This open-fire grill has tons of celebrity chef endorsements. Is it any good?
Last Updated Aug. 7, 2023.
We’re big fans of open-fire cooking. There are few things more satisfying—or more fun—than getting outside and grilling or roasting some food over a wood fire. While most of us are content to do our open-fire cooking in a firepit, though, we were intrigued by a fancier open-fire grill that we’d seen on Instagram and beyond. For a time, KUDUs were everywhere we looked, garnering endorsements from a host of prominent chefs, including Atlanta’s Kevin Gillespie (Red Beard Restaurants) and Asheville, N.C.’s Katie Button (Cúrate).
There are currently two versions of the KUDU on the market. Both are fairly simple grills that can be used with either wood or charcoal. Each model has a 2-foot-diameter base on legs that holds the firepit about 32 inches off the ground. Two vertical bars attach to the base; one holds a stainless-steel cooking grate and the other a cast-iron pan. Each of these can be adjusted to different heights. They can also hold other attachments, including a Dutch oven or a rotisserie, both sold separately.
We used both KUDUs to cook a wide variety of foods, from simple chicken souvlaki to grilled racks of lamb. Here’s what we found.
What We Liked:
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
Dan is the executive food editor of ATK's books team. He's a former restaurant chef who joined ATK 13 years ago as a test cook.
Miye is a senior editor for ATK Reviews. She covers booze, blades, and gadgets of questionable value.