Charlie Oven vs a kamado or ceramic egg: what's the difference?

If you've cooked on a kamado or ceramic egg, you'll know what a clever piece of kit it is. It holds its heat well and you can cook some fantastic food in it. The frustrations tend to start when you want to cook more than one thing at a time.

When we designed Charlie, we wanted something that worked more like the oven in your kitchen. Plenty of room, easy access to everything, and the freedom to move food around without taking half the cooker apart.

We also wanted to make charcoal cooking easier. No burping before you open the door. No fiddling about with heat deflectors. No lifting out cooking grates just to add a bit more charcoal.

There are a few other differences too, and some of them are less obvious than you'd think.

The differences at a glance

Both are capable charcoal cookers. You can grill, roast, bake and smoke in either. The real differences are in how they're built and what they're like to cook with.

The table gives you the basics. Some of these differences only really matter once there's food in the oven.

How do they work?

Both burn charcoal inside a closed cooking chamber. Air comes in through the vents, feeds the charcoal and carries the heat up through the cooker. Where they differ is in how they're built, and how that heat reaches the food.

Ceramic walls or insulated steel

A ceramic egg has thick walls that soak up heat and slowly give it back. Once the ceramic is hot right through, it helps keep the temperature steady, which is why kamados are so good at long, slow cooks.

Charlie does it differently. Its 304 stainless steel cooking chamber is wrapped in 50 mm of ceramic wool insulation. Rather than storing heat in a heavy ceramic shell, the insulation stops it escaping through the walls in the first place.

The steel radiates heat, and hot air moves through the tall chamber. A silicone seal and a compression latch hold the door tight, so the air comes in where you want it: through the vents.

Both hold their heat well. They just go about it in different ways, and that explains a lot about how each one cooks.

How quickly does Charlie heat up?

From lighting, you can expect Charlie to reach roughly:

• 100°C (210°F) in around 10 minutes
• 200 to 250°C (390 to 480°F) in around 20 minutes
• 375 to 400°C (705 to 750°F) in around 30 minutes

These are a guide rather than a promise. Your charcoal and the weather will both make a difference.

A kamado can get hot fairly quickly too, but its thick ceramic walls need time to soak up the heat. For pizza, what matters is that the stone is hot right through, not just that the thermometer reads the right number. The same goes for Charlie: we still allow 30 minutes for the pizza stones to heat through.

Read our guide to lighting Charlie

Which gives you more cooking space?

Nine rack positions

Charlie has nine rack positions, and they're not just there to fit more food in. Moving the food changes how it cooks.

Low down, close to the charcoal, the heat is strong and direct, perfect for grilling and searing. Higher up it's gentler, for roasting and baking.

The charcoal grates sit at two heights too. The higher position brings the charcoal closer to the lower racks. The lower position leaves room for more charcoal when you're planning a long cook.

Some ceramic eggs have accessories that add extra levels, but their rounded shape and top-opening lid make for a very different arrangement.

Charlie comes with two heavy-duty cooking racks, and you can add more racks and accessories as you go.

Cooking a whole meal at once

This is where Charlie really comes into its own.

Take Sunday lunch. A chicken roasting, potatoes crisping underneath, vegetables on another rack. Everything cooks together, and you move things around as they're ready. Or grill steaks for friends low down while the rest of supper roasts above.

You don't have to finish one thing before you start the next.

One of our customers, Leigh Bird, put it rather well on Trustpilot:

"Having multiple levels to cook food is a game changer."

That one sentence explains an awful lot about why we built Charlie the way we did.

Which is easier to cook with?

A few of these differences don't sound very exciting until you've cooked with them.

Do you need to burp a Charlie Oven?

No.

Many kamados need burping before you open the lid fully, especially at high temperatures. You lift the lid a little and pause, so air gets in gradually. It reduces the risk of flashback when a rush of oxygen reaches very hot charcoal.

Charlie doesn't need burping. The chimney gives hot gases a constant way out, and air comes in underneath the charcoal, so you simply open the door steadily, wearing heatproof gloves.

It's still burning charcoal, so take sensible care.

Adding charcoal without taking it apart

In a ceramic egg, the charcoal sits below the cooking grate and, for many indirect cooks, under a heat deflector as well. To add more charcoal or a chunk of smoking wood, you may need to lift some of that out first. It depends on the model.

In Charlie, the charcoal sits at the bottom of the oven, right behind the door. Need a little more halfway through a long cook? Open the door and add it. Fancy another chunk of smoking wood? Same again.

You don't need to lift out the food or move the racks.

What about heat deflectors?

Most kamados use a ceramic deflector plate to shield food from the direct heat of the charcoal when roasting or smoking. Some have split deflectors, so you can cook direct and indirect at the same time.

Charlie doesn't need a deflector for roasting. Its height lets food cook further from the charcoal, where the heat is gentler, while something else grills on a rack below.

No swapping plates halfway through dinner.

Controlling the temperature

Both control the heat by controlling the air.

Charlie has two adjustable vents. Open them both while the oven heats up, then set them to about 2.5 cm (1 inch) as you get close to the temperature you want. The insulation does the rest and holds it steady for hours.

Ceramic eggs are excellent at holding a temperature for a long time too. Because their heavy walls store so much heat, bringing the temperature down once they’re hot right through can take a while.

Charlie gives you another option. Rather than changing the temperature of the whole oven, you can often just move the food to a different height.

Which is better for grilling, roasting and pizza?

Grilling and searing

Both grill beautifully. Kamados reach high temperatures and are very good at searing meat.

Charlie gives you intense direct heat on the lower racks, close to the charcoal. The difference is the freedom to move. Start a steak low down for a good sear, then move it higher to finish more gently, with room for potatoes or vegetables above.

Roasting the whole Sunday lunch

A ceramic egg can make an excellent roast, usually with a deflector in place.

Charlie's upright chamber gives you plenty of space above the charcoal. A shoulder of lamb can roast slowly while potatoes and vegetables cook on the other racks, and the Deep Roasting Tray Rack catches the juices for gravy.

It's very like organising a meal in your kitchen oven, with all the flavour of charcoal.

Three pizzas at once

With a pizza stone on each of three racks, Charlie bakes three 12 inch pizzas at the same time. At 375 to 400°C (705 to 750°F), they take around three minutes.

Ceramic eggs make excellent pizza too, although how many you can bake together depends on the size and setup.

If you've ever made pizzas for a crowd, you'll know why three at once is such a pleasure. You might even get to eat yours with everyone else.

See how Charlie compares with a pizza oven

What about hot and cold smoking?

Low and slow

Kamados have earned their reputation for low and slow cooking. Their thick walls and careful airflow suit long cooks very well.

Charlie is just as happy cooking slowly. At around 110 to 130°C (230 to 265°F), you can smoke brisket, pork shoulder or ribs for hours, and a full grate of charcoal will hold low temperatures for up to 16 hours. The tall chamber has room for big cuts, and the front door makes it easy to tend the charcoal when you need to.

Neither cooker guarantees a better brisket. The meat, the preparation and the cook all play their part.

Our top tips for smoked brisket

Can you cold smoke?

Yes, in both, with the right equipment. Cold smoking isn't cooking over charcoal. A separate smoke generator makes the smoke while the chamber stays cool. It's lovely for cheese and butter.

Cold smoking meat or fish needs particular care, because the smoke doesn't cook the food or make it safe on its own. Curing and temperature control are essential.

Read our guide to cold smoking

Charcoal for heat. Wood for flavour.

Charlie runs on natural lumpwood charcoal. That's what gives you the heat. For a little smoky flavour, add a small chunk of dry hardwood or a handful of chips. You never need more than fits in the palm of your hand, and never logs.

Kamados work on the same principle, although how you add the wood depends on the cooker.

How much charcoal does Charlie use?

Kamados are known for using charcoal sparingly. The airflow lets it burn slowly, and the unburnt charcoal can often be used again next time.

Charlie is economical too, and the same goes for leftover charcoal: once the oven is cold, use it again next time. For most roasting and grilling at 200 to 250°C (390 to 480°F), start with a pile of lumpwood charcoal about half the size of a football. That will usually give you four to six hours of cooking. Pizza needs more, to reach the higher temperatures.

It's hard to compare fuel fairly without thinking about how much food you're cooking. A small egg grilling two steaks isn't doing the same job as Charlie cooking Sunday lunch for eight. The better question is how much cooking you get from each load of charcoal.

Does the outside of a Charlie Oven get hot?

No. The 50 mm of ceramic wool insulation keeps the heat inside the cooking chamber, where it's needed. Over a long cook a little heat radiates out through the body, so the outside gets warm, but it stays at around 60°C (140°F) at most. Warm to the touch, rather than hot.

A ceramic egg works the other way. Its thick walls are designed to soak up heat, so the outside of the shell gets hot.

Charlie is still an oven with burning charcoal inside, so wear heatproof gloves when you open the door and keep an eye on children.

Colour, build and quality

A bit more colour in the garden

There's no reason an outdoor cooker has to be black or grey.

Ceramic eggs have their familiar rounded shape, and some come in a choice of colours. Charlie's colours are something else: rich Green Chilli, warm Cinnamon, soft Nutmeg or a beautiful pale Blue Marlin, among others.

Colour is a big part of what makes Charlie Charlie. We wanted people to choose an oven that looks wonderful in their garden, not one they feel they need to hide away. After all, you'll be looking at it even when you're not cooking.

You can also design your dream outdoor kitchen around Charlie, with matching cabinets and worktops.

Hand-built in Britain

Charlie is hand-built in Britain from 304 stainless steel, welded rather than screwed together, with 50 mm of ceramic wool insulation. It's a substantial piece of equipment, made with care and designed to live outdoors all year round.

Ceramic kamados are built differently, with the thick ceramic shell providing the strength and the heat retention. Where they're made depends on the manufacturer, and there's no reason a good one shouldn't last for years.

With Charlie, we've concentrated on durable materials and a design that's meant to be used often, not just on the odd sunny Saturday.

Buy well, buy once.

So which should you choose?

If you mainly want to grill a few steaks, smoke the occasional brisket and enjoy a compact charcoal cooker, a kamado or ceramic egg could be an excellent choice.

Charlie is a bigger investment, and it takes up more room in the garden. That's worth thinking about.

But if you love to cook, especially when friends and family are coming round, its upright design gives you something quite different. Nine rack positions, easy access to the charcoal, no burping, and grilling and roasting at the same time without changing anything. Best of all, you get to cook the whole meal outside.

One of our customers, Graham, admits that choosing Charlie took some thought:

"After much deliberation (it ain't cheap!)"

He's used it almost constantly since, and finds it fantastic for entertaining. We like that he mentions the price. Charlie isn't a small purchase, and we'd rather people took their time and chose the oven that's right for them.

What we really love is hearing how much owners end up using theirs. Shiralee Williams bought her Charlie in 2025, then moved house:

"Since we moved house and are renovating, it is now our only oven."

She didn't buy it to replace her kitchen oven, but that's exactly what happened. And that's what I find most satisfying about Charlie. People buy it because they love the idea of cooking outside. Then they discover how much more they can do with it.

Explore the Charlie Charcoal Oven, or book a demo to see it in action.