A kamado grill earns its place in an outdoor kitchen differently to a gas barbecue. It needs room to breathe, a stable base, and worktop nearby that can handle the heat and the mess of live-fire cooking. Bolting one onto a random corner of the patio rarely does it justice. Building a proper kamado outdoor kitchen around it, with the right units in the right places, is what actually makes the investment worth it.
This is where GRLLR’s Ember range and the Connect modular system are designed to work together, rather than as two separate purchases that happen to sit side by side.
The Ember Classic range comes in three sizes: 16, 18 and 22 inch, in Charcoal Black or Shiny Black finishes. Each is available as a freestanding version on its own stand, or as a Build In model designed to drop straight into a kitchen unit rather than sit on legs.
For a genuine kamado outdoor kitchen, the Build In versions are worth the extra planning. An 18 inch Build In suits most UK gardens: enough cooking area for a family or a small gathering, without dominating the space the way the 22 inch Pro can. If you are cooking for larger groups regularly, the 22 inch Build In or the Ember Pro give you more grate area and longer unattended cook times, useful for low and slow smoking rather than quick weeknight grilling.
Whichever size you choose, check the clearances before you commit to a layout. A kamado needs airflow around the base and enough depth in front for the lid to open fully without hitting anything behind you.
GRLLR built a dedicated Connect Kamado Unit specifically to house a Build In kamado within the modular system. It has a stainless steel worktop either side of the grill opening, which matters more than it sounds: kamado cooking produces ash, grease and the occasional spark, and a proper heat resistant surface either side keeps the rest of your cabinetry looking new. There is also a Connect Kamado Low Cabinet, a shorter option if you want the grill sitting closer to worktop height rather than raised.
Both connect to the rest of the Connect range in the same way as the Stove, Sink and Cooling units, so the kamado becomes one module in a wider kitchen rather than an isolated feature.
Kamado cooking is slower and more hands-on than gas grilling, so the units either side of it earn their keep more than they would next to a quick-fire gas barbecue. A Sink Unit within reach means you are not walking dirty tongs across the garden. A Cooling Unit nearby keeps meat, rubs and marinades close to where you are working rather than back and forth to the kitchen indoors.
If your garden is narrow or the patio is a side return, a Corner Unit lets you turn the run of cabinetry around the kamado rather than running it in a straight line, which keeps the working area compact without crowding the grill itself.
For the accessories that go with the kamado itself, cast iron grill grids, pizza stones and a fitted cover for whichever size you choose, see the kamado accessories range. A cover matched to your exact model matters more with a kamado than most grills: the ceramic shell tolerates UK weather well, but the metal fittings and gaskets last longer when they are not left exposed through a wet winter.
A kamado is not just another cooking appliance to slot into a gap. It needs a non-combustible surface underneath and around the firebox, and the Connect units are built with that in mind, but the same care needs to extend to anything you add later. Pergola timber, fence panels and umbrella canopies should sit well clear of the lid’s fully open position, not just its closed height.
Leave genuine access on at least one side for cleaning out ash, and check that the low cabinet or unit either side does not block the vents at the base of the kamado. Airflow control is how you regulate temperature on a kamado, so anything restricting it around the unit makes the grill harder to run accurately, not just less convenient.
A straightforward starting point is one Ember Classic Build In and one Connect Kamado Unit either side of it. At the smaller end, an 18 inch Ember Classic Build In runs from around £899, paired with the Connect Kamado Unit at £639. That gives you a working kamado station with worktop either side for under £1,600 before accessories.
Add a Sink Unit (£839) or a Cooling Unit (£539) as the kitchen grows, and a Corner Unit (£689) if the layout needs to turn a corner rather than run in a straight line. Because the system is modular, none of this has to be bought at once. Most GRLLR outdoor kitchens are built up over a season or two rather than installed complete on day one.
None of this is an argument against gas. Plenty of GRLLR outdoor kitchens run a Prime gas barbecue for weeknight cooking and a kamado for weekends, both connected into the same run of units. If you are still deciding which to start with, our guide to choosing a kamado as a beginner covers the basics of charcoal control and heat retention that make kamado cooking different from grilling over gas.
The point of building the kitchen around the kamado, rather than placing the kamado in whatever space is left over, is that the two decisions, appliance and layout, end up working together instead of being made separately six months apart.
