Blaze aluminum Kamado...up close and personal

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This is another walk through video from the HPBExpo. For those that don't know, Blaze invented a kamado specifically designed to never crack. They made it out of aluminum (like the PK Grill). I've been asked about this cooker a ton...especially right after they made that video where they blew up their ceramic cooker with tannerite. Nick does a nice job of comparing and contrasting their cooker with ceramic cooker...specifically the big green egg.

Even though it's been around a while, I had never seen this one in person until that day. I have to tell you. Though I haven't cooked on it, it's obvious it's a very impressive cooker. It seems well designed and built like a tank...much thicker and heavier duty then you'd think from looking at the pictures.

https://youtu.be/aiq729NvmOM

One of the funny stories another person told me was they actually got tired of ceramic owners saying the cooker would rust out so they threw it in the ocean for a couple months and then pulled it out, power washed it, and kept right on cooking with it just to prove the point... lol. I love stuff like that.
 
I would like to see a comparison to a Broil King Keg. I've been cooking on one of the original Bubba Kegs since they first came out. Double walled insulated steel. And they start out at about half the price. More cost than a Akorn, but 10 times a better cooker. More on a quality cooking level of the BGE or a Primo.

He does have some nice features on his unit, but the cost is way up there.
Not bashing, just comparing.
 
Great video Justin! I've always been very curious about these metal kamado's and this one in particular looks great. One of the biggest issues I had with my full ceramic kamado was that I never wanted to move it out of fear of cracking it. The cast aluminium solves that problem.

He kind of danced around the "high heat" question you gave him, and I'm still curious what the temp on the outside of this kamado would be if you were smoking at 300° or similar.
 
Great video and interview.

It looks like an excellent product. My worries would be melting aluminum with a super hot fire, but he sorta covered that, and the grill getting hot.

Plain aluminum melts at 1220 ish so they must be using an alloy if they tested over 1300. I am guessing that with a KAB and a steel searing grate over it, you could do a super hot sear and not worry too much about the aluminum bits getting over 1300 even if peak local temps at the top of the fire do. A little bit of separation can make a big difference.

As for the second issue, the outside of the aluminum is going to get hotter faster than ceramic, but is that really any different than our kettles, WSM’s, drums, or steel offsets? I guess just don’t put it in a wood table.

Are the grates stainless steel or also aluminum? That is one thing I didn’t like the looks of. For most things it wouldn’t matter, but for searing I prefer a thinner grate to expose the meat to the flame. Heavy grill marks are for photographers, an even sear is the way to go for flavor and thick bars get in the way of that. A cheap steel grate to fit down by the coals would solve that issue, just a matter of finding one that fits.

Now if it were only twice the size and half the price...
 
ChrisBarb said:
Broil King Keg is pretty much the same thing. What's the hoopla all about?
Click to expand...

No it's not. The Blaze is solid aluminum. The Broil King Keg is a double wall steel.

The Golden's cast iron cooker is more similar to the Blaze construction wise, other than material obviously.
 
Justin, I may need to unsubscribe from your channel until you finish showing us all these shiny new toys. I can't afford any of them and it's quite frustrating!

I had never heard of these until your video, and they look awesome. I won't ever buy one, but I did like the video, and I looked up his "stress test" video and it was great.

I'd like to see more of these new toys in real world use, though. I'm curious about how some of these improvements are seen as compared to the tech folks have been using for the past few decades.
 
OSD said:
I would like to see a comparison to a Broil King Keg. I've been cooking on one of the original Bubba Kegs since they first came out. Double walled insulated steel. And they start out at about half the price. More cost than a Akorn, but 10 times a better cooker. More on a quality cooking level of the BGE or a Primo.

He does have some nice features on his unit, but the cost is way up there.
Not bashing, just comparing.
Click to expand...

I can't compare cooking on it but the build quality is different. The Keg is double walled with oven insulation and the Blaze is a solid piece of aluminum. The grates of the keg are (or at least used to be) cast iron with a chromed raised grate and all the grates of the blaze are 304. So the blaze would last longer (assuming the hinges don't fail) but the Keg grates are probably easier to use for doubling up since they double Upwards instead of deeper into the cooker.

The blaze is bigger and has a rotisserie and side heat source for it. The keg is going to be much more efficient. It is built very well but and should last a really long time if the porcelain coating stays in tact but I'm with molded aluminum I'm not sure where the failure points would be like...ever. Not even a gasket to fail. It's really remarkable.

Not sure if this helps or not...just thoughts off the top of my head.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
Great video Justin! I've always been very curious about these metal kamado's and this one in particular looks great. One of the biggest issues I had with my full ceramic kamado was that I never wanted to move it out of fear of cracking it. The cast aluminium solves that problem.

He kind of danced around the "high heat" question you gave him, and I'm still curious what the temp on the outside of this kamado would be if you were smoking at 300° or similar.
Click to expand...

Yeah, me too. My bet is you don't want to touch it. lol
 
m-fine said:
Great video and interview.

It looks like an excellent product. My worries would be melting aluminum with a super hot fire, but he sorta covered that, and the grill getting hot.

Plain aluminum melts at 1220 ish so they must be using an alloy if they tested over 1300. I am guessing that with a KAB and a steel searing grate over it, you could do a super hot sear and not worry too much about the aluminum bits getting over 1300 even if peak local temps at the top of the fire do. A little bit of separation can make a big difference.

As for the second issue, the outside of the aluminum is going to get hotter faster than ceramic, but is that really any different than our kettles, WSM’s, drums, or steel offsets? I guess just don’t put it in a wood table.

Are the grates stainless steel or also aluminum? That is one thing I didn’t like the looks of. For most things it wouldn’t matter, but for searing I prefer a thinner grate to expose the meat to the flame. Heavy grill marks are for photographers, an even sear is the way to go for flavor and thick bars get in the way of that. A cheap steel grate to fit down by the coals would solve that issue, just a matter of finding one that fits.

Now if it were only twice the size and half the price...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. I'm not big on huge grates either. They are 304 SS. I just double checked.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
He kind of danced around the "high heat" question you gave him, and I'm still curious what the temp on the outside of this kamado would be if you were smoking at 300° or similar.
Click to expand...


It would have to be nearly the same as the internal temp wouldn’t it?

Aluminum is a great conductor.
 
barrettd said:
Justin, I may need to unsubscribe from your channel until you finish showing us all these shiny new toys. I can't afford any of them and it's quite frustrating!

I had never heard of these until your video, and they look awesome. I won't ever buy one, but I did like the video, and I looked up his "stress test" video and it was great.

I'd like to see more of these new toys in real world use, though. I'm curious about how some of these improvements are seen as compared to the tech folks have been using for the past few decades.
Click to expand...

I would like to see that as well. It's weird how many great products there are that never seem to take off. There have been a handful that I've owned and only later realized what the problem was. It's weird this one hasn't blown up. I know it's pricy but alot of popular cookers are.

Harry soo was looking a couple of pork butts on it at the event, and he said it was a nice cooker but he didn't elaborate. I think I'm going to check with him and see if he had any more thoughts on it.
 
Justin, nice interview and walk through with the product owner.

I considered the Blaze when I was looking for a replacement for my BC Cypress. The other contenders were the Goldens' Cast Iron and the Caliber Stainless Steel. All had pros and cons, all were what I would consider newcomers to the Kamado market and for me it all came down to features and ultimately, price.

IIRC, the Blaze was considerably more than the Goldens' when the cart was factored in to the price. The other area I wasn't keen about was having to reach into the cooker and remove the grates to pull out the ash pan for cleaning. They show it as a plus, I viewed it as a minus.

Pricewise, the Caliber was even more expensive and out of my consideration. It's one heck of a good looking Kamado, though.

As folks know, I took a chance with the Goldens' and for me, it's paid off. I'm sure, had I bought a Blaze Kamado, I would have been happy with it.

The alternatives for non-ceramic Kamados are thin. It's good to see what's out there in the market and Justin's vids are certainly appreciated.

-Dom
 
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