The Grill

 

UPDATE (12/21/11): You might want to read THIS first.)

I use a Kamado.  The Kamado pictured here is both the size and color of the one I own — I’m too lazy to go out on the back deck and take a picture of it, so I just ripped this one from Kamado.com, which also happens to be the place you can buy one of these behemoths.  For those who have never seen a grill like this (e.g. the Big Green Egg is very similar), the Kamado is a big, heavy clay cooker.  You can use a Kamado to either barbecue at very low temperatures for a very long time, or extremely high temperatures, almost like a kiln. And of course, you can just use it to make hot dogs or burgers, just like any other grill.  This piece of equipment changed my entire outlook on barbecue, and if you’re using something you picked up at Home Depot with a propane tank attached to it, I’d highly recommend considering something like this instead.

There are three things you should know about a Kamado.

First, it’s a lot easier to use than it looks: There’s a vent at the bottom that lets air in, and a damper at the top that lets the air out, and you regulate the temperature by allowing for either more or less air flow. This is incredibly efficient, which means you can easily cook for 10 to 20 hours on a single pile of lump charcoal.

Second, using a Kamado or a Green Egg means ‘good bye’ to burnt or dried out food. Because you can regulate the temperature and air flow so precisely, you don’t get flare ups or grease fires that might inappropriately char your food. And because your food is surrounded by hundreds of pounds of clay, the moisture stays inside the cooker, and so it’s a lot easier to keep your food from drying out during the cooking process.  Not saying it’s impossible….I made a terribly dry leg of lamb once ….  just saying it’s easier.

Third, and most important, while I absolutely recommend this Kamado cooker to anyone, please be warned that Kamado has the most  laughably slow and unresponsive customer service of any company I’ve ever dealt with.  This isn’t like dealing with an ordinary company, and it can be incredibly frustrating.  Again, I think you should buy a Kamado.  But just get ready.  You’ll pay for it, they’ll say it should take a few weeks, and (not kidding) a year might go by.  My advice is to buy a Kamado over the phone, and promptly convince yourself that it never happened.  Then, in 10 months when the thing finally arrives, you’ll be pleasantly surprised rather than pissed off and bitter. There ya go …You’ve been warned…. I sure wish someone had warned me.

(When my Kamado continued to not show up after months after I paid for it, I went onto their Web site to complain in their forum, only to have dozens of loyal Kamado users laugh at me for my ignorance, and they didn’t offer me a lick of sympathy.  One person wrote, ‘good things come to those who wait,’ and he was right.)

Here’s my Kamado in action:

Update: Did Kamado fix it’s shipping woes?

For instructions on how to use a Kamado, click here.

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