The benefits of a kamado BBQ

On this page you'll find what sets a kamado apart from a kettle BBQ, gas BBQ, pellet BBQ, plancha and offset smoker, so you can make a well-considered choice.

For a complete picture of what a kamado actually is, also read What is a kamado BBQ?

The main benefits of a kamado

What makes a kamado so different from other barbecues? The answer lies in the combination of material, shape and airflow. Below are the eight advantages that make the biggest difference in practice.

• 8 cooking techniques in 1 kamado BBQ: grilling, smoking, baking, low & slow, pizza, wok cooking and more
• Exceptional temperature stability: the thick ceramic holds the heat, even in wind or rain
• Efficient charcoal consumption: thanks to the insulating ceramic you use up to 50% less charcoal than on a metal kettle BBQ
• Suitable for low & slow and for high temperatures: from 90 °C for pulled pork to 400 °C for pizza and steaks
• Perfect heat distribution through convection heat: heat circulates evenly around the food
• More tender results: the controlled airflow keeps more moisture in the meat
• More comfortable than a metal kettle BBQ: fewer temperature swings, more control, less stress
• Proper BBQ flavour: that hint of charcoal smoke does wonders for taste and aroma

The benefits you only notice after a season

The advantages above appear in every brochure. There is a second category you only notice once the appliance has stood in your garden for a year, and that is what ultimately decides how often you use it.

You keep cooking through the winter. A barbecue you put away in October goes unused for five months. A kamado stays outside all year and works just as well at five degrees as it does in July, because the ceramic barely notices the outside temperature.

Leftover charcoal carries over. Close both sliders when you are done and the fire goes out, leaving the unburnt charcoal where it is. You start the next session with a half-full basket. On an open barbecue everything burns until it is gone.

There is little to clean up. The ash collects at the bottom and comes out with an ash scoop now and then. You do not have to wash the ceramic: at the next high-temperature session any leftover fat burns off by itself.

Nothing rusts. That does not save you maintenance, but it does save the slow decline steel appliances show after three or four seasons. The metal parts do need attention, and The drawbacks of a kamado BBQ is honest about that.

Where these properties come from technically is worked out in How does a kamado BBQ work? and What makes ceramic cooking different?.

Kamado vs. other barbecues: the comparison

A lot of people pick a barbecue without really comparing. Below we put the kamado next to five popular alternatives, the kettle BBQ (such as Weber), the gas BBQ, the pellet BBQ, the plancha and the offset smoker, on the criteria that genuinely matter in practice.

The kamado wins on versatility, temperature stability and lifespan. A gas BBQ or plancha wins on convenience and speed. An offset smoker wins on pure smoke flavour, but demands far more knowledge and attention. Which type suits you best depends on what you want to cook and how much time you want to put in.

Experience from the field

From what we see across more than 6,000 Grill Bill kamados, people switching from a gas or kettle BBQ to a kamado are most surprised by two things: how little charcoal a kamado burns, and how juicy the meat stays thanks to the controlled humidity inside. Those are not marketing claims, that is what customers consistently tell us.

Kamado vs. kettle BBQ (Weber): the details

The kettle BBQ has been the standard for decades, and not without reason. Weber makes reliable, well-documented barbecues with a huge ecosystem of recipes and accessories. Even so, there are real differences with a kamado.

The biggest one: heat retention. Steel cools down fast when you open the lid or the wind picks up. On a kamado almost nothing changes, because the ceramic acts as a thermal buffer. In practice that means less adjusting, less fuel and more consistent results. For low & slow cooks like pulled pork or brisket the difference is enormous: on one full basket of hard charcoal a kamado holds a steady 110 °C for up to 24 hours without you having to touch the airflow.

Kamado vs. gas BBQ: convenience vs. flavour

A gas BBQ wins on one point: ease of use. Turn the knob, preheat for two minutes and you are cooking. For weeknights, quick sausages or a simple meal that is appealing. But a gas BBQ has one fundamental drawback: there is no smoke flavour. Gas burns clean, so the characteristic barbecue taste is missing. A gas BBQ also rarely reaches the extreme temperatures a kamado hits for baking pizza or high-heat searing.

Kamado vs. pellet BBQ: automatic vs. hands-on

A pellet BBQ is an excellent machine if you want to smoke and cook low & slow automatically without much attention. The digital temperature control does the adjusting for you. The downside: a pellet BBQ needs mains power, and pellets cost more than charcoal. On top of that, pellet BBQs struggle to reach the high temperatures above 300 °C that a kamado manages effortlessly. On versatility the pellet BBQ loses to a kamado.

Kamado vs. plancha: direct heat vs. all-round versatility

A plancha, a flat cast iron or steel griddle plate, is ideal for vegetables, fish, shellfish and thin cuts of meat. Its even conducted heat behaves differently from the radiant heat of a grill. But a plancha is fundamentally a one-dimensional appliance: you cannot smoke on it, cannot cook low & slow and cannot create a closed cooking environment. As a companion to a kamado a plancha is interesting, as a replacement it falls short.

Kamado vs. offset smoker: hobbyist vs. purist

An offset smoker is the BBQ purist's tool. The smoke chamber sits beside the fire, so the meat cooks indirectly and slowly in a continuous stream of smoke. The results can be impressive, but it demands plenty of knowledge, hours of attention and a constant supply of wood. A kamado does the same job with a fraction of the effort and fuel. For most home cooks, including the serious ones, a kamado strikes the better balance between result and time invested. Want to know more about smoking techniques on a kamado? There are more of them than people expect.

Is a kamado suitable for beginners too?

Yes, and the reason is exactly that stability. A kamado forgives mistakes better than a kettle BBQ or offset smoker, because the ceramic damps out temperature swings. Open the airflow slightly too far and the effect arrives more slowly than on a steel barbecue. That gives you more time to correct.

The learning curve is not in operating the barbecue itself, but in understanding airflow and heat zones. Once that clicks, and most beginners get there within two or three sessions, a whole range of possibilities opens up. Want to start with practical tips? Read the beginner's guide to buying a kamado or browse all kamado user tips.

Where to read on

If you want to know where these benefits come from technically, How does a kamado BBQ work? explains the airflow and the heat buffer, with the depth on convection in What makes ceramic cooking different?. For the other side of the story, The drawbacks of a kamado BBQ belongs alongside it: that one is honest about heat-up time, weight and price.

If you are facing the purchase, size mostly determines what you can do comfortably later on, and that is in Which size kamado should I buy?. The complete trade-off is in the buying guide, and which fuel suits it in Which charcoal suits your kamado best?.