Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is my first Kamado style cooker. I wish I had bought one years ago. Kamado Kooker works much better as a smoker that my old off set fire box Texas style smoker. We love smoking meats. I was first attracted to the Big Green Egg, but the $1,000 cost with stand was a bit much for me. I bought this Char-Grill Kamado grill smoker for $340 with stand and delivered. Very easy to assemble. Parts all fit well. It took about 40 minutes and the only tool you need is a 7/16" nut driver. I first heated it up to season the grills and then cooked hamburgers at 600 degrees. It takes some time to get used to heat control. The key is keep it low and slowly increase. It is very easy to raise temp, but slow to reduce. I next tried ribs and chicken in smoke mode on plate setter. I also bought the dual temp remote reading thermometer. This was great and I highly recommend. I am not sure you can hold temp at 200 degrees for a long time. I am trying smoking turkey today and I will start low. I also bought the automatic fire box controller and I will see how it works. So far I love the Char-Griller Kamado. I am not sure what else the BGE offers for $1,000. I suspect the bottom vent seal on BGE is tighter to provide better temp control at low temps. I also suspect the thick ceramic shell on BGE will provide better temperature control as a heat sink.I also suspect the BGE has an almost unlimited life span versus probably 10 or 15 years for the metal Char-Griller. I may need to add some high temp sealant on the lower vent. The ash removal is much easier on the Char-Griller versus the BGE where you have to scrape out the ashes. So far, I am extremely satisified. Best griller and smoker I have owned. I have now smoked a 14 lb turkey since my last posting. The Char-Griller Kamado worked very well. I put in 2 layers of hardwood charcoal and used a single Weber fire starter on top. I cooked for over 4 hours at about 250 degrees using indirect smoking with plate setter. Kooker held temperature extremely well. I never opened the lid until the meat thermometer reached 165 degrees in breast. We used a drip pan filled with water under the turkey rack. This was the most moist turkey we ever cooked. We always brine soak the turkey for over 18 hours also. I never added any charcoal during the entire cook and when I opened the Kooker after it was cold, most of the original hardwoodcharcoal was still unburned on the fire grate. It looks like the amount of hardwood charcoal used will be about 25% of the briquetts I used on my old offset Texas style smoker. I was initially concerned with the higher cost of the hardwood charcoal, but I am now convinced with the lower usage, my cost as compared to charcoal briquetts will be lower. I doubt you could ever maintain 200 degrees for a long period without adding additional heat sealing on lower vent. I am able to maintain about 225 degrees for a long period with no adjustments. I have now used my Char-Grill Kamato at least 15 times since my original review. I remain very satisified with the units performance and overall results. We cooked a Pizza on a Pizza disk with plate setter installed this weekend and brought the temp up to 600 degress and the results were excellent. I have now added a strip of 1"X1/8" Nomex self sticking tape to back of the lower air vent slide and this greatly improves temp control at low temps in the 200 degree range. I also found water (from moisture condensate)collected in the lower ash pan even thought the Kamaodo was sealed and covered. This water comes from the moisture laden air as the moisture condenses in the unit as the moisture laden air is cooled. I simply drilled a 1/4" hole in both the outer and inner shell and this allows any moisture to drain. I do not believe the small hole will impact amount of air entering the unit. I do not understand why Char-Griller does not add gasket sealer to the lower air vent slide and add a petcock type drain to ash pan. I purchased a lower vent temp automated electric air controller for about $150 and I am not satisfied with the unit at all. It was a waste of money. The Kamado can control temp for long periods with almost no adjustments. I can recommend the Char-Griller Kamado to anyone who does not want to spend $1,000 for a BGE. I am not sure I could ever justify this added cost beyond $340 for the Char-Griller. I am sure the BGE will last for ever and the Char-Griller will eventually begin rusting out. I have now sold my Texas style offset smoker and moth balled my propane grill. This is the only unit I use now and it so easy to start the lump hardwood charcoal and be cooking in 20 minutes and the food is much moister.