What 227 grills and smokers are actually like to own

The Big Green Egg Large is the most popular size of the iconic ceramic kamado cooker, capable of grilling, smoking, roasting, and baking. Big Green Egg is the brand that brought kamado cooking to the American mainstream.

The Big Green Egg XLarge is the crowd-size version of the iconic ceramic kamado, with a 24-inch grate that swallows two packer briskets or four whole chickens side by side. Same thick ceramic and lifetime warranty as the Large - nearly double the cooking area.

The Big Green Egg MiniMax packs the full ceramic kamado experience into a 19.5-inch-tall tabletop cooker that ships with its own carrier. It's the Egg for balconies, tailgates, and campsites - same 750°F ceiling, a quarter of the footprint.

The Kamado Joe Classic III is an 18-inch ceramic kamado loaded with innovations like the 3-tier Divide and Conquer system, SloRoller smoke chamber, and a single-finger Air Lift hinge. It's the feature-rich rival to the Big Green Egg.

The Kamado Joe Joe Jr. is a compact 13.5-inch portable ceramic kamado that brings full kamado versatility to small spaces, balconies, tailgates, and camping. It's the most portable cooker in the Kamado Joe line.

The 14-inch sibling of the Classic already in the catalog, rebuilt in 2026 as the Premier series. It is the same sealed drum design — charcoal basket in the base, meat hung from rods on hooks rather than laid on a grate — shrunk to a 14-inch barrel that Pit Barrel rates at four to eight people or up to six racks of ribs hung vertically. The Premier revision adds an elevated lid handle, a detachable single-tier heat shield so it can sit on a deck, and an attachable ash pan; it ships with the hook tool as standard, which used to be an upsell.

Built in Columbia, Missouri, and the drum that Meathead's AmazingRibs put on the map. Its distinguishing part is the patented Vortex charcoal basket, which spins the intake air around the fire instead of straight up through it, and a single lever-operated intake with a printed scale so you can return to a known setting rather than guessing at a ball valve. The grate rides on a five-position pin lock and stays level while you move it, and all the grates and external hardware are 304 stainless rather than chrome-plated mild steel.

The Pit Barrel Cooker Classic is an 18.5-inch porcelain-coated drum smoker that hangs meat vertically over the coals on hooks. It's beloved in owner discussions for being nearly foolproof - light it, hang the meat, and walk away.

Pit Barrel's largest drum and the one the catalog is missing at the top end: a 22.5-inch porcelain-coated barrel with three hanging rods and sixteen hooks against the Classic's two rods and eight. Pit Barrel rates it at 16 to 20 racks of ribs, four pork butts, four full packer briskets or four turkeys in a single load, which is catering and competition capacity rather than backyard capacity. The trade-off is the one Pit Barrel prints on the page themselves: with a light load there is less meat absorbing heat, so the barrel runs hotter than the 18.5.

Cookshack build electric cabinets the way commercial kitchens do, and the Smokette Elite is the smallest one: double-walled stainless around 850°F Spin-Glas insulation, so the outside stays cool and the inside holds a set temperature through weather that shuts down a thin-walled cabinet. Smoke comes from a couple of ounces of real wood chunks in a steel box on the element, not chips or pucks - you load it once for the whole cook. 504 sq in over two 14 x 18 in grills, 20-25 lbs of meat, a digital cook-and-hold controller and a meat probe, on four lockable casters.

The big Cookshack: same double-walled stainless and 850°F Spin-Glas insulation as the Smokette Elite, scaled to four 14 x 18 in grills, 1,008 sq in and a 50 lb meat capacity, with two-position side racks so you can reconfigure the interior for tall cuts. The digital cook-and-hold controller and meat probe carry over. At $2,375 it is priced against a good offset or a high-end pellet grill, and what it buys instead is an insulated box that will run all night at 225°F in any weather without you touching it.

The Monument Grills Mesa 415BZ is a value-oriented 4-burner stainless gas grill with a Broil Zone sear burner, a clear-view lid window, and a side burner. Monument is a fast-growing direct-to-retail brand. Note: this model is no longer sold new as of 2026. Its current equivalent is the Monument Grills Mesa II 415BZ.

The Napoleon Rogue XT 525 SIB is a 4-burner propane gas grill with an infrared Sizzle Zone side burner for searing. Napoleon is a Canadian brand known for stainless construction and wave-pattern grates.

The Weber Smokey Mountain is the legendary bullet-shaped charcoal water smoker that has been the 'first real smoker' recommendation for decades. Two stacked grates and a water pan turn out competition-quality BBQ for under $500.

The Ninja Woodfire Pro Connect XL is a 7-in-1 electric outdoor grill, smoker, and air fryer that burns a small box of real wood pellets for flavor while cooking on electric heat. It's owner discussions's go-to answer for balconies and apartments where charcoal and gas are banned.

The Kamado Joe Big Joe III is the 24-inch flagship of Kamado Joe's ceramic lineup - everything the Classic III does, scaled up to brisket-and-a-half capacity, with the 3-tier Divide & Conquer rack system, SloRoller smoke chamber, and a heavy-duty rolling cart included.

Char-Griller's answer to the Weber kettle: a 22-inch porcelain-coated bowl with adjustable top and bottom vents and a removable EasyDump ash pan, at $150 against Weber's $229 for the Original Kettle Premium. It weighs 23 lbs, about 10 lbs less than the Weber, which is a build-quality difference as much as a portability one.

The same cabinet, racks and bisquette feeder as the Original, with a digital controller that sets temperature, cook time and smoke time as three independent numbers and a thermostat that actually holds the set point. That last part is the reason to pay the $160 difference: the Original's dial is a power setting, this one closes the loop. Ceiling rises slightly to 280°F.

The Weber Master-Touch 22 is the upgraded version of Weber's iconic charcoal kettle, adding a hinged Gourmet BBQ System grate, a built-in thermometer, and a Tuck-Away lid holder. It's a benchmark backyard charcoal grill.

The Char-Griller Akorn is a budget kamado-style grill that uses triple-wall insulated steel instead of ceramic to deliver kamado-like efficiency at a fraction of the price. It's the popular gateway into kamado cooking.

The Blackstone 36-inch is the best-selling outdoor flat-top griddle in America, a 4-burner propane cooking station with a huge rolled-steel cooktop. It's the go-to for smash burgers, breakfast, hibachi, and big-batch cooking.

The Blackstone 28-inch is the compact 2-burner version of America's favorite outdoor griddle, offering the same flat-top cooking in a smaller footprint suited to smaller patios and families. It's a top-selling entry griddle.

The Weber Original Kettle Premium 22 is the iconic charcoal kettle that started backyard grilling in America, upgraded with a built-in thermometer, hinged grate, and sealed One-Touch ash catcher. It's the single most-recommended first grill in owner discussions.

The Weber Slate 36 is Weber's flagship flat-top griddle, pairing a pre-seasoned rust-resistant carbon steel cooktop with four independent burners, a built-in digital cooktop thermometer, and the storage and side tables that made it an instant Blackstone rival.