Cooking Methods

The Big Daddy Kamado grill is great for both Direct and Indirect cooking, however, it is much better suited for indirect cooking and smoking. Initially, use a high temperature to brown the meat, and then reduce the heat by partially closing both the slide-door and the top vent to required settings as described before. The dome lid is always to remain closed during actual grilling. Practice will enable you to set and maintain the temperature as easily as in your grill. Use the lid thermometer as a guide to adjusting the temperature. With a ceramic cooker as the Big Daddy Kamado is, the heat does not dissipate as in metal bodied grills: therefore, not as much fuel is needed, and cooking time is reduced. The heat circulates in a manner which cooks your meat from the top as well as from the bottom, so a rotisserie is never needed. Of course, whenever you are grilling meats such as steaks, chicken pieces, ribs, and hamburgers etc., turn meat over half way through the cooking time.

Direct cooking

Commonly used for traditional barbecuing:

Spread lighted charcoal evenly on the Charcoal Plate and place food directly on the grill over the lit section. Observe cooking process and turn food over as required to achieve uniform cooking. The direct cooking method is recommended for steaks, chops, sausages, and hamburgers, as well as vegetables.

Indirect cooking

Place the food to be cooked in a pan or a baking dish. Depending on preferred method, food can be placed inside dish over a rack with or without liquids added.

Put the dish over the cooking grill inside the lighted grill, and close the lid.

Allow the heat inside (adjustments can be made as described above) to cook food all around.

Turning of food is not necessary.

This is a slower way of cooking food, suitable for larger meat cuts such as roasts.

NOTE: it is better to add faster-cooking foods (such as soft vegetables) to the dish a bit later in the process, to ensure all food is cooked at same time.

As A Smoker

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages in owning a Big Daddy Kamado grill is that you will be able to prepare your own smoked meats. A handful or two of moistened hickory chips added to the glowing charcoals is all that’s required for gourmet dishes to please the most discerning taste.

The more wood chips added to the charcoal, the stronger the smoke flavor. Be sure to use whole chips or chucks of wood and not pulverized or saw-dust wood chips.

A few green leaves or fresh twigs from a fruit-wood tree or Alderwoods tree will delicately and delightfully season meats when sprinkled over the charcoal.