AKORN Charcoal Grill

UPDATE --- After almost a year of use... This is hands down the best grill I've ever had. I's say it's the best purchase I've ever made period, but I'm sure I'd be leaving out something really important like a house or a vacation to Australia or an engagement ring or something. But when it comes to food and cooking... forget about it. This thing is awesome. Here's why... everything you cook on it comes out good. Literally it seems impossible to mess-up. Get the grill too hot, the food just gets done quicker, but it still rocks. Dont' add enough coals and it's not warm enough... just give it more time or add coals right mid-cook... no problem... it comes out right. It's also very spacious; room for tons of food when you're cooking a week's worth in advance or having a few people over. I just love it. Some people say the Big Green one is better. I can't imagine how it could be. It's also held up very well in my harsh salt-water environment. So far it's pretty much like-new, or it would be if I'd clean it real good. ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW ---> It's been four days since the Big Red Egg arrived. Possibly the best four days of my life? That might be an exaggeration but hey, that's how this grill makes me feel. Obviously I love it. My real concern when buying a grill online was that I would be displeased with either the quality of construction and/or materials and/or that the cooking area would be too small. Neither is the case. The construction is top quality and the cooking area is huge. Everything I read in the other reviews here pretty much turned out to be true. It cooks fast if you want it to, slow if that's what you want. I haven't had any trouble keeping a low temp as long as I start with a very small pile of charcoal, like maybe what would fit in the bottom half of a 2-liter drink bottle. More than that and it does get tough to stay below 300F. In four days I've smoked mullet, cooked two london broils, done some amazing chicken breasts in record time, and slow cooked a Boston Butt. Oh, and I also used it to season a cast iron skillet... why I've never done that on the grill I'll never know. It was much nicer than filling the house with smoke and the skillet seams seasoned better than ever. Maybe because I was able to recoat it with oil a couple of times during the process. The warming rack is awesome and the main cooking area is huge (20" diameter). I took the advice of another review and purchased the wireless thermometer which shows both the grill temp and the meat temp. That was nice. I used it for making some of the best baked potatos ever (forgot to list them above) 222 degrees for a great baked potato. I'm going to order the pizza stone and I'll try to remember to come back and update as more time passes. Assembly was easy and took about an hour. I bought the red one and it looks great. The metal side shelves are sturdy and the wheels seem sturdy as well. So far, I couldn't be happier. Regarding the title... I know you probably thought YOU were the Grill Master... sorry. Maybe before, but now that I have my Big Red Egg, I'm unstoppable.

I am still learning as I go but I really enjoy cooking with it and the food is yummy. First a few minor complaints - The device they give you to lift the center grill doesn't work well at all. It hardly fits between the grates and needs two hooks to be useful. Also, the removable center section of the grate used to add more coals can easily drop through the opening and down into the coals. This happened the first time I used it and it was difficult to retrieve without burning the skin off your hand. I eventually resorted to long handle pliers to get it out. Now for the plus side - It was relatively easy to assemble and fortunately not nearly as heavy as a BGE or other ceramic lined cookers. I was able to set it up myself on the patio without help from others. It has a porcelain lining and appears to be insulated with some fiber like rock wool between the liner and the outer wall. It does say not to exceed 700F which is hot enough to cook just about anything including pizza and steaks. You can also maintain a steady temp of 200-250F which works well for smoking and slow cooking. I have to admit I was a little skeptical about this purchase since similar grills are 2-3 times more expensive but I am very happy with my purchase. Hopefully it lasts a long time. One last note - You are not supposed to use lighter fluid or self lighting charcoal, in fact they specifically recommend using only lump charcoal. If you want a low temp fire for smoking then you just want to light the top coals. Otherwise I use a chimney and get them all going at once. The first time I wanted to use it as a smoker I didn't have any of the recommended starters so I used my propane torch I have around for the occasional plumbing task. It works fantastic and takes about a minute to get the top sufficiently burning. If you decide to go this route just be sure to purchase a torch that will burn when inverted such as the BernzOmatic TS4000. Update after two years of use: This grill is fantastic and holding up extremely well. I purchased their cover and always cover it after use. I also purchased their indirect stone and a pizza stone from Emil Henry. Just be careful when starting the fire not to overshoot your desired temperature as it takes a while to bring the temp back down. Also, use Royal Oak hardwood lump charcoal (sold at Home Depot). I tried a bargain brand from BJ's and hated it. It looked the similar but seemed to have a much higher moisture content. As a result, it didn't light near as easily and sparked a lot when starting up. Happy grilling! 11 years later and my original one succumbed to the elements. I purchased a second one and still love it

I'm impressed with the quality of this grill, and it's bigger than I expected. If you're on the fence about ceramic-style grills, don't hesitate—these are awesome. This is actually my second one. My first was a Brinkmann, which was great and lasted five years, but it wasn't built to the same standard as the Akorn. I highly recommend watching some videos before you get started. There's a learning curve, but it's not difficult—just different from a standard grill. What I love most is how well these hold heat. Even at 30 degrees outside, they maintain temperature beautifully. They also use very little charcoal, and you can cook for hours without adding more. Another big advantage is moisture retention. These grills keep your meat incredibly moist. If you love smoked chicken, this will produce the best you've ever had. These are a great alternative to expensive ceramic kamado grills at a fraction of the cost. Plus, ceramic grills are extremely heavy. If you ever need to move it, this one is much more portable.

Update 12/5/19 --- I've had this now for 1.5 years, and I still really like it. I'm not seeing any signs of rust, and all the seams still seal, even though I've been using this probably twice a week on average. I still think it's a great price to get into a Kamado BBQ. I smoked a 20lb. turkey for Thanksgiving last week, it was moist and juicy and smokey, with crisp skin. Then I reverse seared a 3lb. prime rib roast the next day. You can make great veggies on it, too. Maybe the biggest hit has been the baba ganoush (smokey eggplant and garlic dip), but any roasted veggies will come out excellent. Original review --- TL;DR: You have to consider this $300 Kamado in comparison to spending 2-8x as much for other Kamado style grills. I am sure I would love to have a Weber Summit or a Kamado Joe, but I can buy this over and over again for the cost of one of those units. I have had this for a year now, and it's been great. It's much lighter and less fragile than the ceramic units, and provides great control over temperatures. By buying bags of different types of wood chunks, you can tailor the smoke flavor to the food easily. The Akorn took me about 1.5 hours to assemble, and I had no issues. All the parts were present, and all the fasteners were packaged in a blister pack that identified everything, so it was easy to see that I had all the parts. All the parts lined up and everything mounted the way the instructions said it should. The gaskets both sealed perfectly, and have continued to seal for the 6 months I've had it. This is the only Kamado grill I've owned, but it has been easy to figure out. I've cooked half a dozen pork butts on it, I've done a couple full briskets, lots of spare ribs, 3 or 4 prime rib roasts, probably 8 turkeys and a bunch of steaks. I love doing a "reverse sear" on prime rib or steaks (smoke the meat low at 225°F until it reaches about 120°F internal, take the meat off and crank up the heat to 500°F or more, then sear the meat for about 2 minutes on each side). Everything has been at least good, and after a bit of practice, most things have come off great! I've also roasted peppers, done artichokes, eggplants and a bunch of other veggies, in different ways, on this grill. It gives you super control and a wide range of temperatures, and you can raise the temperature really fast. It only takes 5-10 minutes to do the raise from smoking to searing I mentioned above. Speaking of which, it's very important, especially for cooking at lower temperatures, to keep a careful eye on the grill temperature as it heats up. It's much easier to bring the heat up than to try to cool the grill down. This isn't a knock on the Akorn itself, it's a property of all the Kamado style grills. Be very careful not to let it run away, or it will take you a long time to get it back down to where you want it. You also definitely want to buy a pizza stone/heat deflector stone for this, in order to do low and slow cooking. I think I paid $35 for the one I bought to go with the Akorn. This is what allows you to cook over indirect heat, to smoke low and slow, to put a water pan in to keep the food moist for longer cooks, and to catch drippings for sauces and gravies. The cast iron grate is easy to use and keep clean, if you season it first. Mine is black and somewhat glossy, like a cast iron pan, and food doesn't stick to it. The ash removal system is easy to use and effective. After removing the ash pan, try to pour the ash out away from the air intake or you'll get some between the walls. A number of reviews talk about rust problems. I'm about 6 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and we can have a lot of fog, so I was concerned about that. I haven't seen any rust forming yet, but I did buy a cover for the grill to try and protect it. At this price, if it rusts out in 5 years and I have to buy another one, I'll be dead before it costs me as much as a Weber Summit. As others have reported, the thermometer in the lid is not accurate. I factored that into my expectations, and I already had a wireless thermometer that I was using on my gas grill. Consider, if you don't already have one, getting a 2 (or more) probe wireless thermometer. You want to have a probe for the grill temperature and another for the food. This will allow you to do longer cooks without opening the lid and losing heat. Also, I would recommend that you get some heat proof gloves, so you can add or remove the heat deflector while it's hot or there's a fire going.

I don't think I'm quite ready to give this a 5-star review, because this isn't a perfect grill, but I do love this grill. I've always enjoyed grilling, but I'd say I've always been probably what you'd classify as "amateur". I've never been one to keep track of temps of the fire on my old grills... I'd tend to throw chicken or burgers on without much in the way of really understanding vents. I'd have issues with fires being too hot, or not hot enough before my impatience would kick in and I'd go ahead and put meat on the grill while thinking "the fire will warm up eventually." The vast majority of times, the meat would all be fine. And occasionally you'd have a blackened chicken skin (but who doesn't love those?). All that being said.... those were my grilling experiences up to owning the Akorn - decent griller; not a connoisseur. So yeah... this grill does come with some steep learning curves. I knew I wanted to do a lot of slow and low cooking, but I didn't want to pay the thousand dollar crunch to get a BGE. The first things I bought in addition to the grill were the Char-Griller brand plate that allows you to do indirect cooking, Therma-Pro wireless probes to monitor grill and meat temps, and a set of grilling accessories that included heat resistant gloves and "bear claws" for shredding meat. After my first couple of cooks, I bought a few other items after my first experiences. First couple of experiences... labor day weekend I cooked ribs one evening and picnic ham the next. I'd bought hardwood charcoal to use and did my traditional pyramid stack. I was experimenting with the vents and trying to figure out how they would affect the temperature of the fire. The ribs cooked in 2 or 3 hours (I forget the exact time) at around 250 to 300 if I remember correctly. I'd used soaked apple-wood chips, which added a nice smokey flavor to the ribs. BUT! I found I had difficulty controlling the temps, which can mostly be chocked up to inexperience. For the next cook, I did a ton of research into slow and low grilling hams for BBQ. I bought lump charcoal, and started the grill around 8pm that Saturday night. Still learning how the vents would/could affect the temps (because the manual doesn't explain it AT ALL), I was up until around 2am going out every 20 or 30 minutes trying to get the temps down from 300 to 225 and THEN trying to get it back up after it went below 200, and THEN relighting the charcoal because the fire died, and so on and so on. Around 7am I woke up, checked the Therma-Pro monitor, and saw the temps were down around the 170s.... because of course the fire had died again. So I pulled the grill racks off, pulled out the indirect heat stone, added more charcoal, and put the meat back on for another 2 hours to cook. I do want to stress this though... what I just said wasn't any fault of the grill necessarily, it was my inexperience (again, only my second grilling session on this) with slow and low cooking and how to maintain temps. I would say that the manual SHOULD have done a much better job of indicating how to position the vents. The BBQ, despite the sleepless night and stress and frustration, turned out INCREDIBLE! So it was kinda worth it... I just did my third grill with the Akorn yesterday, and it was my second slow and low grill session, and it did immensely better this time around, though a lot of it I can chalk up to some additions I made to the grill. So here we get into some of the frustrations and misgivings with the grill: 1. I'm assuming I received a newer model of the grill - when a lot of forum posts speak of controlling temps through the vents, they often mention "set your top vent to 1/2", or 2, or 4, etc etc etc.My top vent is completely smooth... there are no numerical indications that dictate that you're setting the top vent to the "One" position or whatever. So it really is a guessing game in that aspect trying to interpret how open to set this vent. I have seen videos of guys cooking on the Akorn and their top vent DOES show numbers on it. So either they bought an aftermarket top vent or I received a model which doesn't have it. 2. The grill leaks. Yesterday it leaked a loooooooot from where I had the wires of the thermometer probes going into the grill. I had previously bought some of the fiber gasket tape that is used for resealing a BGE, and I used it to further seal the botton vent. I'm thinking I'll probably put some on the inner lid lip and see if that helps seal better where those probe wires are coming out. The wires aren't even that big, so I'm curious why it was leaking so bad. 3. I really wish the manual had been more user friendly in how to control the vents and temps of the grill. Thank God for Google, YouTube, and various grill forums! They were really instrumental in helping me figure out how to make the grill do what I wanted it to. So here are some helpful additions that I really think will help anyone when it comes to controlling the temperature inside your grill.... 1. Buy some of the gasket tape and use it to further seal your grill!!! 2. If you, like me, didn't want to risk another sleepless and frustrating night of checking temperatures on your grill, OR if you just didn't have the patience to learn proper vent control (like me), the PartyQ BBQ temperature control PartyQ BBQ Temperature Controller for Char-Griller Akorn King Griller Cooker Adaptor is incredible! Once it got temperatures to where I wanted them, it was able to maintain the temp pretty consistently. Even when I thought guests were going to be here earlier than I thought so I kicked the temp up to 300 to cook the boston butt faster, and then found out that they were coming much later, I was able to decrease the temps back down to a cooler temperature without much hassle. The supplied batteries did get me through an 8-hour cook before giving me the low-battery sign, but still, totally worth it and I don't regret that purchase at all. A person was asked if using that was "cheating" and the response was "about as much as using the temp knob on your oven." This is a great addition for much better control over the fire. 3. Not a product, so much as a technique. Instead of using the traditional pyramid charcoal pile like I've always done, I used a technique called "ring of fire" this time and it worked wonderfully. Google it. It's perfect for slow and low grilling. You won't be sorry. So to sum it up... the Akorn is a great grill, but unless you already have a firm grasp on how to naturally control grill temperatures, I really think, like me, you need to invest another $150-200 into this grill to get it into tip-top shape. And still, even at $500 for the grill and those accessories like the PartyQ that I mentioned, you're still have the price of a BGE and capable of performing just as well! I'm excited to do more grilling with this beast!

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.

This is my first Kamado gril and I'm about to wax poetic about it, so let me get the one criticism I have out of the way. The Akorn is a porcelain lined steel kamado and does not feature a thick ceramic lining like it's pricier counterparts. Ceramic being a highly refractive material, absorbs and radiates heat utilizing the full energy of the charcoal and imparts heat to your food in a way that porcelain, however well insulated, just cannot. Given that the cheapest ceramic kamado is almost double the price of the Akorn and heavier to boot, the Akorn is a perfect starter kamado with 80% of the benefits at 30% - 50% the price of comparable ceramic kamados. So what's not to love? What I really love about this grill - *I cook more often with charcoal now and with much more satisfying results than my previous charcoal kettle grills* And that is really the bottom line with the Akorn Kamado because as a self-contained unit, starting a fire, controlling temperature for both high heat and slow cooks, and handling food have become much much more hassle free. No more messing around with having to dump out charcoal chimneys with the risk of embers everywhere on your wood deck or feet. When turning my food on the grill, not having to place a hot lid to the side where it can accidently singe someone but instead a having an insulated, hinged lid that traps in the heat and flavors makes a remarkable difference to everyday use. I find myself encouraged to cook more often on the grill and experiment than I have ever before with charcoal and the family loves the results! *It is built well, feels sturdy, has a bunch of good design features and looks good on my patio.* Really the quality of the materials, fit and finish seem very nice for it's price. As other reviewers have pointed out, the design features just work. Especially the removable bottom ash collector - this is a feature not found on many pricier ceramic models. The folding side tables are perfect and having wheels with a locking mechanism makes it so much more portable around the backyard. Even a small detail such as including a cast iron grate removal tool and the removable center piece of the grate for adding more coal is so well though out. *Economical with charcoal and performs well for both high heat and low heat cooking* The Akorn is extremely economical with charcoal, which is going to be a constant running cost of any charcoal grill. Being triple insulated bottom and top, and with the ability to extinguish a fire closing both vents and thus preserving any unused coal makes it so good on my pocket. Now I spend my money on quality lump charcoal, and of course, meat. It seems to hold low temps so well for hours on end on a minimal amount of coal and with a diffuser/pizza stone, performs the job of a smoker as well as it performs for 650 degree open flame sears. My suggestions if you're going to buy this Kamado (which I strongly recommend if you haven't owned a Kamado before): - Buy the cover. Really. It's worth the investment to protect your kamado for years of service. - Get the pizza stone not just for pizza but to act as a diffuser for low and slow cooks. I put a pan with water on top of the stone to catch the drippings and add moisture and the results are spectacular. - Youtube is your friend. There are a ton of videos on just about every aspect of Kamado cooking on the web right from how to start a fire without a starter to cooking techniques and user mods. I learn something new everyday. - Spend the money you saved on not buying a pricier kamado on good tools/accessories, marinades, and of course meat. My suggestion if money is not a concern and you are already fairly experienced cooking with charcoal: - Go ahead and get yourself a ceramic kamado. I've had the opportunity to cook on a ceramic one, and the difference is appreciable. Whether you want the high temps of a real clay oven to do stuff like tandoori and steaks, or fall-off-the-bone low/slow BBQ, ceramic just can't be beat.

Works great. Highly recommend. Big learning curve, depending on what you are wanting to do with it. Low and slow can be challenging. Choosing the right charcoal, starting techniques, damper positions, etc. At 350f you can place your hand on the shell for a second without being burned (not the top damper!) so not too dangerous for kids and pets. The thermostat is consistent with my probes so I consider it accurate. The metal body is prone to rust and thus requires a bit of care (oiling) and continuous covering. You WILL need a cover even if it will be stored inside. You will want to keep the metal parts oiled which will attract dust if left uncovered. The paint on some of the metal parts is not high quality and will rust even in dry conditions such as a garage. The grates are heavy and easy to clean. Just keep them oiled and a quick brush has you ready to grill. I move mine a lot and the wheels work perfect, with one caster in the rear and two fixed. You can spin it and place it in tight areas if needed. The side tables fold up easily for storage, just be careful how much tension you put on the nuts during assembly for ease of use. Charcoal lasts forever in this guy. I never run out of heat and always have more left than expected for the next cook. I have used both lump and briquettes with great results. Simply close your dampers after you are done cooking and the fire will go out without burning up all the rest of your charcoal. How cool is that? (hehe) If you want a kamado on a budget, this is the one to get. It has plenty of space to cook on and won't break your bank.

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

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

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.

Great!!!

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