Here are a couple things to consider when looking at ceramic grills.
The xl egg's lump grate is approx. 17.5" in diameter. Bigger lump grates provide more flexibility with grilling cooks. A bigger lump grate means the lump does not roll up the firebox as fast. Thus, the effective area available for a level lump burn is greater. In a nutshell, you can sear steaks/burgers or grill chicken at the same temps near the edge of the cooking grid as at the middle of the cooking grid.
A larger lump grate let's you be more creative on how you divide the firebox. You don't really need a stone to zone the cook. We can divide the firebox left/right, front/back or in partial circle segments. We can shrink the firebox down in size to do small grilling cooks. Use the 17.5" lump grate's size to create a consistent 10", 12" or 16" effective grilling zone. Just need something to hold the lump. Zone or small cooks on the xl egg is one of the cooker's true secrets, more folks should take advantage of this capability.
The xl egg has more dome headroom than its common competition. This is key when trying to do multi-level cooks or push grids up. We can go 3 grids for ribs in the xl egg, with the lowest grid at the felt line. We've smoked 9 racks of ribs flat, no rib rack. Key here is the lowest grid is at the felt line - don't have to take the set-up apart to get at the ribs/food. We can't do this in any of the other common xl ceramic grills.
Many ceramics have screw in thermometers. The thermometer stem can interfere with grid space when in the dome, especially with big pizza stones. Grill manufacturers minimize the interference by selling half moon style expander grids. To me, that's wasting great space, using a half grid up in the dome. The eggs have clip in thermometers, so you can easily draw the thermometer up and out of the way, when needed. One major ceramic manufacturer switched last year to screw in thermometers. End result, can't do a brisket on the upper racks - thermometer sticks the brisket.
Any set-up that involves multiple grids, you need to consider grid spacing and placement. If grid spacing is less than 4 inches and the top grid is at the felt line, it's a hassle set-up. Half grid configurations can compound the hassle. It's best to get grids up whenever possible for easier access to the lower grid. Again, this is where the xl egg's headroom is a plus.
Lifting a loaded 24" grid set-up (stone, grid(s), food, platform) out of a grill is just asking for trouble. It's a lot to ask of your hands to act as folgrum points with such a wide load. On average, most bbq cooks are simple one grid cooks - brisket, couple butts or 3 racks or ribs. Again, we use the xl egg's high dome to set-up above the fire ring. With the entire set-up above the fire ring, you can access the lump, open the cooker up for better airflow and see under the indirect stone to check the lump. Once the set-up is in the egg, you are done dealing with it.
I'm not sure if these points make sense, I did them quickly. Safe to say, we've run a large number of ceramic style grills through our shop: chargiller, big green egg, primo, kamado joe, vision, grill dome, pit boss and new weber summit. If I could be pick on and trick it out, it's the xl egg.
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