Charcoal Kamado

A Brief History of Kamado Grills

Whether you’re a BBQ enthusiast or a total beginner there is something that just feels right about cooking on a ceramic kamado grill. This type of cooking device has been around in some form or another for thousands of years. Some say that cooking on a kamado grill connects us with our distant roots.

Kamado Grilling History

Kamado style cooking vessels up to 3000 years old have been found in China, and like much Chinese technology and culture it made it’s way into Japan where it came to be known as a Mushikamado – basically a steaming cook stove, from musu – to steam. The traditional kind can still be found in Japan today looking like the image pictured to the right. It’s mainly used for cooking rice.

Look at this post we recently found on Instagram of rice cooking on a kamado grill!

Kamado cooking made it’s way back to the US from Japan following WWII when many soldiers returned home bringing many exotic and unique goods with them. During the 1970s Kamado grills began to began arriving in from Japan thanks to an importer in Atlanta, Georgia. After making some improvements, such as changing from clay to ceramic, the Big Green Egg was born.

Kamado Grilling Today

For many years the Big Green Egg dominated the field, but other manufacturers began making their own improvements and today this match of traditional and modern technologies has resulted in a range of excellent, high-quality kamado style grills.

Some of the most popular kamados on the market today are made by Primo, Kamado Joe, the previously mentioned Big Green Egg, not to mention the exclusive Ambiance Kamado 25 Charcoal Grill. They are mostly made from ceramic and generally have a very similar design.

Pros & Cons of Kamado Grilling

Once you taste food cooked on a kamado grill you’ll find it very difficult to go back! The flavour and juiciness must be tasted to be believed. Precise control of the air flow allows great temperature control and the design makes for a very even heating. If you’ve ever cooked a pizza on a propane grill you’ll definitely notice a difference on a kamado grill.

Some people may find the size restrictive if cooking for large groups. We recommend the larger larger kamados such as the Primo XL that offer a very large cooking surface. Do not be intimidated by the learning curve, it will take a few tries to get the hang of controlling the heat properly using the top and bottom vents – but once you do you’re sure to find it’s pretty intuitive and rewarding!

Our customers Love the Primo Kamado Grill

At Friendly Fires we love kamado grills, we have cooked on them for years and tried almost every kind available. Although the other big names certainly have their merit, and we do carry replacement parts for many of them, the only line of kamado grills we carry is the Primo Ceramic Grill.

These grills are made in the USA and have limited lifetime warranty on all ceramic parts. Our customers have told us over and over how durable and easy to use they are.

As we mentioned above, Primo has beat the cooking area problem by introducing the Oval JR, Oval LG, and Oval XL grills with cooking areas of 210 sq in. 300 sq in. and massive 400 sq in. respectively. A wide range of accessories are also available such as firebox dividers – which allow dual zone cooking, heat deflectors – for indirect heat cooking, drip racks, secondary cooking grills, and more!

On top of all that Primo has created Primo University, a great collection of how-to videos and recipes to give you endless ideas on what and how to cook on your kamado grill.