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Kamado Joe vs. Weber Kettle (1 Viewer)

ATLarchip

ATLarchip

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Looking to buy my first grill (ever) and have it narrowed down to these two. Anybody have experience with these or a recommendation? If you could have only one grill, which one would you have and why?

Looking for a grill that can grill the usual hot dogs, burgers, steak, and can be a smoker as well. Leaning towards the Kamado but the thing holding me back is the small size of grilling area compared to the Weber (so harder to have direct and indirect cooking). Is this a big consideration? Thanks!
 
Kamado Joe has a heat deflector, no? Not sure if it’s included or an a la carte item, I’m pretty sure that’s how most people achieve indirect heat.

There are devices for a Weber Kettle that separate your heat zones as well, i.e. the Slow N Sear.

Honestly, ceramics vs regular kettle grills are different animals, hence the price difference. I don’t own a ceramic grill, so i can’t really speak on them. But you CAN do regular grilling + smoking with a basic Weber Kettle if you set it up correctly.
 
I love my Weber 26”. The larger grilling area is very useful.
I have done smoking as well using the snake method. I will probably get a slow and sear this summer.
The kamados are very popular, and I’m sure they are also great. There probably isn’t a bad choice to be made.
 
I use my Weber kettle all the time for different things and I love it. I think mine is standard size. There are so many forums and Facebook sites etc to get ideas from, plus they are cheap! I don’t know what the other one costs but you can’t really go wrong with a kettle for the money.
 
I had a Weber kettle for years and it did most things well. I made a lot of great ribs just using a simple indirect method with the coals on one side and the meat on the other. The upgraded grate with the hinged sides made it easy to add more charcoal and smoke wood. I got really good at tweaking the vents to keep the temp even for hours and did a number of 6+ hour cooks for stuff like prime rib and pulled pork. It probably takes more charcoal with a Weber to do long cooks like that than with a ceramic since it doesn't hold the heat in as well, but it can be done with good results.

Now I've got a Char-Griller side by side with gas and charcoal. It does ok for faster stuff like ribs, but it's nowhere near as good as the Weber was for the longer smokes like pulled pork. After a few hours the ash builds up to the point where it's really hard to keep the temp up. They make a side box for it for smoking that I need to get. I kind of wish I'd just kept the Weber kettle and bought a separate gas grill instead of the 2-in-1.
 
We use our Weber for a ton of stuff, including smoking our thanksgiving turkey.

I once dropped the lid, and it bent ever so slightly. Smoke leaked from the connection point between the lid and the base. We contacted Weber, and they shipped us a new lid, overnight - for free.

I'm a Weber customer for life now. Customer service like that doesn't exist anywhere else for such a cheap price.
 
I would strongly encourage you to look at the Vision Grill sold by Sam's Club in place of the Kamado Joe. The two grills that you are looking at are vastly different. If you are planning to do long smokes like the one I am doing for eight hours on a pork butt as we speak, the thickness of the ceramic in the kamado is going to suit you much better. If you are doing straight grilling with charcoal, I would think the Weber would be plenty. The thick ceramic of the Vision grill is necesary to maintain constant temps without fluctuation in low temps.

I am smoking at 220-250 on this pork butt and my outside temperature is 27 degrees. This type of smoke would be extremely difficult on the Weber, IMO.
Kamado.jpg
 
A friend had the Chargriller Akorn and it rusted out. We both found this and bought it and have been real happy. It weighs almost 200 lb so make sure to take a buddy to load it :). Also may want to consider a pellet smoker in the mix. If you go that route I would suggest Green Mountain Grills (GMG) or Camp Chef grills.
 
I've been researching the everliving poo out of these grills for months now and I've decided on the Kamado Big Joe. Per the thousands of forum posts, blogs, YouTube videos and articles I've read, the build quality is superior to the Big Green Egg and considerably better than the Vision Grill at Sam's Club and the Louisiana Grill kamado at Costco (both of which apparently have venting and hinge issues). Costco has a "road show" for the Kamado Joes and you can get the big 24" one for a couple hundred dollars less than you can get it everywhere else. Also it comes with some extra accessories. Another nice thing about the Kamado Joe is that there's a ton of accessories you can get for it that enthusiasts all rave about. They're apparently great for baking pizzas too. If you buy it from the Costco road shows, there's an insider's secret that if you go to the Costco right when they open on the Friday of the road show and ask to buy the demo model of the Big Joe that they set up for each show, they will give also give you the mini size portable Kamado Joe for free along with it (they do this at every show apparently, so only one person per week gets that deal).

That said, it's still quite a bit more money than the Vision/Louisiana grills that Sam's Club and Costco sell regularly. You can get the 24" Louisiana grill for $699 vs more than double that for the Kamado Big Joe, and people still get great results from the cheaper grills, they just have to mess with the venting sometimes and find ways to seal it better and toy with it to get it working to their expectations. As far as value goes, if you're looking to save some cash, I'd go with the Louisiana grill from Costco (which is supposedly the same manufacturer as the Vision from Sam's Club, but I think it just looks better).

Here's a link to the Costco Kamado Joe road show schedule. I'm waiting for the one to come here to San Jose next month to buy mine:
https://www.costco.com/kamado-joe-schedule.html

Looks like they will be at the Kennesaw, GA warehouse from 3/22-3/31. Might be worth the drive for you if you want a good deal on the Kamado Joe.

Here's a link to the cheaper Louisiana Grill kamado at Costco:
https://www.costco.com/Louisiana-Grills-24-Ceramic-Kamado-Charcoal-Grill.product.100459311.html
 
I've owned a few Kamados and several Webers. If I had to narrow it down to one grill I'd get the 26" Weber Kettle, buy a Slow n Sear (I love mine on my Weber Performer), and I'd be set. You can fit a ton of food on it, can smoke very well once you learn how, and is easy to use. Also a lot cheaper than most Kamados. Unless you are smoking for a very large crowd, it pretty much covers all the bases I need.
 
That Lousiana Grill has a good look to it and agreed that the build quality appears to be the same model as the Vision. The latch looks the same and the stand has a similar shape. The weight is within a pound. I will say that you should go try one out in person at the store. They have them on display. Open and close the lids, play with the top and bottom vent and see what you like. I'm not sure how one would complain about the manual top and bottom vent, unless they put too much fuel in. This pork butt that I have on right now sure does look good on the Vision though ;) 3 hours into the smoke.

Pork Butt.jpg
 
Another vote for Weber kettle with slow n sear attachment. We only really grill in the warmer months and I think this set up is the best value proposition.

If you grill in the cooler months and/or are going to be smoking a lot of meat you'll probably need something with more insulation and preferably more automation.
 
Yeah I’ve done a lot of research into this and have come to the same conclusions as you all. My budddy has a Kamado and he loves it. I was waiting on the Kamado Classic 3 to drop before deciding for sure. But a week ago I was all set on the Weber (because as you all said, it can grill and smoke and great customer service) but then the Kamado classic 3 released and now I’m unsure again. I’ve been waiting on the Costco roadshow and will check it out when it hits Kennesaw. Maybe seeing it in person will help me decide. :nailbite:
 
v1pe said:
Another vote for Weber kettle with slow n sear attachment. We only really grill in the warmer months and I think this set up is the best value proposition.

If you grill in the cooler months and/or are going to be smoking a lot of meat you'll probably need something with more insulation and preferably more automation.
Click to expand...
I made ribs last month in the middle of a snowstorm. Temp at about 10 degrees for most of the 5 hours. They still turned out incredible. Slow n Sear keeps the temps quite consistent, even in cold weather.
 
Chile85 said:
A friend had the Chargriller Akorn and it rusted out. We both found this and bought it and have been real happy. It weighs almost 200 lb so make sure to take a buddy to load it :). Also may want to consider a pellet smoker in the mix. If you go that route I would suggest Green Mountain Grills (GMG) or Camp Chef grills.
Click to expand...

I've been using an Akorn for about 5 years and while I haven't had any rust issues, this doesn't surprise me. But it's a decent enough entry level kamado and I would still recommend it for someone on a budget.

FWIW, when mine finally dies, I plan to replace it with a Weber kettle for hot cooking and a propane powered Smoke Vault for low and slow.
 
I use both my kettle and Weber smoker all year here in Michigan. I smoked wings and ribs in 10 degree weather. Wide open vents and lots of lump instead of briquette charcoal and it works fine. Maybe it takes a little longer but that is just an extra beer.
 
jja412 said:
I made ribs last month in the middle of a snowstorm. Temp at about 10 degrees for most of the 5 hours. They still turned out incredible. Slow n Sear keeps the temps quite consistent, even in cold weather.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. Is your grill covered? Unfortunately my grill is not.
 
ATLarchip said:
Looking to buy my first grill (ever) and have it narrowed down to these two. Anybody have experience with these or a recommendation? If you could have only one grill, which one would you have and why?

Looking for a grill that can grill the usual hot dogs, burgers, steak, and can be a smoker as well.
Click to expand...
So if you are getting your first grill ever and you will mostly be doing grilling and not smoking I would really suggest getting a Weber spirit.

Propane is so much easier you will use your grill much more often which is really the whole point. You can try smoking on it following the directions on amazingribs.com I have had friends who were really happy there results.

If you get really into smoking then getting a kettle is relatively cheap. You could always jump up to a wsm or a Komodo. I’m also a huge fan of the slow and sear in a kettle.

But for getting home from work and getting some food on the table I’ll always use my spirit before my performer.
 

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