Meet Bubba —- thick of gut, square of shoulder, with a stance like a tight end. He knows his way around a trailer hitch, and is always ready to pop a cold beer or two. He's just the kind of good ol' boy you'd expect to meet at your next backyard barbecue.
"Everyone's got a little Bubba in him," says Smyrna businessman Jim Scott, patting the ample belly of the Bubba Keg —- a powder-coated steel grill that looks precisely like a beer keg on wheels.
"It's irreverent," Scott explains. "You want to have some fun with it."
Yet this Bubba has a serious side as well. Thanks to distribution deals with Atlanta-based Home Depot and other big-box retailers, Scott's company hopes to blow open the market for such bulbous grill/smokers —- called "kamados" —- one long dominated by Tucker-based Big Green Egg.
This barbecue season, it's Keg vs. Egg. May the best grill win.
"We look at it as flattery," Big Green Egg retail manager Bobby Cresap says dryly. "Egg-heads," as the cooker's fans call themselves, are a fiercely partisan lot.
When it comes to high-end back yard grilling, Atlanta is an industry hotspot —- a world center for research and development into the kamado. Despite prices that top $600 or more, it's the only style of outdoor grill that is selling better this year than last, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association.
Along with top-dog Big Green Egg, there's the Primo Grill. This second-best selling brand of kamado is manufactured and sold from a Norcross ceramics factory. And now Bubba Keg, which went on sale this spring in more than 300 Home Depot stores in 21 states, hopes to pry the market open with its competitive price and guy-friendly design innovations, including not one but two bottle openers tucked beneath its latch.
The Egg came first
Charcoal-fueled kamados, based on a 3,000-year-old Asian design, circulate heated air through a large domed space and can be easily regulated for many methods of cooking and a vast range of temperatures. But most importantly to many customers, they look great —- solid, sculptural, seriously fun .
"Our customers are mostly upper-middle-class homeowners," says Primo Grill owner George Samaras. His grill, he notes, is an upgrade from a Weber kettle and a nice piece of patio furniture to boot.
After a dozen years in which Americans have favored gas grills, all the research is pointing to a comeback for charcoal. The kamado, though, has held a decades-long allure for many grilling maestros.
As the story goes, GIs stationed in Japan after World War II discovered the fired-clay ovens and began shipping them home. The cookers caught the attention of Atlantan Ed Fisher, who opened a small Chamblee shop in 1974 to sell them.
Over the next two decades, working with Japanese manufacturers, he modified the design, but always came across one major drawback: The clay cracked at high temperatures.
But by 1994, Fisher was employing the same "space age" composite used on the NASA space shuttle heat tiles. These cookers could withstand any temperature, Fisher promised, and offered a lifetime warranty on each. For the identifying glaze, he chose his favorite color. Hello, Big Green Egg.
Kamado culture grows
Then an unusual thing happened: The Bubba-foodie coalition formed. Veteran BBQers became fans of this 140-pound, heat-radiating beast that held the "low and slow" temperatures needed for hardwood smoking. Then gourmets learned that with the right expensive accessories, this oddly beautiful ovoid could bake bread or cookies, turn out pizzas and stir-fries and roast turkeys.
Fisher began staging annual "Eggtoberfests," with enthusiasts descending on the company headquarters and showing off their cooking talents. The most recent attracted 1,500 people.
Today, Big Green Egg is far and away the largest seller of kamado grills in the United States. The company won't release sales figures, but it distributes in 26 countries and reports year-over-year double-digit growth.
The second-best seller, to the tune of 8,000-9,000 units annually, is the Primo Grill, made with a ceramics recipe that includes Georgia red clay. It is the only kamado manufactured in the United States.
"Most of the grills we sell are oval," says company owner Samaras . What makes the oval shape special? Samaras offers a picture in response: A pig curled atop the grill's surface like a dog sleeping in front of the hearth. "That pig was 47 pounds!" he boasts.
The oval shape also allows owners to add specific elements for more advanced cooking options and better control of indirect heat. And like the Big Green Egg, it can be accessorized with scores of doodads to extend its cachet and give it that high-end patio look.
'What does Bubba want?'
At Bubba Keg headquarters in Smyrna, it's a different story. Grill geeks will have to wait for a heat diffuser or other accessories. Right now it's all about the target customer.
"We ask ourselves: What does Bubba want?" says Scott.
Surely, Bubba likes that a wheel stand and side tables come standard with the $599 grill. And he must be thrilled with its simple trailer hitch attachment. "You can take it to a tailgate, the beach or a campsite," says Scott.
But the Bubba Keg is made from a less tested material —- insulated steel. Scott's company, In Zone, has long produced a line of Bubba Keg mugs and coolers. After three years of work, they transferred the basic technology, building the cooker with two layers of steel sandwiching a core of Fiberglass.
Clint Caldwell, a New York state barbecue champion, says he is impressed with the Bubba Keg's portability and performance , but worried about its long-term viability. "I'd like to see how it holds up to the elements," Caldwell said. "What happens if you scratch the protective coating on the steel? I'd worry about rust."
Your basic Bubba may not be as worried. But first the Keg has to catch his eye. At a local Home Depot, it competed for eyeballs with lines of Weber and Brinkman grills lined up like shiny toy soldiers. The Bubba Keg sat somewhat forlornly nearby, looking like R2D2 on a hostile planet.
But In Zone president Gunnar Olson thinks it's only a matter of time for the grills to catch on. "The Bubba Keg improves your back yard living space and is primed for growth in this down economy," he says assuredly.
"Besides," he adds, "man's at his most Bubba when he's grilling."
Bubba Keg
Price: $599
Material: Insulated steel
Pluses: Comes with a stand, cast-iron grate, dual-level grill surface and side tables as standard equipment; easy to move; relatively lightweight; easily attaches to trailer hitch; looks like a party; funny name.
Minuses: Untested over time; side tables seem flimsy; no accessories; do you really want something called "Bubba Keg" on your patio?
Big Green Egg (Large)
Price: $749
Material: Glazed ceramic
Pluses: Leading brand with wide distribution; loads of accessories to extend functionality; iconic design; sense of community fostered by online forums, cooking classes at the headquarters and "Eggfests" now held all over the country.
Minuses: All accessories are extra; not readily portable.
Primo Grill (Oval Junior)
Price: $770
Material: Glazed ceramic
Pluses: Oval shape accommodates long cuts of meat; oval shape makes for easy indirect cooking; made in Georgia.
Minuses: Most expensive grill; all accessories are extra; not readily portable.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
