This Big Green Egg Alternative Does the Same Job For Less Than 1/3 of the Price

Update: If you missed out last Friday, this is now back in stock.

If you want a Big Green Egg charcoal grill, but don’t want to cash in your 401(k) to buy one, this Char-Griller alternative is down to $262 for Prime members today. That’s the lowest price in months, and a great investment for meat lovers everywhere.

The Char-Griller Akorn Kamado Kooker features a 306 square inch cast iron cooking surface (which is most similar to the $829 large Big Green Egg), and traps heat inside a heavily-insulated stainless steel body. Our deal researcher, Corey, owns a BGE, and I asked him about it on Slack:

And I use my BGE for about 70% of meat meals.

Probably 90% during the warm months.

Best Father’s Day gift I’ll ever get.

Lana jokes that she’s the one who benefits most because I cook on it all the time.

Worth the price just for its ability to cook pizza, IMO.

But pork chops, lions, tenderloin are beyond incredible on it.

Obviously, this isn’t the “real thing,” but the consensus among Amazon reviewers is that it’s at least nearly as good, which sounds like a decent compromise considering it’s less than 1/3 of the price, and comes with a stable cart and folding shelves, both of which you’d need to buy separately with the Egg.