Summer doesn’t start until the grill comes out. Almost every family has memories of grilling outside during the summer. Pool parties, cold desserts, and grilled foods are an essential part of the American summer. Almost every family has some sort of grill, or several, waiting for the first few days of summer to hit.
Unfortunately, grilling isn’t always as easy as other families and TV makes it look. Grills come with various struggles, such as charred food, uneven cooking temperatures, and even trying to figure out how to start the grill.
The Kamado Joe grill will save you from many of these problems. With a ceramic shell and oval design, there’s consistent heat throughout the grill and during the entire cooking process. You also don’t have to worry about your food drying out as fast, as the ceramic coating helps to keep your chicken nice and juicy. Keep reading to learn more about Kamado Joe grills and why you may want one for your next cookout.
10 Things to Know About Kamado Joe Grills
Considering getting a Kamado Joe grill? Here are 10 things that you’ll want to know about your grill before you make the final purchase.
1. Kamado Grills Are a Type of Grill
While Kamado Joe is a brand name, a kamado is also a type of grill. They come traditionally from places like Japan, India, and China, and have recently been modernized to fit perfectly in your backyard.
These grills have porcelain or ceramic coatings instead of the traditional clay to help them last for decades. The Big Green Egg is another brand of grill that has a similar kamado design.
2. Kamado Joe Grills Work Like Wood-Fired Ovens
The enclosed, ceramic-covered grills work a lot like wood-fired ovens. The shell of the grill absorbs a lot of heat to regulate the temperature throughout the whole grill. The ceramic also slowly lets out heat. This means the grill stays the same temperature longer, and that foods are evenly cooked.
3. Kamado Joe Grills Work For a Wide Range of Foods
Your Kamado Joe grill doesn’t have to be only for outdoor BBQs. Since it’s easy to control moisture levels and the temperature in your grill, it’s also the perfect device for smoking, baking, roasting, and searing. If you’re tired of your house heating up whenever your kids need a meal, a Kamado Joe grill might be just what you’ve been looking for.
4. Kamado Joe Grills Are Easy to Clean
Some grills are such a pain to clean that you’re hesitant to use them even when summer rolls around. Thankfully, that isn’t a problem with the Kamado Joe grill. The basic rack scrubbing works the same. All you need is a wire brush and some arm strength.
It’s removing ash where the Kamado Joe grill shines. There’s a simple slide-out drawer that you pull out and dump to keep everything clean.
5. It Takes Some Time For Your Grill to Heat Up
Don’t expect your Kamado Joe grill to be ready to go right after you turn it on. Because the sides need time to absorb the heat and come to a stable temperature, you need to wait between 20 and 40 minutes after lighting the grill to start cooking.
6. It’s Hard to Buy Kamado Joe Grills Online
Though you can find Kamado Joe grills online, the company heavily recommends that you buy them in person. This is because Kamado grills are fairly fragile.
They can handle a lot of heat but are pretty quick to shatter when shipped out and not treated with care. Even excessive packaging doesn’t protect the fragile shells much. When you buy the grill from a store, they’re better able to help you set it up and you know the grill is in one piece.
7. There are Different Sizes to Choose From
Kamado Joe grills don’t come in only one size. They offer a few different options to fit your needs, between 18” and 24” in diameter for the standard grills. They also offer a mini grill, which is perfect when you don’t have a lot of space.
8. Kamado Joe Upgrades Their Grills to Fit the Times
There are a few different types of Kamado grills. There’s one that is connected via an app. This is great for grillers who enjoy having all the latest technology. Checking the temperature, and humidity, and even lighting your grill with the push of a button is a great tool for some cooks.
Even the non-connected grills offer new features and upgrades for every generation. Controlling the humidity is one of the issues that comes with grills, and where griddles usually win out. The kamado-style allows grills to keep humidity levels most grills can’t offer.
