- What's up, guys? It's Trevor with Embers Fireplaces. Today, we have a good one for you. This video is long overdue. It's been months in the making. I've been telling you guys it's coming. Today, we are reviewing our top five Kamado series charcoal grills. The reason it's taken so long is to get all five of these guys assembled and in the same room, it's essentially like trying
to assemble the Avengers, not gonna happen too often, but, when it does, magic happens. This is fun, having these guys together. So we're gonna break
them down and tell you the differences between the top... Between them all. And we'll explain why
they are in our top five. So let's dive in. (upbeat working music) So, like I said, we're breaking down our top five favorite Kamado series style cookers. Before we get into it, though, let's take care of a little business. As always, you guys gotta
subscribe to our channel, give this video a thumbs up. It helps us out, supports us to be able to
continue to do videos like this. Don't forget, too, if you're
in the Denver Metro area, these products are here
in our showroom in person. So if you're in Colorado,
come down to our store, check these products out for yourself. If you're not, check
them out on our website; everything's on our website. We'll include links below for that. Everything that we use in this video, we'll also include useful
links down in the description. So make sure you check that out. And, lastly, we are equipment experts, but we're not necessarily
culinary experts. If you want good expert
advice on how to barbecue and cook with these things, we're gonna include a link for
a MasterClass subscription. I highly recommend it. I personally use it all the time to help me with this equipment. It is a paid service that they do for us, so it does help us out when
you check those guys out. Make sure to check into MasterClass. So we're not gonna be breaking down crazy, in depth reviews with all five of these. And the reason is is, one, it would be
like a two hour video. It would literally turn
into an Avengers movie. So we're not gonna do that, but I've... I've reviewed each one of these
individually crazy in depth. If you wanna see the in depth reviews, you can check those out. What was cool is these are my top five, and, to me, this is just my opinion: nothing else is even close. These five are the creme de la
creme, the belle of the ball. These are the best of the best. They're Avengers; they're superheroes. And so we're gonna... But what's cool about all five of these is all five of these have
something very unique from the other one. So there's usually a feature
or two with each Kamado here that really stands out
different from each model. So that's what we're really gonna focus on is what's unique to each one. But I'm telling you straight away, without even thinking
about it for a second, I would take any of these
home and put them on my deck. I would cook with any of
these, no questions asked. These are the five best. Okay, enough of all
that; let's get into it. (country music) So the Primo, we're gonna call this one... We're gonna stick with
our Avengers theme here. We're gonna call this one Thor. Now, the reason we're gonna call him Thor is he's obviously powerful, but
he's a little bit different, a little bit different-shaped,
just a little... A little more rough around the edges. And the Primo is the only Kamado style that's gonna be oval shaped. They have a patent on the oval design, so they're the only ones that can do oval. So let's start with this guy. Again, we have a full in depth
review on the Primo already, so we're not gonna get into it, but this is the Primo series. This is the smallest in their series. This is not the right cart for it. Like I said, I was just lucky to get all five of these together, so I had to steal a
cart from another model just to set this in here 'cause I didn't have a cart for it. So the Primo is made in the U.S., so it's a U.S. made product, but, really, Primo's claim
to fame is the oval shape. So Primo's the only Kamado
out there that's oval. And, again, this is the
smallest in the series. The question is, "What
is the benefit of oval?" Well, oval really has two
benefits with cooking. For example, let's say you're doing a long narrow brisket or ribs. You're getting more of
a rectangular shape. So a brisket's gonna
fit on here more easy. And then, with this
sort of rectangle style, it's easier to do indirect cooking. So that means we can
put a divider in here, just put our charcoal on one side, and then we have more real
estate for indirect cooking. So just the oval shape
allows us to fit more food, and it gives us more versatility overall. That being said, there is... One of the downsides
with Primo is they have the market cornered when
it comes to oval style. And they've sort of, in my opinion, have just sort of rested
on that a little too long. I've been going to trade
shows for about 12 years, and, as I'm doing these trade shows... I have a funny story for you guys. First couple of years, I was kinda new to the Kamado product, and I go in their booth, and I'm like, "Well, tell me what's
different about Primo. Why should someone buy a Primo? Why would my customers want a Primo?" They're like, "Well, ours is oval." And I'm like, "Oh, that's cool." They explained all the benefits of oval. Couple of years later. "Well, why should I do... What do you got new?" "Well, it's oval." I'm like, "Okay, that's cool. I didn't know you could
patent a shape, but..." If you're gonna patent a shape, they did. And it's pretty cool. But what was really funny is
they have a Jack Daniel series. So I went to the show again. I'm like, "Try to talk me into... Why should I do a Primo?" And they're like, "Well, we have an exclusive partnership with Jack Daniels this year." And I was like, "Whoa,
this is gonna be big time. This is gonna be awesome." I'm thinking; my wheels are turning. I'm thinking, "Okay,
they're probably getting some whiskey barrels that are
exclusive from Jack Daniels. They're gonna use that in their charcoal to get some nice wood chunks that are exclusive Jack Daniel's taste. People are gonna go crazy over that." "No," they said, "See
that grill over there?" Their Primo XL. There's one model; I'll
show you a picture, but it says, "Jack Daniels" right here. They're like, "We're the
only ones that can do that." And I'm like, "Do what?" "Says 'Jack Daniels' on it." "Oh, that's awesome. What's different about it?" "Says 'Jack Daniels.'" (laughter) And I just kind of was just like... Kind of roll my eyes a little bit because there's nothing
different about the grill. It just says, "Jack Daniels." It's cool, but they're
going to charge you more and print the name "Jack Daniels." In my opinion, kind of stupid. Now, I'm downplaying this. Now, I'm sort of talking bad about him, but Primo is an excellent,
excellent product. Like I said, it's made
in the United States, and they're the only ones
that do that oval shape. I feel like they could get
a little more innovative with their accessories
and things like that, but still all-around great product. If you want an oval smoker,
Primo is the only way to go. So if that's what you
want, check out Primo. So let's move on to Blaze. (country music) This is the Blaze Kamado series. Now we're gonna call Blaze... Sticking with the superhero theme. This guy's like Iron Man. He's all metal, completely indestructible, and just bulletproof. So what's the advantage
with the Blaze product? Obviously, you can see,
just by looking at it, it's gonna be a cast aluminum style. So it's sort of away from that traditional ceramic style Kamado, so this
accomplishes several things. One, of course, the biggest
thing, in my opinion, is gonna be aesthetics. So it's gonna give you just more of a finished polished look. Somewhere where I really like this product is if you're integrating a
Kamado in an outdoor kitchen, and you're gonna have a bunch
of stainless steel already, you know, like a big gas
grill, storage drawers, things like that, where you
have a lot of stainless, this flows really, really well in an outdoor kitchen, aesthetically. It just sort of matches everything. 'Cause sometimes the ceramic
ones can kind of stick out a little bit in an outdoor kitchen. This is gonna match
everything very nicely. And then, of course, being cast aluminum, this thing's never gonna rust, and it's completely bulletproof. You know, if you drop it, there's nothing you can
do to damage this thing. So that's pretty cool. And then also the weight of it... You can see the other
thing is there's no need for any sort of gasket material. It sort of has an
over-lock overlapping lip that's just gonna lock. And, of course, that's
never gonna wear out or loosen over time. So just a really, really
well solidly built machine. Couple of really cool
accessories from Blaze too is like their pro gas grills. I mean, look at this cooking grate. I mean, this is just ridiculous. You're never gonna need
something that thick, but they give it to you,
and it's heavy duty. It's a little... It's pretty cool actually, but... Definitely an over-engineered
bulletproof product. But that's really it. You know, a couple of cool
features with Blaze... Personally, I think, aesthetically, like I said, I'm into it. I think it would match... Look great in an outdoor kitchen setup. One downside, though, Blaze is really a whole family of product. Some of these other brands,
all they make is Kamado, so you get a ton of flexibility. The Blaze only comes in
the one size, so it's... It's our most popular selling size. It's very similar, you can see here, to the Big Green Egg next to it, but I do wish this came in more sizes. But it's the best-selling size, but you sort of have to
like a medium size Kamado. Okay, let's move over
to the Big Green Egg, the OG of Kamado smokers, the original. (bright music) I like to call this guy "Captain America" because he's the first Avenger, get it? You see it, see what I did there? See that reference? So this is pretty bulletproof; Big Green Egg's been around forever. They're the ones that originally started ceramic style cooking. One of the biggest
advantages with Big Green Egg is going to be the size,
the family, of Kamados. So this is the large size, which is one of their best sellers, but Big Green Egg makes
seven different size Kamados. Now, this is handy because
some of the other brands only make one, two, three. The max I've seen is four. These guys make seven sizes. Now, this is handy because, for example, I've been cooking at my house
for a while on a Kamado Joe, their classic, which is an 18 inch round, and a brisket barely fits on there. I can make it work, but
it's a little tight. But, as we'll get into, when we get into the
Big Joe on the Kamado, it's almost too big. It's just enormous. And there's no way my
wife was gonna let me keep a Big Joe on my deck for
a long period of time, so I have the Kamado, or
the classic, I should say. That's where Big Green Egg is handy is like, if you want something
big enough to do a brisket, but you don't want something over the top, I promise you, there's
a size to fit your needs with Big Green Egg. They make so many different sizes, and they make some really
cool little cute mini guys, if you want something to go. This is their large size, and they have improved
their handle system. So their hinge system,
it is pretty lightweight. It does sort of grab, so
it's not a super heavy lid. And then, as a new improvement, they've come up with a new
top that's not gonna move. You know, when you lift this up, this is gonna stay in place. The old one used to flop
around a little bit, then you'd have to reset it. And, of course, Big Green
Egg, being around the longest, their customer support is really unique, in the sense that this is
the only one out of the five where it can't be sold online. So Big Green Egg relies very, very heavily on a local dealer network. And any dealer can warranty
or service your Big Green Egg. Now, this is really cool
because they're sort of relying on this spider web of local dealers, so I think you're gonna
get the most personal care and most personal customer
support with Big Green Egg because they're so heavily reliant, and they hold their dealers
to such a high standard of customer service, and they're very picky
about who they would sell Big Green Egg to. So quality control is very
good, very, very high, and all the options we have, the size, and, of course, being around the longest, I would say Big Green Egg probably offers the most amount of accessories
to match this grill. So there's a ton you can do with this guy. So that's a Big Green Egg. All right, let's move on to this guy. This is the Everdure 4K. (bright music) Now, for superhero, I'd probably
say this is like Vision, super futuristic, just a lot of technology built into this guy. If I was gonna use a car reference, I would call this one, like, a Tesla. It's such a departure from
the rest of the Kamado market, and we'll talk about that a little bit. One, aesthetically, you can
see it's a lot different. Lot of good curb appeal, so if you're in putting
this in a high traffic area, you need to talk the
wife into putting another barbecue on your patio,
this one's pretty cool. Comes in a bunch of different colors. This is the mint color. I personally kinda like
it because it looks really modern and contemporary, but it also sort of has that retro, like, refrigerator-type feel,
if that makes sense. But I think it's pretty sweet. Now, you can get all the performance info in my in depth review, if
you wanna check that out. Down below, the individual review. But essentially what they've done is, on top of all the cosmetics, they've incorporated a ton of technology into this guy. So it does use power. So when we have power, we
have an automatic igniter, so it does have an
electric igniter in there. We have a control board here that can... We can easily check our temps. Our timer has four built in probes, and then what's really cool:
it has a Bluetooth app. So you connect this to
Bluetooth, to your smartphone. So you can be monitoring the
temps on all of your probes, and it has full integrated
recipes, everything like that. So if you're into technology,
you're into high curb appeal, the Everdure's pretty sweet. I had one complaint. They're a lot like Blaze, in the sense that they're
a family of products, and they don't just do Kamados. So they are kind of
limited as far as size. So this is the only size they offer. So I do wish this came
in a couple other sizes, but, outside of that, this is definitely one of my favorites. All right, let's move
on to the Kamado Joe. (country music) You've probably heard
of Kamado Joe lately, unless you've been living under a rock. And the reason we say that is: Kamado Joe, he's Hulk. That's what we're gonna
call him is he's Hulk. The reason is he just... He's comin'; he's a... Like a bulldozer. This guy has completely
disrupted the Kamado market. (pausing) They've gained so much momentum. They've done such a good
job with their marketing. And, on top of that, they have a really cool
product to back it up. So we're not gonna touch
on a million things 'cause, like I said, you can
watch her in depth review, but this is the Big Joe of three. So the classic three and the big Joe three have a lot of unique features. So it's kind of like a
spring-loaded hinge here. And you can see, this is a heavy top. I can just lift it with my finger. So that's one of the huge
selling points with Kamado Joe that's really awesome. And then their chimney top is
weatherproof and rain proof, so rain can't get in here. And then, kind of like
the Big Green Egg one, it's gonna stay exactly
where you want it to. So when you open this up, this isn't gonna flap open. On the three series, they
also have a slow roller. We'll show you a video of that, but it's essentially a
piece of technology in here. So this one, I would say,
does one of the best jobs with smoking. When you use that slow roller in here, it creates a ton of extra smoke. Then what else is really
cool with Kamado Joe... It's like a good-bad sort of
thing, but it comes loaded. Like it comes with the heat deflectors. It comes with your
half-moon cooking racks, comes with the side shelves,
comes with the cart, comes with the slow roller,
comes with the tools. It's fully loaded. Now, that's awesome because
you get a ton of stuff, but it also makes it expensive. And then, on top of it... Let's say you don't want all that stuff. Well, that's the way you get it. So it's definitely a
premium high end product, and that's what's pretty
unique about Kamado Joe. Like I said, they've been
gaining a ton of momentum. I would say it's our most
popular Kamado right now. We're probably selling the
most amount of Kamado Joes, more than anything else. So if that tells you anything. So, like I said earlier, if
I was gonna have a complaint it's that we only have two sizes. We basically have the
classic and the Big Joe. There is a mini, or the
Joe Jr, I should say, so really three, but technically in a... In something you're gonna
wanna put on your patio, really just the two sizes. So I wish they almost had like a... An in between size, so that would be my only complaint with Kamado Joe. So there's the five. Hopefully I didn't get too wordy. Hopefully I didn't make
it too confusing for you. I skipped over a ton of
features in every one of these, and, like I said, it would
just be a two hour video if I went in depth. You can watch each in depth review if you wanna learn more
about each particular one. So decision time. Which one do you buy? Well, we can't really answer that question because, like I said, each
one has such a unique setting, and let's review. I would probably buy the Primo if buying products made in the U.S. is really important to me, or if you want that offset style cooking where you can have indirect cooking. Or, if you want that oval shape, I would buy Primo. Personally, I would buy the Blaze if you want something that's
completely indestructible, or if you want it to match
your outdoor kitchen, and you're gonna build
it into your island, check out Blaze. Big Green Egg I would buy if you just are into the OG principle. It's the original. If you're into good customer service, or if you have a very unique
size that you're looking for, take a look at Big Green Egg. Everdure, the 4k. I would buy this guy if
you're super into technology, if you're really into curb appeal, need to convince the wife why
you need another barbecue, or if you just want
something pretty on the deck, take a look at Everdure. And the Big Joe, or the Kamado Joe series. Again, just a really, really
well designed product. I'd probably get the
Kamado Joe if I smoke a lot 'cause I really think that's its niche, is when you're using that slow roller. If you're doing a lot of slow cooks, I would take a look at the Kamado Joe. Like I said, if you're
in the Denver Metro area, come to our store, come
check these out in person. I had a ton of fun doing this video. It's really cool to see
all five of these together. We're gonna keep them
out here in the showroom, so that way you can decide,
at home, what you want. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel, call or text our staff if you guys want any questions answered. See what we have in stock. All these Kamados are super hot right now. No pun intended. So our stock is limited, but
stay tuned for more videos, and make sure you guys subscribe.
