Testing kamado grills is an extreme experience for a griller. It needs playing with fire (actually) and heats, although in a managed, accountable method. The most essential aspect to kamado’s efficiency is warm, particularly temperature level control and exactly how well a grill holds to one temperature level. To smoke meat reduced and sluggish, that magic number is 225 F. Good cigarette smokers, kamados or otherwise, will certainly stay with this temperature for as lengthy as 12, 15 or 20 hours. This indicates the temperature level scale is essential therefore is the capability to regulate air flow by means of air vents or dampers.
We check the interior temperature level of the kamado grills as they go.
To capture temperature level information, we placed a thermocouple on each kamado grill. Essentially a delicate temperature level sensing unit constructed from a probe and a linked cable, the thermocouple hangs put on hold simply 1 inch over the grill grate. It’s attached to an information logger and inevitably a computer system that tape-records modifications in warm degrees gradually.
Enlarge Image
Then it’s time to terminate up each grill.
We attempt to run temperature level examinations on all the grills concurrently. We additionally make use of the very same weight and brand name of lump charcoal (4.4 pounds or 2 kg), often from the same bag. That’s true of fire starters, too (one per grill).
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 F. 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 F) 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 F).
Burgers, anyone?
Want more options? Here are the other two kamado grill models we evaluated for this test group. They didn’t make it into my picks, but you may want to take a look for comparison’s sake:
Watch this: Testing gas grills at the CNET Smart Home
