The Blaze Aluminum Kamado is the first ever aluminum Kamado on the market- and may be the only one as the patent for this baby is pending.
I posted a pic of this grill on Instagram a few weeks ago and people referred to it as “the rocket ship”, which it does resemble when you have the side shelves on it.
This is the first Kamado charcoal grill that Blaze Grills has produced and it is impressive. Blaze is known for their highend gas grills and this is a nice foray into the charcoal market.
One plus of having a kamado made out of metal is that it cannot break. If you have ever experienced a broken ceramic kamado, you know how heartbreaking that can be.
I’ve done a few cooks on this grill so far and am very impressed.
Let’s review what this grill offers:
- Kamado shape – you get the convection style cooking of a Kamado, with the durability of metal and very good heat retention since it is 1 1/4” thick
- Hexagonal Grill Grates – these grill grates give awesome char marks. The 20” grates are hinged on both sides to make it easy to add charcoal. Really loving this feature
- Tongue and Groove Seal- most Kamados use a felt gasket that needs to be replaced over time. This grill has a tongue and groove seal that offers a great seal and I can imagine is better for maintenance over time.
- Stainless steel hinged lid assist- good to have otherwise the lid would be heavy AF to lift!
- Exhaust Cap/Daisy Wheel and bottom heat vent are well designed- stay in place on the top, the bottom is a door with hinged daisy wheel as well.
- Removable stainless steel ash pan for easy clean up
- 2 grates for 2 cooking heights, also includes a “heat deflector/pizza stone”
- Lifetime warranty- at this price range this is nice to have. Also, this is aluminum so it’s built to last!
Cooking experience:
The directions say you can use any type of charcoal you like since the metal will not absorb petroleum based charcoal, however, I have only used lump charcoal.
What I REALLY love about this grill are the grill grates. They are ingenious- they offer really really awesome char marks on anything you grill. This is a nice feature of this because everything you take of the grill gets these wonderful char marks, the kind you can usually only get with cast iron grates. The grates are also hinged on both sides so you can add more fuel which is an added bonus.
I like that this grill gives two sets of grates; one at the lower level and one at the higher level. If you ever want to do some serious high heat searing, you can use the lower set of grates and be practically on top of the charcoal.
I have not yet done any smoking on this Kamado so I cannot speak to this. I will update this post once I have.
The shelves are a nice feature. They give the grill a “rocketship” like appearance which is fun and a great conversation piece when people come over. I would call this grill “patio bling” as it is visually appealing and because it is metal, the color goes with everything and is nicer looking than most black grills you can put on your patio. Much like stainless steel appliances have that “high end” look about them, the same goes for the grill.
The Blaze aluminum Kamado comes as is at a price point of $1799, the rolling cart and shelves are sold separately. This grill can be easily be built into an outdoor kitchen set up (which the BBQ Guys also sell).
FYI, BBQGuys is an ecommerce site under the shopperschoice.com umbrella, they also own Blaze Grills. I toured the Shoppers Choice facility a while back and can attest to the fact that Blaze Grills makes very high quality grills.
Parting Thoughts:
This is a nice grill. I haven’t smoked on it yet so I can’t speak to the heat retention for that but based on how it has grilled I would expect that charcoal would last longer than your typical charcoal grill, like what you would come to expect in a kamado style grill. I also like the look and feel of this grill as it will fit in with the look of an outdoor kitchen and I also like the fact that it is built to last. The aluminum color is a nice bling factor for your patio and it does have a “wow” factor when you see it. I am really in love with the grates- their hexagonal design are really smart and cook very evenly while producing great grill marks.
It is an investment at a pricepoint of $1800, and that is not including the cart of the side shelves. You have to really want a Kamado to pay this much but the lifetime warranty is a nice bonus and the fact that knowing it is made out of aluminum and it will never break is a nice counterpoint to the fact that it is about $500 more than the cost of a large BGE.
My recommendations to the manufacturer for their future updates 1) put some rubber on the handle as it gets really hot and if you don’t use a glove when you are cooking you will burn the Hell out of your hand.
2) Make the side shelves so they fold down- this way when you aren’t using the grill it will take up less space on your patio and it would make it easier to put a cover on.
Feel free to leave a comment below with any additional questions or comments on your own cooking experience with The Blaze Kamado Grill.
Thanks for the review on this. I have been intrigued by the Blaze aluminum kamado ever since I saw an ad for it a couple months back. I love the look of it and the idea behind it. Can’t wait to see more reviews of how it does for low and slow cooks.
Hi John, I haven’t done any low and slow yet but I’ll update my review when I do. I will also be posting the play by play in case you are on instagram or twitter. Follow along @grillgirlrobyn .
Hey Robyn! I’m in the market for an all around grill. I’ve been looking at the blaze Kamado or the Webber Summit charcoal (like Kamado). Is there one you prefer or any others you like the best?
Thanks for the review. Have you done any long cooks yet? Any additional thoughts to add about this grill?
Hi Justin, I like this grill but for the money I would still keep a big green egg or a primo in my consideration. I have not done any long cooks on this yet, my husband still prefers to use the Egg for those 🙂
Hi Robyn,
Thank you for this great review, have you ever heard of any real stories about breaking ceramic kamado grills?
and are there any difference in taste when using the Blaze kamado over the ceramic version?
Thanks!
Hi Sean, I actually have broken a mini egg before, if you search really far back into my instagram feed (@grillgirlrobyn), you can see a picture. As far as taste differences, I haven’t noticed a major difference BUT i haven’t cooked on the Blaze as often as I’ve cooked on my Egg so time will tell. feel free to email me at robyn.medlin@gmail.com to discuss further and get full opinion on the two.
Thank you so much for the informative and interesting post I like your points which you have discussed over here, great job. Thanks for sharing such a interesting post ever.
Hi Robn, thank you for you review on the aluminum kamado I was not even aware there was one until I started looking around for something like my BGE and Kamado, BUT non ceramic. Both of the ceramic units broke, but not from my grilling but by a sow Brown Bear and her two cubs. This new aluminum unit is beautiful, especially to a retired Welder! It sounds as though the leaky gaskets and damper of the Kamado have been improved, and I am looking forward to looking at one in real life before I shoot my mouth off about buying one as that’s a lot jingle! Should it be built as we are thinking they are, I will leave it in my Will!
OMG a BEAR! WOW!!! You might think about going to BBQ Guys and looking at this grill and see if they do a scratch and dent, etc to get a deal on one if you are interested in one! Who knew- a BEAR! They like Grilling too! LOL
late response but I’d recommend the Big Green Egg or a kamado Joe. I’ve had an Egg for years and love it. I cannot vouch for the customer service on a Kamado Joe.