market share and name recognition. Seems they get you with all the attachments and add ons. Ceramic thickness smaller compared with the rest of ceramic cookers Large $799 Medium $699

Primo - looks great, Made in the USA! heavy well built has all the attachements not included with the big green egg, heat deflectors, added grill grate. price for large $999. Ceramic thickness thicker than Green Egg, worried about spring hinge in Primo and Green egg seems it would wear out over time and need replacement.

Kamoda Joe - Large $949 Has the thickest ceramic out of all Green Egg and Primo, hinge is well built and heavy duty although replcement would seem very difficult if replacement was needed.

I could not find anyone in the Houston area that sells Grill Domes. I wonder if the outside gets hot or not since they are not ceramic.

Which do you have? and why do you love it so much?
Click to expand...
Forgot to include my thoughts on your original question. Prior to purchasing my Komodo Kamado I researched in detail ceramic grills/smokers. Prior my introduction to Komodo Kamado I had decided to go with Primo for many of the reasons others have listed. I liked the shape, the ability to easily setup different zones, the fact that at the time it came with several accessories vs. the Eggssories seemed to be separate. I was sold on Primo and then Komodo Kamado entered my radar and I was sold. It's an amazing cooker, over engineered, thick ceramic (550 lbs) something like 100 lbs of stainless steel goes into her and the tile work is amazing. Far more than I wanted to spend, but once she was delivered and I did my first cook on her any potential regrets were gone. Can't wait to see how she looks with the blue tile around my pool and raised planters.

That said, I'm sure I would have been happy with the Primo as well. In all fairness I have friends who are Egg-heads and they love them as well. Bottomline, I don't think you can go wrong with any of these. Also, if you're looking to get started in smoking I highly recommend a Weber Smoky Mountian (WSM), that's what I started on and I still own one. Amazing smokers for the price AND all the concepts you learn in terms of temp control etc. will transfer over to a ceramic. I've churned out some fantastic Q on a WSM.
 
I have a Primo XL and am constantly amazed at how well the food turns out. I can get it to 225 and not have to touch it for 15 hours while I smoke a Boston Butt for pulled pork, or easily do direct/indirect at the same time for burgers and chicken. I hear nothing but good things about all of the Kamado grills, but I think that the Primo is great.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply