Testing kamado grills is an intense experience for a griller. It requires playing with fire (literally) and high temperatures, although in a controlled, responsible way. The most critical element to kamado’s performance is heat, specifically temperature control and how well a grill holds to one temperature. To smoke meat low and slow, that magic number is 225℉. Good smokers, kamados or otherwise, will stick to this temp for as long as 12, 15 or 20 hours. This means the temperature gauge is key and so is the ability to control airflow via air vents or dampers.
We monitor the internal temperature of the kamado grills as they go.
To capture temperature data, we put a thermocouple on each kamado grill. Essentially a sensitive temperature sensor made of a probe and a connected wire, the thermocouple hangs suspended just 1 inch above the grill grate. It’s connected to a data logger and ultimately a computer that records changes in heat levels over time.
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Then it’s time to fire up each grill.
We try to run temperature tests on all the grills simultaneously. We also use the same weight and brand of lump charcoal (4.4 pounds or 2 kg), often from the same bag. That’s true of fire starters, too (one per grill).
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A stable heat level is key to good performance for a kamado smoker.
After that, we light them up, as instructed by their manuals if available. Usually, that means letting the coals catch for 15 minutes, with the lid open, then shutting the grill. At this point, vents remain wide open until the grill comes within 50 degrees of the target temp. We carefully fiddle with the vents to get there. Lastly, we let go of the controls and observe.
We follow the same procedure for our higher-temperature test with a target of 350℉. The idea here is to simulate the heat performance required to roast chicken and other poultry.
We smoke ribs along with other food for anecdotal tests.
And speaking of food, we perform lots of “anecdotal tests” too. We smoke a rack of baby back ribs (225℉) in each grill. We butterfly (aka spatchcock) chickens and roast them, too, or cook them beer can-style. Sourced from the local Costco, these weigh roughly 5 pounds each. Last, we grill a set of four 8-ounce burger patties at high heat (600℉).
Chicken, anyone?
