[Closed] Anyone got a Kamado

yes - bought a Monolith three years ago and it's ace. Ours is the smallish one - just big enough for a joint, a chicken etc. Does an all-day brisket on one load of charcoal for low temp cooking, or can happily roast quickly at 300 degrees. Did our christmas roast in it last year. FIt came with with a stand, various internal grids, heat stone, cover etc.

There's seemingly 101 different makes / variations on a theme.

EDIT - was approx £300 on a deal. Worth every penny, but it's wholly relative as to whether it's a worthwhile spend. Friend of ours has the big green egg proper, monster-size version. Ridiculously heavy, incredibly expensive to buy, and to fuel, but lovely to have all that cooking space.

Just got an Aldi one - not sure what I'm doing with it just yet - trying to get the hang of temperature control before I cook anything on it

Waited to long on the Aldi one - was going to hit the buy button yesterday- but I have never use one , or eaten food out of one - so it seemed a little like an indulgence

I have a Webber grill and a Roccbox would get a proper wood fired oven but don't have the space. looks like I could do most of what a wood fired oven would in a Kamado in the same space as the Webber. Was interested in any ones experience and how much it gets used.

I used to have one but it got out. Killed 3 cats and a chihuahua before they caught the bugger. I still miss ‘Kardashian’.

Sorry I meant the ceramic oven not a bloody big lizard lol

Yes, bought a large monolith two years ago, got it on a deal, still expensive but it's worth every penny.
Use it twice a week all year, and to cook the Xmas meal in it.
Really can’t recommend a kamado grill enough.

No giant lizards?

am disappoint

Should you be on facebook there is a group called 'Country Wood Smoke' a lot of Kamado Joe, Primo, Monolith and Aldi grill owners on there. I think I have yet to see anyone selling one as they don't like it, usually upgrading or adding to their collections. There's also a lot of useful information on there about cook methods, heat deflectors blah blah blah. Even though I BBQ at least once a week through the year I still haven't persuaded myself to buy one. If I was to, then the Broil king Keg is something I'd consider over a ceramic.

I've got weber gas/smoker and normal bbq then also a Roccbox, seriously considering chopping them all in for a Kamado Big Joe 3 .....

Been cooking on mine for around a year now, have. Kamado Joe Big Joe 3, best thing I've ever bought for cooking outside, use it probably every other week in rain or shine - get used to very early starts if you want to cook some pulled pork for the same day - never risked an over night cook!

Tips, get a Bluetooth meat probe, worth their weight in gold.
Find a good butcher! Aberdeen Angus is the best widely available beef I've found for long, slow cooks - dont use supermarket beef as it has most of the fat trimmed off.
If you're going to follow any of the US based youtube channels make sure you translate their names for cuts of meat - your butcher probably won't know what a Pork Butt is (shoulder), you may walk out with a pig's arse, which isnt quite the same.
I bought lots of books for learning to cook properly and have had some great results- you WILL make bad BBQ before you make good BBQ.
Make sure you come up to temp slowly - they hold heat well and are a really difficult to get back to low and slow temps if you've hit say 350F.
Buy disposable aluminium cooking trays to catch the drips, dirt cheap and work really well
Find good charcoal, big K is ok, don't use briquettes, you food will taste like poop. I use The Green Olive firewood Co.
Find someone who can give you wood for smoking. I have Cherry, apple, Oak and Beech drying out nively - enough to last for the rest of my cooking life!
Make sure you put enough charcoal in for the low and slow cooks, but, you'll be surprised how much you actually use.
I'm taking maybe 1.5 to 2kg of charcoal for a 14 hour cook.
Experiment with your rubs - make you own - brown sugar is your friend.

Lee W thanks that's great

mmcd I won't be parting with my Roccbox the dojoe thing for the big joe is a fortune.