Char-Griller AKORN Auto-Kamado Smart Charcoal BBQ Grill & Smoker, Grey, Extra Large

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.

I have been using Weber Kettle grills for years. The Akorn is a step up. The Akorn is well insulated, so almost no heat loss and with a fixed top much better than the original kettle. It does get hot, over 600 degrees if you don't control the vents. I like the cast iron grates and very pleased with my purchase. It took me 1 hour to put together and the box it came in was very thick cardboard with foam separating the different items. Warm or cold weather does not affect it.Great 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.