So What do I Buy?

[harleybob]

I am interested in a ceramic cooker that will
NOT be a problem. What do I buy? I sort of liked
the idea of occasional gas burner on Kamado.
What about The Green Egg. What about other Kamado
companies. Is the Kamado from San Diego, or wherever,
really that bad??
Thanks for the help.

[gladididnt]

I personally own 3 BGE'S and am very satisified with them. They have a great forum and excellant customer service (bet that phrase hasn't been used on this forum before). Have heard and read good things about KK and Primo as well. If I were buying another, it would be another BGE.
No matter what brand, except the K that is, you will wonder why you didn't buy a ceramic cooker sooner.

[foxhound]

You definitely do not want the Kamado...beyond terrible customer service, and very inconsistent quality control.

I have a KomodoKamado and it is tremendously superior to the Kamado. If you want a tiled cooker I definitely suggest that.

I am not personally experienced with the green egg, or primo, but I haven't seen anything negative on them. Not sure how they compare with each other on price, function and customer service.

[fishtail-99]

If you buy a cooker from BGE, Primo, Grill Dome or Komodo Kamado, you will be very happy. They all have good products and good customer service.

You do NOT want to buy from Kamado. In addition to the fact that they have NO customer service and many of their cookers end up having severe problems, you should ask yourself the following question:

Why would you want to do business with a man who:

1) Traveled to New Zealand and posed under an assumed name in order to steal the racing yacht Nam Sang
2) Stole $10,000 from The BBQ Guru Company
3) Stole $40,000 from Tony Oliver
4) Stole 4 container loads of charcoal from a distributor
5) Lies about the quality of his current charcoal
6) Won't answer the phone, won't return a voice mail, won't return emails and then ban you from his online forum when you post that you are having trouble getting contacting the company
7) Refuses to honor the warrantee on his defective cookers
8 ) Posts on his own forum under an assumed name to fool readers into thinking that he has a customer service representative
9) Lies to his customers about the materials used to build his cookers
10) Lies to his customers about the extent of the problems experienced by his customers
11) Is being pursued by the state of California for failing to remit sales taxes
12) Fled Indonesia in the middle of the night before he was to meet with his creditors and their lawyers, abandoning his Indonesian workers, putting them out of a job in the blink of an eye, and then told everyone the reason he left was shoddy workmanship by Indonesian workers
13) Told his customers he was moving production from Mexico to Singapore, but really moved it back to Indonesia, despite his previous comments about Indonesian workers
14) Berated BGE for manufacturing cookers in Mexico and then praised Mexico to the heavens when he moved production to Mexico

So, again, why would you buy anything from Kamado?

[harleybob]

I am thankful or finding this forum. My wife really liked the tile
cookers and when we decided to go ceramic and assumed we
would get the EGG I stumbled into the Komado website and
thought it looked pretty good and my wife wanted one for sure.
We were about to call and get talked into one, when I found
the fraud forum.
We are now considering the BGE and KK and it really comes down to
the details.
I have found the Happy Kamper KK forum they sponsor on their site.
There isn't antother fraud forum for them, now is there?

I see the BGE has a disclaimer that they will not honor any warranty
on the BGE if you buy it from an Internet dealer. Why is that and how would
those dealers get them if they were not supposed to have them.
I read the BGE warranty and it is not as complete as the dealers say it is.
Of course the Buyer has to pay for shipping back, which could be
half the cost of the cooker. There are a ton of outs for them in the warranty. The local dealers claim they company will replace anything
broken forever.

[fishtail-99]

No, no other brand of ceramic cooker has a fraud forum. That should tell you something.

As for BGE, I own several and I love them. The reason that BGE will not honor the warrantee if it is sold by an internet dealer is because some internet dealers have been shipping Eggs that are not in the original packaging from BGE. These Eggs arrive damaged as a result. When the new owner calls the internet dealer, the internet dealer tells them to call BGE and make a warrantee claim. So, BGE ends up paying for the internet dealer's incompetence. These internet dealers do not get their Eggs from BGE, they get them from distributors. The distributors have no skin in the game since the warrantee claim goes back to BGE, so they are happy to sell Eggs to anyone who wants them. The BGE warrantee is essentially as good as it gets. Go lurk on the BGE forum for a while and you will find out that BGE has done all sorts of things to help their customers that are probably not spelled out in the warrantee. As for shipping on warrantee claims, if you buy your Egg from a local dealer, that dealer will be responsible for handling your claim. Most dealers will try to help out on the shipping if you are willing to wait for them to get a regular shipment in, so that your warrantee part can be included in the regular shipment. And if your dealer doesn't live up to his responsibilities, BGE will live up to theirs. It might be an indication to you of how seriously BGE wants to please their customers that when Richard Johnson abandoned all his customers back in the 60's leaving them with worthless "lifetime warrantees", the owner of what was to become Big Green Egg (Ed Fisher) took on the warrantee responsibilities for all of Richard's ex-customers. Sort of like if Ford went out of business, GM told all Ford owners that GM would provide warrantee service to all Ford owners at no charge. So, do not worry in the slightest about the BGE warrantee.

That said, the service at Komodo Kamado is probably even better.

Based upon lurking on various forums, I think Primo and Grill Dome owners are also very happy with the customer service they get from their respective companies. So like I said, if you buy BGE, Primo, Grill Dome or Komodo Kamado, you should be very pleased.

As for the difference between BGE and Komodo Kamado, I think it would go something like:

BGE = Camry
KK = Lexus

Both very good, both get you to work, but in different leagues.

Richard Johnson Kamado = Yugo

No, wait. That's insulting the Yugo.

[bdonson]

I am one of the many unfortunate suckers who own or owned a POSK. If I get my top damper functioning again I'm going to try to sell it and buy a Komodo Kamado. I recognize many people who frequent the KK forum who were taken in like myself by RJ's fraudulent schemes. I also know people who use BGE's and enjoy them as well. It's all about what you want in your back yard. Their is no KK fraud forum, no need for one.

[tkline01]

I used to own a POSK7 but thankfully I was able to sell it before it "totally" fell apart. I now own a KomodoKamado OTB. All I can say is FANTASTIC! The quality of the KK is first class! If you want a tiled kooker than the KomodoKamado is the only choice. I paid for my KK via PayPal and 10 days later I had it on my patio...would have been sooner but Dennis had some trouble with the shipping company not liking his open crate so he had to switch to a different one. Since the KomodoKamado company stages the cookers in the US, if you buy from currently available inventory you will get it very fast. If you have questions about the KK please stop by the KK Forum and ask....lots of friendly folks glad to help.

[primeats]

As an owner of a small business, I can appreciate KK's customer service, it's our lifeblood, our bread and butter. I have many customers that have Eggs, they are happy, and I wanted one 'till I found the KK site. My wife almost bought into the RJ scheme, thank goodness I'm a late nite web surfer!? It really has paid off, lots of info on ceramics. Whatever you buy you will have a great time performing miracles in your back yard with the common, ordinary, and seemingly mundane cuts of meat and even,dare I say it, veggies. Your first pizza will make you cry, it's that good( unless you burn it,you may cry anyway, inside of course). The Meat Board should be recommending these things for all the great sales of pork shoulders, briskets and boneless chuck roast they have cooked. But just like a rose that has thorns, these suckers are heavy to move. This should spawn a whole new application for portable engine hoists. Just cash your stimulus check and DO IT! You will save money by not going out for dinner all summer! Invite guests over for a bbq( I usually end up with a couple of surplus bottles of wine or the odd 6pack hanging around(fringe benefits))

[kingofgrills]

I can only speak based off my own experiences, and I've dealt with both Kamado and Big Green Egg. I inherited an old school Kamado from the late 60's several years ago, and it was in a pretty serious state of disrepair. I am half-Japanese, and growing up closely with the Japanese-American community in the '70's, kamados weren't an uncommon sight.

Anyway, I knew I wanted it, but I had no idea they were still being made. I searched the web hoping to find salvaged parts, and I landed on Richard Johnson's Kamado web site. I repeatedly tried contacting them, by telephone and e-mail, but I didn't get an answer or response back for several weeks. Finally, I received an e-mail from Richard telling me they couldn't help me out, and he told me to contact Big Green Egg, who at that point I hadn't heard of before.

I called up BGE, and they walked me through the cooker to make sure I had all the parts I needed. Everything arrive the following week, and I was ready to go. I have since purchased a large table, countless excessories, and everything else from BGE, and I couldn't be happier. Their new grills are rock solid, and exceed the great performance of my OG (original grill ) in every way.

Needless to say, BGE now has a strong advocate in me. RJ's Kamado company is shady at best. I've asked him questions periodically throughout the years, and I never get a good vibe from him. It will all catch up to him someday, and I want no part of it.

Big Green Egg is an outstanding company, so I definitely recommend them. They have a well established dealer network, so you can typically get good local service as well. I'm sure there are other good companies as well, but since I've never dealt with them I can't say for sure.

Richard Johnson's network is himself, and that's a scary thought.

[fishtail-99]

Richard Johnson used to sell those older Kamado cookers, but he got into trouble (surprise!) and went out of business leaving all his customers with worthless "lifetime" warrantees. (Just like the warrantees his current customers have.) The company that was to become BGE took over the warrantee service for all those customers, and thus today Richard Johnson has to send owners of his older cookers to BGE for help. And the thanks Richard Johnson gives BGE? He accuses them of stealing all his ideas. He threatened them with lawsuits numerous times on is Kamado forum.

[mpit]

Am i reading this right BGE will provide some service work for Kamado? And yes I too have left countless measages and emails to Kamado and never get a response. I have purchased two Kamados and have had good luck with both but would neveer buy anything from them again.

If you choose to buy a new Kamado and need service you are screwed, period.

[mpit]

I should also add one stipulation.

If you choose to buy a kamaso, and are one of the few who actually receive it, and then need service you are still screwed

I have spoken to Linkletter on two or thre occasions and he has been more than helpful

[fishtail-99]

No BGE will not provide warrantee service for current Kamado cookers. They provide service for the older clay Kamado cookers that RJ sold back in the 60s,

[aameduri]

Hi,

Although I love the tiled KKs, money and weight made me choose a large grill dome. They were going to deliver it three days after I ordered it but I asked TK to hold up the delivery as I was going to be out of town for a few days. TK with grill dome has been great. I called him after I got my unit and did not leave a message. He got my number from call waiting and called me back anyway that evening. Now that would never happen with Mexico. Thankfully I got cold feet with our friend in Mexico from reading all the problems on their forum. Anyway, I have been very happy with my grill dome. ( and would recommend it) I should say that this is the only ceramic I have ever owned.

Dr. A ( many of my cooks are at -10F )