Char-Griller® AKORN® Kamado Charcoal Grill and Smoker with Cast Iron Grates, Warming Rack and Locking Lid with 445 Cooking Square Inches in Graphite, Model E16620

Bigger than i expected, easy to assemble, quality seems good and its about 1/4 the cost of a green egg

I'm really satisfied with this grill. I bought it really cheap compare to ceramic grills. It has a big diameter (more food on the grill). Grill came packed really well and assembly was easy. It's perfect just for making easy steaks, Bratwurst or smoking ribs, pulled pork. Just recommend to buy pizza stone (heat deflector) for indirect grilling/smoking. And cover if you have it outside

Having used this for four years now, I can easily give this five stars. I use it several times a week summer and winter. There's several qualifiers though. I have three smokers and a gas grill and I've smoking and grilling foods for almost 50 years. The acorn requires some experience though because it can get very hot. That works for some things but with a little monitoring and some accessories the temp is very controllable. Two essential accessories are ; the smoking stone, and pitmaster 101 control unit. Alton Brown uses this in his Weber and they have a model for the acorn. With this and stone you can do controlled smoke down to 150. Is very efficient at burning charcoal. I use a good lump charcoal and I keep the ash pan at least half full so it can hold coals. I haven't smoked a brisket yet but have done pork shoulders. Try ring of fire method. There's plenty of YouTube videos on that. I get great bark. Sometimes I use a water pan under grate. As for high heat, I've never seen anything better. Thirty years ago a friend had a Korean komodo and it worked great. I considered a green egg but couldn't justify the cost. Getting it very hot is easy. I butterfly chickens and at about six hundred degrees I out them on we have juicy chicken with crispy skin. Also steaks at six hundred degrees cook fantastic. I have several pics on Pinterest if you want to see. I have done tomahawk steaks too. I put large chunk of whatever hardwood I want to use and I get great smoke penetration. I've done turkeys too. If there's a drawback it's limited surface area but I have other grills to use as well. But so far the acorn has been enough. With the savings you could get a gas flattop to compliment it. I'll be using my acorn today to grill some salmon. So far this has exceeded my expectations. But it's not start and ignore. Oh also I use a Bluetooth temp gauge as the one mounted has limitations and once I have everything going I can monitor remotely. I'll update this again but I would buy another one. May 2023. I just posted a picture of what I am using my acorn Komodo to cook. I have a pork shoulder, brined pork belly for bacon and a few country style ribs that I'm smoking with hickory. Paired with pitmaster 101 controller works fantastic. I have seen that char broil has a new egg that incorporates a controller. If looking to buy a new one I'd definitely check that out. I've used this a long time. I use it all year, even during winter and it's cold here. It always works great! In addition to smoking I use this to cook chicken. I split the chicken into halves and when the egg is about 450-500 I put it on. Everyone says this is the best chicken they've had. Crispy skin, and very juicy. In six years it has made fantastic meals. I can buy at least 3 of these for price of Green egg. Or this plus a flattop grill. So check it out. Oh also if the grill gets cruddy just open the lower vent and top vent and it'll burn everything off. Next day I just brush the dust off and use Canola spray to re- season the grill. The smoke stone is vital to operation. I use the accessory grill that's provided also. An excellent value. Makes superior smoked turkey also. My kids won't let me cook turkey in oven anymore.

Muy buena parrilla 👌🏻 para cocinar tus cortes a la perfección la recomiendo al 100%

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.

The grill works great. However I only realized that the side tray connecting arm was bent when I completed installation. Does not affect the grill itself, but the side tray cannot be opened flat because of the bent arm.