Louisiana Grills 61240 24″ Kamado BBQ Ceramic Grill Cooker Review
Louisiana Grills is a high-quality outdoor cooking products manufacturer that designs their line to appeal to backyard chefs who want only the best sitting on their deck or patio. While much of their focuses on traditional smokers and direct fire grills, they do also offer some innovative options.
You see that in spades with their 61240 24-Inch Ceramic Kamado BBQ and Grill. Like many of the best Kamado grills, it uses a double-walled ceramic body to capture the heat produced by the charcoal, for maximum efficiency.
The damper system allows you to dial the heat down for slow and low barbecue dishes like pork shoulders, ribs, and spatchcocked chicken. Yet you can also dial it up for rip-roaring high heat capable of grilling a pizza or perfectly searing a steak.
It also lets you monitor the internal heat dynamics via a highly accurate thermometer built into the ceramic lid. The hinges are also built with special springs which reduce the weight load to the handle. The net result is a lid that opens easily without a lot of exertion by the user.
The Louisiana Grills 24-Inch Kamado comes with a pair of folding bamboo side tables which are large enough to hold most prep and serving platters. The base is also firmly connected to a stainless steel cart base with easy to move wheels.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
Louisiana Grills continues to grow its presence in the backyard grill and barbecue industry by hanging its hat on quality materials and engineering. You see this reflected in pretty much every aspect of the 61240 24-Inch Kamado.
The springs in the lid, the accurate thermometer, the dual walled ceramic body, the folding bamboo side tables and the stainless steel cart base with wheels all speak to this high-quality theme. If there is one thing that you might take as a minor knock on this unit it’s the stainless steel cooking grates.
Many other high-quality Kamado grill manufacturers in this price range will offer cast iron grids with a non-stick coating. A few even include special accessory tools and things like a cordite pizza stone. Still, you shouldn’t let this be a deal-breaker for you. There are many aftermarket manufacturers who sell cast iron grill grates that either come with a non-stick hydrocarbon seasoning layer or are specially coated with non-stick porcelain.
Assembling the Louisiana Grills 61240 24-Inch Kamado isn’t all that complicated. You can tell the designers put some extra effort into making the instructions easy to read. There are a few tricky parts with connecting the ceramic body to the cart base. When you consider how heavy it is, you will definitely need a friend or three to help you put it all together safely.
Grilling Performance
Like most quality Kamado grills the Louisiana Grills 61240 is very versatile. It’s also worth noting that Louisiana Grills designed the 24-Inch Kamado to work on high-quality jumbo lump charcoal which is known for imparting a superior smoky flavor. However, it also has a penchant for flareups and temperature control problems.
They address these potential problems with a numerated damper system which allows you to accurately control the amount of air that affects the burning charcoal. At the same time, the upper damper allows you to control just how much heat and smoke escape. This provides you an easy to control the flame, that imparts maximum flavor and smoke characteristics to the food.
Grilling Areas
Straight out of the box the Louisiana Grills 24-Inch Kamado comes with a two-tiered stainless steel grill grate system. This gives you a combined 567 square inches of grilling real estate.
The upper tier can be a little inconvenient depending on what you are grilling. If you want, it’s easy to remove and you will still be able to enjoy 450 square inches of grate space. This is still more than enough to grill hamburger patties for six or more people.
Special Features
The numerated damper system might not look all that special. Still, it gives you superior air, heat, and smoke control. It also allows you to produce consistent heat dynamics from one grilling session to the next.
You also shouldn’t overlook the bamboo side shelves. Some similar grills use plastic or lesser hardwoods, which can be prone to abrasions and scratches. If you cut a piece of chicken on them, bacteria can work their way down into the microscopic cracks where they are hard to kill. Bamboo offers superior hardness and abrasion resistance which reduces chances of accidental cross-contamination between grilling sessions.
Ease to Clean
The efficient burn of the Louisiana Grills 24-Inch Kamado, and the fact that it’s designed to burn jumbo lump charcoal, leaves you with ash that is easy to clean out of the lower catchment. The ceramic interior also means that you don’t have to worry about long-term corrosion issues from drippings like you often do with metal interior grills.
The one knock on this kamado grill when it comes to the cleanup is the sticky nature of the stainless steel grates. Lightly oiling them before putting down a lean piece of meat will reduce the amount of scraping you need to do at the end of a grilling session. Just pay extra attention to clean the areas where the upper grid tier connects to the lower.
Warranty
The Louisiana Grills 24-Inch Kamado grill comes with a 5-year warranty. This is pretty much on par with competitor grills in this same price range and size.
Conclusion
The Louisiana Grills 24-Inch Kamado is a quality grill that offers the versatility and long-term staying power you want to see in an investment of this magnitude. It has all the engineering features and quality materials you need to see a nice return on your investment. The fact that it truly works consistently with jumbo lump charcoal is a nice touch that you shouldn’t overlook.
The only real knock on this grill is the stainless steel grates instead of porcelain-coated cast iron. Still, you have options for replacement grates that won’t break the bank.
