Today, I’ll share Blaze Kamado Grill Review focusing on its mind-blowing features, pros, drawbacks with solution, brand history, and personal experience. So stick to this article to know the neutral discussion before pulling the trigger to buy your next smoker.
First, let me through my honest confession; Kamado-style grills may not be the best bet for everyone, but it will be the best match for those who appreciate high quality and durability in their smoker.
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It will be a perfect versatile workstation for high or low and slow heating. And it will perform admirably in all situations.
Blaze Cast Aluminum Kamado Grill Review
The grill offers you all types of searing, grilling, smoking meat, fish, or veggies. So you don’t need to buy multiple grills for tasting different dishes. The Blaze Kamado Grill is for cooking smoked short ribs to Chinese style lamb shanks. And it will sustain your children’s children’s children.
When you look at the Kamado grill, you will fall in love with its nice round shape and excellent silver color. Let’s break down all of its features.
- Used heavy-duty 304 stainless steel to make it durable
- The top cooking grate is 20″ in diameter to place two turkeys at a time
- The easy temperature control range is 200°f. to 750°f.
- Customize to use wood and charcoal fuel
- The unique tongue and groove design ensures an exceptional seal for no heat loss
- It offers you world class lifetime warranty inside and out
| Specifications | Parameters |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 27.87″ x 21.87″ x 33.87″ |
| Weight | 161 lbs |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Color | Silver |
Solid Build And Stylish Design
What can be your concern when choosing a grill rather than solid construction? Yes, here Kamado will first win the game. Its body, cooking grate, hinge, lid all are made from heavy-duty cast aluminum stainless steel. That means the aluminum material makes it strong enough to avoid breaking or cracking.
The round shape and silver color design make it look great. You can use charcoal, wood chips, or anything as fuel to ignite the fire. So you would love its versatility as you don’t need to overthink about its fuelling.
The grill grates have two hinges on both sides to add charcoal or wood to the grill without completely removing the cooking surface. It helps you to add fuel during cooking.
20″ Top And 18″ Mid Cooking Grates
It brings two separate grill grates to serve your purpose of direct and indirect cooking. The top grill grate is 20″ in diameter and made with ¼ inch thick cast iron.
So there is no chance of food contamination. Here, you can enjoy your favorite food without any health risks. The cooking area is enough to place large size briskets in it. That’s why you can handle a party having 10-15 people.
And the mid-level grate is 18″ in diameter to allow you to place your food closer to the fire. When you are in a hurry and need high heat to cook the food, you can use the mid-level grate rather than the top grate.
Simple Temperature Controlling System
No matter what types of cooker you use or what types of food you cook. Maintaining proper temperature is the thumb rule of getting nice-looking and tasting food.
Kamado offers you a steady temperature from 200°f. to 750°f. So you can cook slow heating recipes (smoke cheese, smoke vegetable, or burger) and high heating recipes (brisket, ribeye steak, chicken, ribs, etc.) with it.
It also has a large digital temperature showing gauge on its lid. And for your convenience, the gauge has separate markings for smoking, searing, and roasting.
As a result, you can set up the temperature as per the recipe. Even it helps to increase or decrease the temperature while needed.
Tongue-and-groove Sealing
The tongue-and-groove sealing helps to seal the lid with the grill tightly. So you can prevent heat escaping and get maximum heat for cooking your food. Because the heat will not get any space to leak.
The best thing is about the tongue-and-groove seal. You don’t need to replace it frequently. So indirectly it saves you repairing cost.
Feet For Stable Standing
You have to stand the grill steadily to concentrate on the cooking process and avoid any accidents. And here, the BLZ-20 comes with three feet which are made from cast aluminum stainless steel. As a result, you can stabilize the Kamado in your outdoor kitchen.
As the grill will be hot while cooking, you get heat retentive cooking gloves to handle the grill safely without hurting your hands.
Simple And Easy Cleaning
If I ask you what makes you frustrated after cooking? Most probably, your answer will be cleaning. Am I right? You can let me know by leaving a comment in the comment box. But most of the grillers’ answers will be this.
So you need a grill that will not be too messy while cooking. Because you know prevention is better than cure. It’s better to make the grill less dirty while cooking to enjoy easy cleaning.
There is a removable ash pan to the bottom of the grill to hold charcoal or wood ashes. So your cleaning will be effortless and less time-consuming. And only this feature can make a massive difference between the Blaze kamado and other grills.
Lifetime Warranty
When a company offers a lifetime warranty, you should understand how confident it is about its product. Blaze maintains the grill’s quality from every section and heavy-duty stainless steel for making (body, grate, lid, hinge, cap, and heat deflector) to provide you with the best products.
Kamado is not only a brand name; it is an alternative name of the trust and getting a high-quality grill to last long in your and your child’s lifetime.
Pros
- It will adjust the temperature easily to prevent overshooting or burning your foods
- Large enough interior space to smoke a large number of meats
- Excellent and unique round design to put it into your car to carry when traveling
- It has a fitted seal on its tongue-and-groove and no rubber gasket to prevent a quick breakdown
- A removable ash pan is handy for an easy and quick cleaning process
- The supporting grates studs are perfectly placed
- Worth your every buck by providing year-round service
A Few Drawbacks
It has a few drawbacks besides providing all those advantages. You know, naturally, there is nothing that offers you 100% benefits without drawbacks.
- The first disadvantage that I have noticed while cooking in the rain. It has no heat deflector for long cooks.
- The second one is that sometimes the temperature gauge will be foggy and take a few days of cooking to clear up.
- When I researched the grill to buy, I found some customers complained that the vent door might be larger and lower towards the bottom of the grill to allow easy cleaning and venting.
Also Read: Blaze Electric Grill Review
Solutions Of The Drawbacks
Where there is one problem, there are multiple solutions. Just, you have to understand them properly. It is not a good practice to fire under the rain. Because you know there will be heavy airflow when it rains.
So if you use the cooker in the rain, there is a high chance that it will spread and catch fire to the grill. So to avoid risk, you should not use the smoker in the rain.
You have to clean the smoker’s temperature gauge with a wet tissue or clean clothes periodically or monthly. It will not take more than two to three minutes. If you do this, the indicator will always remain clyster clear to show the temperature without hassle.
The Kamado makes the vent according to the proportion of the grill’s body. If the vent is more prominent, it will not attach to the grill perfectly. So you will not get exact heat for prolonged cooking.
And it will increase your cooking time. And if the vent is lower to the bottom, it will decrease interior space. So you can not get enough space to put your food on the grill.
As the drawbacks have solutions, they will not be a deal-breaker when you compare all the features.
Also Read: Blaze Rotisserie Kit Review
What Features Should Kamado Style Grill Have
Don’t you know what features the Kamado grill should have to fulfill your requirements and to present you with delicious food? Don’t worry, here I will cover all the points for your convenience.
Solid Build
There are five types of Kamado grills available in the market, and they are solidly built. Some are made from ceramic or enamel-coated stainless steel, and some are made from metal. The ceramic grills are a better choice, better option, and better deal to have a Kamado grill of your own.
Size and Shape
Choosing the size and shape of a grill depends on your preference. If you have a large group of friends and family, you need a larger grill, and a small grill is ok to feed 8-10 people. This is why Kamado brings large to small size grills.
But picking the medium-sized grill is the best option for you as you can use it for many occasions, from backyard bbq parties to home rain parties. And the round and oval-shaped kamado are very popular among users.
Interior Cooking Space
No matter how stylish and durable your grill is if you can’t get enough space to cook your food. But, amazingly, the Kamado grills have vast space to cook enough food for 10-12 hungry stomachs.
That means you can put 4-5 pieces of middle-size ribs easily in the grates. And the foods will not stick with the grates because they are made from high-quality stainless steel.
Wear And Rust-resistant
The ceramic coat makes the grill absolutely rust and water-resistant. As a result, you can use the grill irrespective of weather conditions from summer to winter. On top-notch, the grill will not get any scratches easily so it looks like a new grill for many days.
Temperature Controlling System
A precise temperature is key for cooking delicious food. So the easy temperature controlling system is another crucial factor of the Kamado grill.
You can increase or decrease the temperature by rounding the hinge wheel. And you can observe the inner temperature by following the lid’s temperature gauge.
Also Read: Blaze Pizza Stone Review
Must-have Blaze Kamado Grill Accessories
You must have some relevant grill accessories to deal with the grill while cooking efficiently. Suppose you are cooking and don’t have tongs to flip the food, no wood chips or charcoal to use as fuel, or no smoker box to keep the wood chunks to get smoky flavor into your food.
How will you feel then? You don’t have the motivation to start cooking. So here, let’s know three must-have accessories.
Grill Cover
The first thing that you need to protect your grill from being early damaged is the grill cover. By considering your need, Kamado brings a grill cover.
It is specially designed to fit your freestanding Blaze 20″ Kamado grill. It is also made from vinyl to make it water-resistant. So the cover can protect your grill from rain, dust, and dirt. In a word, the cover will add some years to your grill’s life.
Charcoal or Wood
Without fuel, it’s impossible to cook food. You have to use charcoal or any type of wood chips as fuel. Basically, it depends on you whether you use charcoal or wood chips to fire the grill. Both add different flavors to your food. If you cook a recipe that requires high heat and a long time, you can use charcoal.
On the other hand, if your recipe is smoke-prone or mushroom or cheese, you can use wood chips. It will add a smoky flavor to your food which doubles your taste.
Smoker Box
If you want to use wood chips or chunks, you have to attach a smoker box with the grill to keep the wood. Don’t worry if you don’t have a smoker box and don’t want to buy it right now. You can make your smoker box by using aluminum foil paper within 5-10 minutes. If you don’t know how to make a smoker box.
Oval-shaped Kamados Vs. Round Kamados
A good shape is always important when choosing a grill. So Kamado brings both oval and round-shaped grills to the market. You can pick what shapes you like the most. But there is some basic difference between them.
Some users have claimed that a round-shaped Kamado provides more even heat distribution than an oval smoker. Because the round grill has more reflected radiant heat.
When you use a round grill, your food will be evenly cooked and offer you well-cooked food. You can place a pan and six to seven brats at a time in the round Kamado.
On the other side, you can equally divide the oval-shaped smoker’s inner space. It will be convenient for you to cook two different types of food at a time.
What’s So Great About A Blaze Kamado Grill
The Blaze Kamado grill is fantastic because it can replace the high-end gas grill with an incredible smoker. If you have the Blaze, you can enjoy your smoked meats to baked foods within a limited time.
This smoker has excellent capacity for ensuring your low and slow smoking or cooking. In addition, it will create a superb uniform convection heat for searing to baking. Lastly, it is designed to sit on a table to fit your backyard.
Blaze Kamado Grill Vs. Kamado Joe Vs. Big Green Egg
You may have heard the name of Kamado Joe and Kamado Big Green Egg grill beside Blaze grill. But, which is the best among them?
The Blaze grill is one of the grills whose design is unique from any other kamado grill. The round shape design looks great and aluminum construction makes it durable to give you a lifetime guarantee. But the Kamado Joe or Big Green Egg will not offer you this guarantee for the grills.
The BLZ-20 is entirely rust-resistant. It is very lightweight and takes a few feet of space to put it in your car and carry it with you to any destination. In this case, the Joe and Green Egg are heavyweight and take more space when compared with Blaze.
It comes in multiple sizes for your convenience, and you can choose any size. But Kamado Joe comes in only two sizes. And the Big Green Egg will not give you the opportunity of online purchase.
History Of The Kamado Grill
The history of innovating the Kamado grill is very ancient. The Chinese first conveying the concept of the Kamado grill to the Japanese about 1700 years ago.
In 1974, a great American entrepreneur named Ed Fisher started a company to produce Kamado grill. The Fragile cement grill motivated him to build a grill from stainless steel to make it long-lasting.
The ceramic makes the grill maximum heat retentive besides increasing its lifespan. And by using modern technology, he was able to keep it lightweight to make it portable.
So if I make a short brief of the history of innovation of the grill, that will be; a good combination of excellent features, high quality, and more innovation. So the name Kamado became a trust to ensure you an outstanding grilling experience.
How Does A Kamado Grill Work
The Blaze Kamado grill offers you lifetime performance and memories. But before that, you have to know how the Kamado grill works to provide you with the best performance and be a part of enjoyable memories. However, it is a technical part; here, I describe things with ease for you.
The grill needs charcoal/woods to make a fire. Once you place the charcoal/woods into the grill and keep the lid open for proper air pass, it will catch and stabilize the fire.
Once your charcoal is glowing, you can go ahead and shut the lid to reach the exact temperature to preheat the grill according to your recipe. The temperature lid gauge will show you the inner temperature.
When it reaches preheat temperature, you can place the food on the grill. Now you can follow the recipe book to cook the food to get your preferred flavor. When you finish cooking, simply remove the fuel to put off the fire.
Then let the grill rest for some time to cool down. After that, clean the grill entirely and store it in your garage by covering it with a grill cover. That’s all.