Kamado Grill Size Confusion

  • Just how big is the Kamado grill?

    This can be pretty confusing. Here's a quick summary to help sort out the confusion.

    The name brands such as Kamado Joe and Big Green Egg(BGE) talk about size such as 18 or 24 inch in terms of the main grill diameter. With other brands it is not so clear such as Pit Boss 24 inch (K24) which is actually the size measured from the outside of the ceramic dome which has an actual grill size @20 inches.

    The main sizes out there are 13, 18, 20 and 24 inch diameter grills

    13 - 33cm
    Joe Jr (Kamado Joe)
    Small (BGE)

    14 - 36cm
    Chargriller Akorn Jr. Kamado Kooker

    18 - 46cm
    Kamado Joe Classic
    Large (BGE)
    Auplex 18 - Sold under different names such as Chargriller Ceramic (Bunnings), Smoke Kings BBQ large, Bear Grills Large and more on ebay

    20/21
    Chargiller Akorn (Bunnings), Dragon (BBQ Galore), Pit Boss K24 (Costco), Auplex 21 - Sold under different names such as Smoke Kings BBQ XL, Bear Grills XL

    24 - 61cm
    Big Joe (Kamado Joe), XLarge (BGE), Auplex 23.5

    How much can I cook?

    13" = 148.5 sq inches cooking area
    14" = 153 sq inches cooking area
    18" = 254 sq inches cooking area
    20" = 314 sq inches which is 24% more than 18"
    24" = 452 sq inches which is 78% more than 18" and 44% more than 20"

    An Akorn Jr has 3% more cooking space than a Joe Jr,
    A 24" Big Joe Kamado has nearly double the cooking space of a Kamado Joe Classic and nearly 50% more cooking space than a a Pit Boss 24 inch (K24).
    A Chargriller Akorn has 24% more cooking space than a Chargriller ceramic.

    Akorn Jr 14"

    Kamado Joe Classic 18"

    Akorn 20"

    BGE XL 24"

    Big Green Egg (BGE):

    Edited 12 times, last by 12x7 (March 10, 2019 at 9:52 PM).

  • Very helpful post 12x7, I'll pin this to make it easy to find.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Interesting, particularly the Pit Boss. I was sure the Big Joe looked much bigger in person than the PB but I put it down to not seeing them side by side. Good to know!

    Royal Kamado, Primo Oval XL, Akorn jr, GMG Daniel Boone and Pit Barrel Cooker

  • How much can I cook?


    18" = 254 sq inches cooking area
    20" = 314 sq inches which is 24% more than 18"
    24" = 452 sq inches which is 78% more than 18" and 44% more than 20"

    A 24" Big Joe Kamado has nearly double the cooking space of a Kamado Joe Classic and nearly 50% more cooking space than a a Pit Boss 24 inch (K24).
    A Chargriller Akorn has 24% more cooking space than a Chargriller ceramic.

    I take that as surface area and i gather it does not take into account any other racks?

    Gasser Webber Q, Kamado Joe clasic, Dragon & Acorn, Webber Kettle, Fire Pit, Beer Keg smoker/cooker.

  • I take that as surface area and i gather it does not take into account any other racks?

    Yes, that's the main grill cooking area.

    It gets really complicated for some models/brands such as Kamado Joe and BGE to work out the cooking surface area as they can be optioned out with so many cooking layers which can nearly 3x to 4x increase the cooking area.

    eg. BGE triple layer grill eggcessory

  • Old thread, not sure why it popped up in my feed, but where does the Akorn Jr fit? That wasn't around when this thread was made.



    Traeger - Weber Family Q - Ziggy Twin Burner - Charcoal Grill - Akorn Kamado - Hark Tri Fire - Jumbuck Pizza Oven - Go Anywhere - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Hibachi Grill - Anova Sous Vide x 2

  • Old thread, not sure why it popped up in my feed, but where does the Akorn Jr fit? That wasn't around when this thread was made.

    The Akorn Jr. Kamado Kooker has 153 square inches (14" diameter) of cast iron grill space.
    The Akorn Jr. Kamado Kooker has 389 square centimetres (35.6cm diameter) of cast iron grill space.

    So one inch grill diameter larger than small BGE or Joe Jr

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