Clay vessels have been used by humans to cook food for many thousands of years. Clay cooking pots have been found in every part of the world and some of the earliest dated by Archaeologists to be over 3000 years old have been found in China.
All over the globe the elementary clay cooking vessel has evolved in many different ways, the tandoor for example in India and in Japan, the Mushikamado; a device designed to steam rice for ceremonial occasions. It is believed that it is this circular clay cooking vessel that is the origin of the modern Kamado with space age ceramic materials having taken over from clay.
The Mushikamado was typical of southern Japan and took the shape of a round clay pot with a removable domed clay lid. Further innovations for the basic clay pot included a damper and draft door for easy temperature control and it was charcoal fired as opposed to wood.
Americans first started to take an interest in it after the World War II but it wasn't until the 1960's when Richard Johnson patented his improved ceramic design that the commercial potential of the Mushikamado was fully exploited. The name Kamado name was also trade marked by Johnson but the word has become a somewhat generic term for this style of ceramic barbecue.
Modern Kamado style ceramic barbecues are made of high fire ceramics and some such as the Big Green Egg use space age ceramics for heat retention performance and resistance from cracking during exposure to the elements. In addition, the original paint has now been replaced by a high gloss ceramic glaze.
Kamado grills are lump wood charcoal burners however there are some modern examples of electric and gas fired versions. Just as one of the claims of the ceramic construction is that there is no flavour contamination such as a metallic taste to the cooked food, lump wood charcoal is the preferred choice for modern kamado because of the lack of additives typical of briquettes. Interestingly lump wood charcoal can be manufactured in an environmentally sustainable manner using the technique of coppicing but be careful on this point, not all charcoal is manufactured in this way.
Manufacturers of the kamado style ceramic cookers claim that they are extremely versatile in that one can do a pizza (on a pizza stone) or even bake bread as well as the usual grilling and smoking. This is by virtue of the excellent heat retention properties of the ceramic shell that mean temperatures of up to 750°F can be achieved.
Manufacturers of kamado barbecues claim that they are extremely versatile and forgiving; I have to say that I've yet to try one but it's certainly sparked an interest and I'm going to have to buy one. The manufacturers claim that smoking can be done in a much shorter time frame without constant tending of the fire and that's a plus for me but because of this it may not be possible to use regular outdoor smoker recipes. From what I've found out so far most kamado's are supplied with an instruction booklet and a selection of free barbecue recipes. The only drawback I have found so far is the price - they're not cheap but if they're that good, maybe we don't need to be too concerned?
About the Author
Kamado Barbecue Recipes - Free BBQ grill recipes & meat smoker cooking ideas on the ceramic barbecue.
Free BBQ Recipes - Outdoor grilling tips, easy fire pit menus, healthy rotisserie suggestions, best homemade bbq sauce recipes.
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