Grilla Grills Kamado Grill Review

By Dan Wheeler on Landscape, Tool and Product Reviews

Grilla Grills Kong Ceramic Kamado Grill

Grilla Grills Kong Ceramic Kamado Grill is a high-quality grill that sells for $849.99. The Kong is a Kamado/egg-type grill that is made of heavy-duty ceramic.

Several desirable options make the Kong grill a good bang for the buck. Fueled by lump charcoal, the Kong gives excellent flavor while smoking, cooking, or roasting. Below, we will review some of the features that make the Kong stand out as a top pick for a ready-to-use Kamado type of grill.

Kong Specifications

Height: 49 in.
Width: 56 in.
Depth: 30.3 in.
Weight: 213 lbs.

Shipping

The Kong Grill ships directly to your house on a pallet-eliminating the need to lug a couple of hundred pounds home from the store in your car or truck. The Kong is packaged very well, keeping the ceramic grill safe and orderly. The packing comes apart easily, revealing all of the pieces for assembly.

Initial thoughts

When we removed the Grilla Grills Kong ceramic Kamado grill from the pallet, it appeared to be well-made. Assembly was fairly easy and didn’t take more than an hour. The black ceramic coating was eye-catching, and a great addition to our outdoor kitchen project.

Assembly

The Kong grill is fairly straightforward. If you watch The grilla grills Kong assembly video, it will help your installation go quickly. The legs, also referred to as the “nest”, are constructed from stainless steel. Stainless steel will resist rust longer than traditional steel, and also extend the life of the nest. The legs have a fairly simple design and are screwed together quickly with the included tools.

The Kong comes with high-quality double-locking castor wheels. The wheels are made from soft rubber, and are sturdy. This is the kind of rubber that will hold its place on a composite deck, but also not leave marks when moved around. Two of the castors are double locking. This means that the wheels lock from spinning, and the castor locks from turning. I found that these two double-locking castors held the grill tightly into position. This is especially important when you have a 200 lb grill that you don’t want moving around.

Stainless Mounting Straps

Unlike some Kamado’s on the market, the Kong’s top and bottom have ridges to secure the mounting straps. These ridges are in the ceramic and they allow the straps to lock into the grill. This is an important feature as some other Kamados do not have a ridge and are simply held onto the grill by the pressure of the strap.

A Kamado without a strap ridge will require a little more maintenance when it comes to keeping the straps tight so that the top does not fall to the ground and crack. With the ridges in the Kong, the chances of the top falling out of the straps are significantly less. The mounting straps and all of the hardware on the Kong are also made of rust resistant Stainless Steel.

Stainless Spring Hinge System

Grilla grills Kong ceramic Kamado grill is also equipped with a stainless steel rear opening hinge. The hinge has two springs attached which assists in helping the heavy ceramic cover open. When opening the top of the Kong this hinge system also stops the top in a perfectly neutral location where it will not hyper-extend, or come crashing down.

Stainless closing pin

Another smart feature that the Kong comes with is the stainless steel front closing pin. Although this smoker does not lock shut, the top is heavy enough to prevent smoke loss, or an animal or young child would not be able to open it. With that being said, if the top of the Kong was opened, and came crashing down, or slipped out of your hands, the shock-absorbing closing pin will reduce some of the force, which could prevent the top from cracking.

Cooking surface

Grilla grills Kong ceramic Kamado grill comes with a .19 mm thick, 304 stainless steel grid which is fairly thick for a Kamado. In addition, the front portion of each cooking grate lifts up. I can’t stress how convenient this feature is, because if you want to add more charcoal, you do not have to take everything off the cooking area.

Additionally, there is an upper and lower cooking surface. The lower cooking area is 20.5″ wide and the top level is 20″ wide. The top grid can be easily removed when not in use. While testing we found that I usually only use the lower cooking grid. In the event that I am cooking a large amount of food for a party, having that second top grid will add a lot of extra cooking space.

Temperature Control

The Kong’s temperature is controlled by the top vent wheel and the bottom air slider adjustments. Both adjustments are important as they generate a stack effect for air to flow in from the bottom and out the top.

The upper vent wheel is constructed from cast aluminum. It is easy to read and easy to adjust. There is a phillips head screw on the inside if you want to apply more or less tension. I like my grill adjustment on the tight side so that it doesn’t move.

The bottom slider is stainless steel. The slider is also easy to read and moves smoothly without getting hung up.

The temperature gauge is also easy to read and we found it accurate.

For testing, I brought the Kong to about 275°F. I used an infrared thermometer to check the inside of the grill which was also 275°F, showing that the temperature gauge is accurate. Having an accurate temperature gauge is very important when grilling, or even more so, smoking.

Functionality

Most Kamado grills are made from ceramic, meaning that thicknesses may vary. The thicker the ceramic, the better insulated the grill is. A well-insulated Kamado grill will retain heat longer, and use less charcoal. This will be especially handy on those low and slow, long overnight smokes. Although I couldn’t get a reading in the middle of the ceramics, the edges did measure 1-1/4″ thick.

When the Kong was at about 275°F, I used the infrared thermometer to take the outer temperatures of the ceramics. While the inside was 275°, the outside of the top was 165°F.

At this time the outside of the bottom read 138°F. Although these numbers can fluctuate depending on how long the Kong has been on, the testing indicated that the Kong is well insulated.

The Kong also comes with an ash tool to remove the ashes from the bottom slider, but doubles as a a charcoal tending tool, and grate flipper. You wouldn’t think such a little included accessory would be so beneficial.

Laser-etched wood shelves and handle

The Kong also includes a laser-etched wood opening handle that does not radiate heat, and allows the Kong to be opened at hot temperatures.

In addition, the laser-etched, folding wood shelves for both sides of the Kong are included at no additional cost. These shelves also are mounted with stainless steel hardware. Having shelves is a very useful included feature if you don’t want to have to build a structure to place your grilling items.

Warranty

Grilla grills provide a limited lifetime warranty on ceramics and a 4-year warranty on everything else, and customer support is based out of the USA. When compared to other Kamado grills, this is an excellent and straightforward warranty.

Room for improvement

Although the vent adjuster is nicely constructed, this type of adjuster can allow a small amount of rain or snow to make its way onto the food that you are cooking. A vent adjuster that prevents water intrusion or a vent cover would be a nice update to the Kong.

Final thoughts | Where To Buy

Grilla grills Kong ceramic Kamado grill is fueled from lump charcoal. This provides excellent smoke flavor, unmatched by my previous electric smoker. The Kong is a high-quality grill, that includes must-have features, and the black color is very attractive.

Priced at just $849.99 to your door, this is an excellent value. Compared to other kamado grills, the Kong will save you hundreds of dollars as it includes the important accessories needed to start grilling as seen in their video. Needless to say, the Kong Grill was an excellent addition to our outdoor kitchen project.