AmazingRibs.com is supported by our Pitmaster Club. Also, when you buy with links on our site we may earn a finderโ€™s fee. Click to see how we test and review products.

Kudu Grill Review

All of our reviews are done independently by our team of testers and are in no way influenced by advertising or other monetary compensation from manufacturers. Click here to learn more about our unbiased product review process.

Share on:
Kudu Grill

The KUDU Grill is a 29″ diameter steel fire bowl on four legs with two “elevation” bars attached to the sides. The company switched from powder coating to a nano-ceramic coating which they believe is superior. It comes with a 19″ diameter expanded metal cooking grate and a 16″ diameter 2.8″ deep cast iron pan. The cooking grate is 115 square inches and the cast iron pan is 82 square inches for a total of 197 square inches of cooking surface. Both the grate and pan attach to the elevation bars and may be raised, lowered or swung away from the fire to expose foods to higher or lower cooking temperatures (see below).

Black metal fire bowl on an outdoor patio. A wood fire is inside the fire bowl. Two round cooking grates with food are positioned above the fire.

The legs are removable so you can use the KUDU as a traditional, ground level fire bowl. Drop the grate and pan into the legless bowl, unscrew the elevation bars, and the KUDU also becomes portable for camping and tailgating.

Inspired by South African “Braais,” or barbecues where people gather round the fire, KUDU refers to its fun, open-air, fire bowl as “South African TV”  (see below). If you’re interested in this type of cooking, click here to read How to Grill With Wood and Master Campfire Cooking.

People stiing around a blazing fire bowl at night. An auto mobile is in the background.

Some chefs, like Atlanta’s award winning chef Kevin Gillespie (shown below), love to stand behind the KUDU podium while grilling and serving guests.

A bearded man with a red hat stands behind a black metal bowl on legs filled with burning wood.

The adjustable position cooking surfaces provide some temperature control for this brazier style cooker.

A round cooking grate holding grilled chicken and a round pan filled wih chopped vegetables.

On the downside, ambient weather conditions such as wind and rain make it more difficult to control temperature on the KUDU. And where do juicy, greasy drippings go when you swing that cooking grate away from the fire? Hopefully not your deck. If you’re not cooking in the bush, protect your decking or pavers by placing KUDU on a large grill mat. When cooking on a deck or patio, Kudu recommends not swinging the grill grate outside of the base and just raising it higher up on the elevation bars.

Whether kept indoors or outdoors with a cover and/or an optional lid (see below), KUDU will require some extra care to ward off rust. The Owner’s Manual cautions, “it is very important that you continually season your grill after each use by applying a food based cooking oil. Simply take a small towel and gently apply oil to your KUDU. Over time, this practice will season the grill components just like your grandmother’s favorite cast iron pan.” Anyone who uses cast iron pans knows how quickly they rust without proper maintenance. If you keep KUDU outdoors, a cover makes a wise investment.

Here’s the optional “Smoker Lid” which is very useful for any foods that need to cook for longer duration over moderate heat. When done cooking, place the lid over the hot coals to extinguish the fire and save the fuel for next time.

A shiny metal dome with a handle on top.

Additional grates, pans, side shelf, tools and merchandise are also available.

Though Kudu has some unique attributes, such as the removable legs that bring it up to cooking height, the general concept of integrating movable cooking surfaces with a fire bowl is hardly anything new. The original MSRP of $700 has dropped to $500, good news for buyers, but keep in mind optional items like the Smoker Lid will drive up the final cost. Be that as it may, Kudu has a number of enthusiastic fans.

This souped-up brazier comes with a five year warranty on fire pan burn-through, the elevation bars, leg assembly, grill rack, and pan insert, and a two year warranty on all remaining parts.

Haven't found what you want?
Click the buttons below to search our complete database of reviews:

Product Information:

  • Model:
    Kudu Grill
  • Item Price :
    500.00
    *Price Subject To Change
  • Where to buy (buying from this supplier supports this website):
  • Made in USA:
    yes
  • Review Method:
    Looked Closely At It
    We have seen this product up close and we have also gathered info from the manufacturer, owners, and other reliable sources.
  • Primary Function:
    Grill, Griddle grills, Tailgater
  • Fuel:
    Charcoal, Logs
  • Primary Capacity:
    Small (about 9 burgers) : 197 square inches

Manufacturer:

6/23/2023

Published On: 7/3/2018

  • Max Good, AmazingRibs.com’s Full-Time Grill Tester - Max Good is AmazingRibs.com's Vice President of Product Reviews & Keeper of the Flame and is the world's only full-time reviewer of outdoor cooking equipment including smokers, grills, pizza ovens, griddles, and more.

 

High quality websites are expensive to run. If you help us, weโ€™ll pay you back bigtime with an ad-free experience and a lot of freebies!

Millions come to AmazingRibs.com every month for high quality tested recipes, tips on technique, science, mythbusting, product reviews, and inspiration. But it is expensive to run a website with more than 2,000 pages and we donโ€™t have a big corporate partner to subsidize us.

Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club. But please donโ€™t think of it as a donation. Members get MANY great benefits. We block all third-party ads, we give members free ebooks, magazines, interviews, webinars, more recipes, a monthly sweepstakes with prizes worth up to $2,000, discounts on products, and best of all a community of like-minded cooks free of flame wars. Click below to see all the benefits, take a free 30 day trial, and help keep this site alive.


Post comments and questions below

grouchy?

1) Please try the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help.

2) Try to post your question to the appropriate page.

3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50ยฐF so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can’t help you with time and temp questions. Please read this article about thermometers.

4) If you are a member of the Pitmaster Club, your comments login is probably different.

5) Posts with links in them may not appear immediately.

Moderators

  Max

Click to comment or ask a question...
BBQ Gift Guide