FIRST FIRE · THE OWNER’S GUIDE
FROM THE BOX TO THE FIRST CHICKEN.
Your kamado has already been through the kiln three times. The next fire is yours.
This is the whole road from delivery to dinner: unbox it, build it (with a friend), break it in gently, light it right, and cook a chicken that is very hard to get wrong. Then how to keep it happy through a UAE summer, sand and all.
Keep it open on your phone for the first night. Anything it doesn’t answer, a grill master will. We’re one WhatsApp away.
— BURNT CARBON · DUBAI
THE FIRST FIRE — FIVE STAGES
UNBOX
Everything but the charcoal is in the box. Check it over before the packaging goes.
ASSEMBLE
Stand first, ceramic second, two people minimum. Ceramic doesn’t do solo lifts.
CURE
A low, gentle first fire or two. Save the screaming sear for next weekend.
FIRST BURN
Real coal, no chemicals, and a light hand on the vents.
FIRST COOK
A whole roast chicken. Crisp skin, forgiving timing, very hard to get wrong.
01 — UNBOX
EVERYTHING BUT
THE CHARCOAL.
Unpack it close to where it’s going to live — the ceramic is the heavy part. Check everything against this list before the packaging goes out.
IN THE BOX
- THE BARBECUETriple-fired ceramic — the dome and the base
- STANDA short stand on the 15″. From the 18″ up: the stand, side tables and wheels
- THERMOMETERDome-mounted
- FIRE BOX + FIRE RINGThe ceramic core
- SMOKER CHUTEOn the 23″, 25″ and 27″
- CHARCOAL GRATE + COOKING GRATEStainless steel
02 — ASSEMBLE
TWO PEOPLE.
MINIMUM.
Ceramic doesn’t do one-person lifts, and neither do backs. The 15″ wants two people and an SUV; everything bigger is a job for a few friends and a promise of dinner. Here’s what you’re lifting:
- 37 KG15″ · PICNIC
- 65 KG18″ · COMPACT
- 83.5 KG21″ · SUPERIOR
- 91.5 KG23″ · DREADNOUGHT
- 120 KG25″ · EMPEROR
- 150 KG27″ · ENTERPRISE
METHOD
PICK ITS SPOT
Outdoors, on a stable, level surface, away from anything that can catch fire. The 15″ sits happily on a sturdy table, a boat deck or the sand.
STAND FIRST
Build the stand where the grill will live — from the 18″ up, that’s the wheeled cart and side tables. Rolling a finished grill a metre beats carrying one across the garden.
CERAMIC SECOND
2+ PEOPLELift the ceramic onto the stand together, from underneath the base — never by the handle, the hinge or the side tables. Lift with your legs, not your pride.
INSIDE OUT
Fire box into the base, fire ring on top of it, charcoal grate in the bottom of the fire box, cooking grate on the ring.
03 — CURE
BREAK IT IN
GENTLY.
The ceramic has been through the kiln three times — it isn’t fragile. What needs breaking in is the gasket between dome and base. And, if we’re honest, the cook.
METHOD
A SMALL FIRE
A modest bed of coal — a few pieces, not a full fire box — with the dome closed and both vents only just open.
KEEP IT LOW
FIRST FIRE OR TWOLet it climb slowly and hold it well below searing heat. A gentle first cook — vegetables, bread, a few sausages — is a perfectly good cure.
LET IT GO OUT
Close both vents and let the fire smother itself. The dome stays hot for hours, so leave it be — and keep children and pets clear.
04 — FIRST BURN
LIGHT IT RIGHT.
Whatever you burn ends up in your food. Real hard-wood coal, a clean light, and a light hand on the vents.
THE FIRE
METHOD
FILL THE FIRE BOX
Lump charcoal — our restaurant-grade hard-wood coal, broken into smaller pieces for the 15″’s chamber.
LIGHT ONE SPOT
With a chimney starter, paper or kindling. Never lighter fluid or chemicals: ceramic soaks them up and you’ll taste it for days.
STEER WITH THE VENTS
Bottom door for the fire, top vent for the fine-tuning. Close them halfway before you reach your temperature — a kamado holds heat so well that it’s easy to overshoot, and slow to come back down.
BURP THE LID
EVERY TIMEOn a hot fire, lift the dome a few centimetres and give it a second before opening all the way. Fresh air arrives gently, not all at once.
SHUT IT DOWN
Done cooking? Close both vents fully. No air, no fire — and the coal that’s left lights again next time.
05 — FIRST COOK · CHICKEN · ROAST
THE FOOLPROOF
CHICKEN.
Backbone out, flattened, roasted indirect over a drip pan. The fat drips into the pan instead of onto the coals, and the skin crisps all over.
Something forgiving first. Save the 18-hour brisket for weekend three.
THE FIRE
BUILT FOR A
DUBAI SUMMER.
ANYTHING ELSE? WHATSAPP A GRILL MASTER →
CAN IT LIVE OUTSIDE ALL YEAR?
Yes. Every dome is fired three times so it can stand up to a Dubai summer, and the glaze is fused into the ceramic — colour that lives in the surface, not on it. Shade is kinder to the wood and metalwork.
WHAT ABOUT SAND AND DUST?
Close both vents whenever it’s cold — sand stays out of the fire box. After a shamal, brush off the grates and check both vents still move freely before you light.
CAN I HOSE IT DOWN?
The outside, yes. Throw water on it if you want — it’s not going to crack. Inside, never soap or chemicals: ceramic soaks them up, and whatever goes in comes out in your food.
HOW DO I CLEAN THE INSIDE?
With fire. Run it hot for a while with the dome closed and the residue burns off; brush the grate while it’s warm. Clear out the old ash before each cook — ash blocks the air.
DO THE METAL BANDS NEED ANYTHING?
Metal moves with heat. Every few months, check the bolts on the bands and the hinge are snug.
WHAT DOES THE WARRANTY COVER?
The ceramic body — the dome and the base — for 25 years, against material defects. In writing. THE WARRANTY →
— NIGHT ONE
