Hi I'm Lou and I have a Kamado Joe. I'm Dave and I have a big green egg Today were going to compare our grills head
to head First we will look at the name recognition Everybody knows the big green egg because
it's been around for 30 years and it looks exactly like a big green egg This grill is much less well-known. At first I thought it was commando. The delivery guy thought it was commundo,
and one of my friends thought it was Komodo like the dragon. It turns out Kamado is the Japanese word for
this style of ceramic grill The big green egg is sold in a la carta pieces
so you have to buy the egg, the shelves, the stand, and the ceramic tray all separately. It can be a little confusing to get all the
right parts, but it offers configuration flexibility. Most people start off with the large egg and
all the basic stuff you need at a cost of around $1200 The classic Kamado Joe comes out of the box
with everything you need to start grilling at about the same price Now let's look at the on boxing and set up. I had the Kamodo Joe delivered to my driveway
and it's a good thing I did, because it is quite a bit north of 200 pounds and it's kind
of hard to lift for even two people. It took me about 20 minutes to unbox and set
up the Kamodo including all the stuff that was foam packed inside I'm pretty handy and it took me well over
an hour to put the egg together If you're not mechanically inclined it's probably
worth the 50 bucks to have the dealer assemble it for you. Both grills arrived in perfect condition but
the difference in packaging is worthy of note The big green egg came in a standard cardboard
box that actually ripped a little bit when we tried to carry it. The kamado box had a wood top and bottom and
extremely strong cardboard sides Now let's look at the features The two have been nearly identical in past
years but the new 2017 model Joe has some significant improvements. In fact, if you decide to buy this grill make
sure you get the newest version The top air vent is one of the most important
parts of the big green egg. It controls the airflow through the egg which
controls the temperature of the egg One thing about the top air vent is you set
it where you want it But if you open the grill the top air vent
moves, And you have to readjust You can avoid this by turning the top sideways. The pivot point is that the front of the grill. When all the grilling is done the egg has
a nice ceramic lid that seals off the air flow, stops the fire quickly and conserves
charcoal Don't leave this piece out in the rain because
it can start to rust. The Joe top vent does not slide around and
has these little lines to help you dial in the right temperature There is no ceramic lid but this is made of
aluminum and does not rust in the rain. The egg thermometer is certainly decent But the Joe edges it out with a larger easier
to read version We did find one major flaw in the Joe in that
it's thermometer was almost 50 degrees out of calibration Fortunately you can take it out, dip in a
boiling pot of water, and if it doesn't measure exactly 212 degrees, use a screwdriverand
and turn this screw on the back to calibrate it Probably one of the most important differences
in the two grills is the lid counterweight mechanism in the hinge We will lift both lids halfway open. When I let go of Joe, it just sits there perfectly
counterbalanced When I let go of the big green egg it slams
down pretty hard For a couple of strong guys this really doesn't
make that much difference, but the Joe certainly is better for the ladies or anyone with lifting
limitations. Inside the joe has a dual oven rack system
called divide and conquer that allows you to set different heights for different foods They also include this hot rack grabbing tool The egg has a standard grilling surface that
is set at one height You can take out the ceramic plate setter
and lower the entire grill about 2 inches Another small difference is the ceramic color. It's a little hard to tell since we've got
some smoke in it now but you can see the original color of the egg was a whiter ceramic, while
the original color of the Joe is a bit more reddish We really don't know if that makes any difference Cleaning out ashes on the egg can be a little
messy because you have to use this ash rake The Joe is easier to clean out, because it
has a stainless steel ash drawer Now we will look at the quality of construction The larger diameter of the egg wheels make
it easier to get over bumps The wheel locks however are made of thin plastic The Joe wheels are smaller but the locks are
sturdy metal The egg stand is a pieced together metal kit
that certainly does it's job The Joe comes out ahead with a fully custom
welded stand with a wider more stable wheelbase and a complete containment ring. The egg shelves and handle have a more earthy
feel of real wood The Joes are a less natural but more durable
molded plastic The egg main seal is made of felt and the
lid alignment is off by about a quarter inch, at least on this unit The Joe has an upgraded fiberglass seal like
you find in an indoor oven and the alignment is perfect This lid lock is annoying at first but you
can easily learn to use it with one hand and it creates a great seal This probably doesn't make any functional
difference but we do like the larger metal bands of the Joe and how they fit nicely in
the ceramic groove The egg bands are skinnier and leave a small
gap Now for a low and slow smoke. Both grills are headed to roughly 225 degrees And we will put a half rack of ribs on each
one Dave iss flipping them On goes the sauce And back out they go Here come the ribs We will do T-bones and chuck hamburgers Here comes the food off the Joe Yeah! And here, comes the food off the green egg. Man, that looks good too! We've divided the meat from each grill into
three equal piles. I will have my daughter secretly put each
pile on either side A or B and not tell us Randomized and ready to go And now for the A-B taste test with Lou and
Dave and my wife Karen as a tiebreaker The burgers are about the same The steak is the same I can't tell any difference in the burger I'd say no difference in the T-bone here None that I can tell Uhh uhh The ribs are my favorite though. Mmm. The ribs are so good. Delicious, they are really good Man! I can't tell any difference in the ribs. So in the end there was really no detectable
difference in taste Other than its thermometer needing major calibration,
the Joe was better with fit finish and features If a friend asked us which one to get, we
would give the Joe a slight edge unless they really liked the color green Thanks for watching
