Kamado Bono 23 inch Grande

Is the Kamado Bono 23 inch Grande worth buying?

Yes, the Kamado Bono 23 inch Grande is worth buying at £949 for anyone who regularly cooks for ten or more people, and it is the wrong £949 if the household is two. The 23-inch ceramic egg carries 1,860 cm² of cooking area, burns charcoal and comes with a lifetime warranty on the ceramics.

Two things separate it from a cheap egg grill: the size of the grid and the finish of the body. Black ceramic with a stainless steel handle, two side tables and its own free-standing base means it needs no extra trolley or bench once it is built. Buyers who want a smaller footprint and a smaller bill should look at the 15-inch Kamado Bono Minimo at £399.

What does 1,860 cm² of cooking area give you on the Grande?

Eighteen and a half hundreds of cm² go into 1,860 cm², so at £949 the Grande costs £51.02 for every 100 cm² of grid. That 1,860 cm² is 288.35 square inches of ceramic surface, which is 829 cm² more cooking area than the £1,316.34 Kamado Joe Classic II offers.

On the patio that grid means a large joint with a second tray cooking beside it, with the two side deflectors splitting the surface into a direct half and an indirect half. KAMADO BONO builds the Grande to feed ten or more, so it is a party cooker rather than a weeknight grill, and the price per 100 cm² only pays off when the grid is full.

What comes with the Kamado Bono 23 inch Grande?

The Grande brings a 23-inch ceramic grill, a charcoal grate, a fibreglass gasket seal around the lid, two side deflectors for the two-zone set-up, a ceramic chicken sitter, a rain cover and an ash remover, plus two side tables. That covers grilling, smoking and baking without a second order.

Assembly is required, and the finished grill stands free on its own wheeled base at 77 cm deep, 59 cm wide and 93 cm high. At 100 kg it should be built where it will live, and a fire poker, a grill gripper and extra charcoal are separate purchases.

Where does the Kamado Bono 23 inch Grande fall short?

At 100 kg the Grande is a permanent fixture, and fitting the ceramics onto the base takes two people on a level, firm spot before the first cook. A 23-inch ceramic body cannot be walked across a lawn on a whim once the lid is on.

Its £51.02 per 100 cm² is not the cheapest grid on the market, and the 21-inch Kamado Bono undercuts it while giving 402 cm² more cooking area. Only 89 buyers have rated the Grande so far, against thousands on the steel kamados, so there is less owner experience to draw on.

How does the Grande compare with the 21-inch Kamado Bono and the Char-Griller AKORN Jr?

Against the 21-inch Kamado Bono at £849, the Grande costs £100 more and gives 402 cm² less grid, so the smaller-sounding grill is the better buy for a crowd. The Grande earns its place with a buyer set on the 23-inch body, the 59 cm width and the rain cover and ash remover in the box.

Set against the Char-Griller AKORN Jr at £169.99, the Grande adds 860 cm² of cooking area for £779.01 more and adds 83.8 kg of weight. The steel AKORN Jr at 16.2 kg is the pick for anyone who moves the grill to a campsite or a car boot, while the Grande is the pick for a fixed patio cooking station.