With an ash rake kamado you take care of maintenance in a few strokes: you scrape the ash out from the bottom of your Grill Bill without keeping your hands near the fire. You also use it to give hot coals or firelighters a nudge when your fire still needs to catch. A simple tool that you'll reach for more often during every session than you'd expect beforehand.
What you use an ash rake kamado for
A kamado runs on charcoal, and charcoal leaves ash behind. That ash sinks to the bottom and will eventually clog your air supply. Once your bottom vent stops getting air, you can't get your temperature up and your fire keeps smouldering while you actually want to grill. With the rake you pull that ash forward and out, so the air inlet lies clear again.
- Also scrapes caked-on ash loose from the bottom
- Keeps the bottom air inlet open, so you can control your temperature again
- Moves glowing coals without you having to touch them
- One size for your whole line-up of kamados, from 13 to 23.5 inch
- Long handle, so you stay out of the heat
Getting the fire to catch evenly
The second job is the fire itself. If you've just lit up and the coals are catching unevenly, you use the rake to nudge the burning pieces towards the cold ones. That way the fire spreads through evenly instead of leaving a hotspot on one side and cold charcoal on the other.
Rake, drawer or scoop
These three don't do the same job and complement each other. The rake is for scraping and prodding and reaches everywhere, in between and along the edges. You pull the ash drawer out from the bottom of the kamado by the handle, tip it out and slide it back in. With the ash scoop you lift the ash out in portions. Most people start with the rake, simply because without it you can't properly reach the bottom.
For what else fits your size, have a look at the kamado accessories.
