Drumroll, please! – The Specialty Food Association has named smoking one of the top food trends for 2015. Interest goes well beyond traditional dishes such as pulled pork, brisket and ribs. Today, smoking is being used to enhance the flavors of all kinds of proteins, vegetables, cheeses, nuts, sauces, salsas, salt, butter, eggs, beer, liquors and even chocolate.

Further evidence: The book Smoke: New Firewood Cooking by Tim Byres won the 2014 James Beard Award for general cookbooks. The author says he “shows how to imbue all kinds of foods – not just meat – with the irresistible flavor of smoke.”

The proliferation of smoked products on store shelves and restaurant menus parallels the growing popularity of smoke cooking in backyards all across North America, according to food trends analyst Phil Lempert in his newsletter The Lempert Report.

Kamado Rocket 3-in-1 from Galaxy Outdoor.

“The demand for smoked foods everywhere is on the rise,” he says. “In 2015, look for even more smoked flavors to emerge.”

The news doesn’t surprise Dale Wytiaz, president of the Americas for Weber. He says consumers are experimenting more with smoking, buying more smokers, and using them more often. A Weber GrillWatch Survey found that 44 percent of smoker owners use it at least once a week. But even gas grill owners want to get in on the action, according to Wytiaz, and are increasingly requesting built-in smoker boxes to burn wood chips on gas grills.

“People want smoke flavor,” he says.

In response, the company created a cookbook on the subject, Weber’s Smoke: A Guide to Smoking for Everyone and Any Grill by Jamie Purviance. Last year it expanded its line of Smokey Mountain Cookers, adding a smaller unit to appeal to people who want to try the technique. It also introduced a hanging smoking rack to leverage the vertical space inside its smokers, as well as disposable smoking wood-chip pans. “Smoking products have a very avid following,” says Wytiaz.

Camp Chef has emphasized ease-of-use with its smoker offerings to enable more home cooks to get in on the trend. In addition to its set-it-and-forget-it propane-fueled, upright smokers, the company introduced automated, pellet-fueled smokers in 2013. The products recently earned a patent for their easy-to-clean ash-removal systems.

“These products eliminate the difficulties of smoking and are targeted to the novice smoker,” says Ryan Neeley of Camp Chef. “It gives more people the opportunity to have an authentic smoking experience.”

Some credit kamado grills with sparking the wave of interest in smoking. Although kamados are versatile cookers that can tackle grilling, roasting and even baking, they are often positioned as smokers.

MiniMax from Big Green Egg.

The best-known brand and category leader is Big Green Egg. The company makes seven models of its ceramic cookers, all in its signature green color. The latest, the MiniMax, introduced last year, features the cooking surface area of the company’s “Small” grill in the compact footprint of its “Mini” unit, with built-in carrier handles for portability. This practical cooker has been met with a huge response not just from consumers, but from foodservice professionals who are incorporating it into their restaurant kitchens for smoking, according to director of Brand Enhancement Jodi Burson.

“We are still seeing exponential growth and expect it to continue for some time,” says Burson. “It’s not just for early adopters anymore. The category is becoming more and more mainstream.”

Rich Graham of Onward Manufacturing Company, makers of the Broil King Keg, also expects interest in kamados to continue to grow in 2015 and well beyond.

“It’s a fun way to cook, it’s so much more versatile than a traditional smoker, and it doesn’t require years of experience to turn out amazing food,” he says. “For a lot of people it’s a second grill, so there’s still plenty of room for growth.”

The Broil King Keg is shaped like a traditional kamado but is made of steel, making the product about half the weight of comparably sized ceramic units and more portable. “It travels well on a hitch mount and is much easier to move across the patio,” says Graham. Some 2015 models will sport a new “black chrome” color as well as a new, specially engineered ash drawer for easy clean-out.   

Modern Home Products recently introduced The Bravo Kamado to complement its gas and charcoal grill lines for dealers, according to Tom Nitz, vice president Sales and Marketing. The Bravo Kamado ceramic grill features an all-stainless-steel stand and hardware, bamboo side shelves, and a cast-aluminum top vent. The cooker retails for $799 complete with stand. “It’s very reasonably priced and we have our 50-year company history behind it,” says Nitz. “It’s an excellent value.”

Primo has also introduced a value-priced unit, the All-in-One Kamado.

The traditionally shaped cooker is a departure from the company’s best-selling signature Primo Oval with elongated cooking surface, and is priced at $899 complete with side tables and base.

“It has become our number two product in sales,” says George Samaras, company president. “We’re offering an American-made product with a Chinese price sticker.”

Pellet grill and smoker from Camp Chef.

Relatively new on the scene, pellet-fueled kamado cookers combine the heat-and-moisture retaining properties of ceramic kamados with the ease, automation and smoke flavor of wood-pellet grills. Canadian-based Sherwood Industries introduced the first pellet kamado to market with its Black Olive Pellet Grill. The patented ceramic cooker is fully automated, continually adding fuel and adjusting airflow as needed to ensure consistent temperatures, even during long cook times.  

Smoke-n-Hot introduced its pellet-fueled Kamado Gourmet last year. The unit features a ceramic interior and glossy, porcelain-enamel-over-steel exterior.

“Cooking with wood pellets gives more flavor than lump charcoal,” said National Sales manager Kevin Wood upon its launch. “Awareness of both pellets and kamados is continuously growing. We believe this combines the best way to cook and produces the most flavorful, tender and juicy food.”

Graham credits the increasing presence of kamados on the competition circuit for thrusting the products into the mainstream. “The exposure has been amazing and has done a lot for the category,” he says. So much so that interest extends well beyond American soil today. The Canadian market is experiencing a surge in smoke-cooking interest, according to Graham. “But we’re probably about five years behind the U.S. We’re also doing a lot of international business in Europe and South America.”

The brighter the category shines, the more it attracts new manufacturers. “There is tremendous growth in kamados and every month, it seems, someone new joins the category,” says Samaras. “Everybody benefits from this increased exposure and awareness. In our case, we moved into a new building two years ago and have outgrown it already. The sad thing is that many of the new manufacturers are making the same thing in just a different color; nobody is thinking how to make it better.”

While that may be true for some, it’s definitely not the case with the Galaxy Outdoor Kamado Rocket 3-in-1 Barbecue Grill. Introduced last year, the U.S.-made cooker is built of durable, thermodynamic refractory material that holds heat and reduces cooking times. Unlike other kamados, the cooker can alternate between charcoal, wood, and propane or natural gas fuels. A stainless-steel gas burner sits in the base of the grill and gets hot enough for cooking. Or with the solid fuel basket positioned above it, the burner can be used to quickly light a charcoal or wood fire. Other pioneering features include nitrogen-filled hinges with unlimited hood adjustment, and a deep body that can accommodate multiple, stacked cooking grids.

But what probably attracts attention first is the cooker’s porcelain, mosaic-tile exterior that comes in blue, green, black or brown with other custom colors available.  

“It’s like usable yard art,” says Bruce Spangrud, company president. “Most everyone else getting into the kamado category is the same. We are different.”

Black Olive pellet grill from Sherwood Industries.

Sherwood Industries is also known for innovation. In addition to its aforementioned pellet-fueled kamado, the company recently added a charcoal-fueled kamado with an automatic, built-in electric start system. The fuel is lit in just minutes with the flip of a switch.

Technological improvements notwithstanding, it has been the loyal fans that have helped make smoking trendy and thrust smokers and kamados into the limelight.

Indisputably, Big Green Egg, with its legions of zealous Eggheads, extensive online forum, and dozens of festivals across the country attracting tens of thousands (see sidebar on EGGtoberfest and EGGfests), has the largest, longest-running and most passionate fan base. Thanks to innovative initiatives such as its Employee Purchase Program offering deep discounts for retail employees to buy the cookers, the company ensures that salespeople are equally enthusiastic.

“This is not just a nice gesture,” explains Burson. “When an employee has and uses an EGG of their own, they can better explain its attributes, versatility and everything that’s wonderful about it. An EGG owner is the best salesperson.”  

Many other smoker and kamado companies also enjoy their own strong network of groupies that help build word-of-mouth momentum, influence product introductions and grow sales. For instance, Broil King Keg has relied on feedback from its enthusiastic owners and online forum participants to improve existing products and develop new ones.

Smokey Mountain Cooker from Weber-Stephen.

Case in point: Its paella pan accessory evolved from an online discussion and now “sells like crazy,” according to Graham. In addition, a group of the company’s online forum regulars recently coordinated a get-together in Alabama, dubbed “Kegtoberfest,” where compatriots fired-up their cookers and strutted their stuff.

Weber also enjoys a loyal following for its Smokey Mountain Cookers. For the past 16 years, owners and wannabe owners have turned to the Virtual Weber Bullet online forum for information, tips, recipes and discussions.

This kind of enthusiasm, as well as plenty of aftermarket opportunities to sell a full complement of high-margin accessory gear, charcoal, and wood chips, makes smokers and kamados a compelling category for specialty dealers. So light the coals and draw your customers in with the delicious, smoky aromas. It’s time to get fired up over this hot trend.

Photo: ©2015 www.beachblanketbacon.com. The Annual EGGtoberfest at Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Like any family reunion, this one has great food, fun activities and plenty of reminiscing. The only difference is there are 4,000 people in attendance and no one is related.

This “family reunion,” called EGGtoberfest, is the annual gathering of the legendary legion of super-enthusiastic fans of the Big Green Egg. While most everyone there shares the name Egghead, the only common bloodline is the barbecue sauce that reportedly courses through their veins. It’s the love of the charcoal-fueled, egg-shaped, ceramic cooker that draws this family together year after year to cook, eat, share recipes, swap stories and celebrate all things EGG. 

The event began in 1998 when a group of EGG devotees decided, after years of communicating with each other online through the Big Green Egg forum, to finally get together to meet in person. When company owner Ed Fisher got wind of the plans, he decided to host the affair and supply EGGs on which the group could cook.

“He considered it a thank you to the most loyal Eggheads,” says Jodi Burson, director of Brand Enhancement for Big Green Egg.

About 100 people attended the first event held at the American Legion Hall in Atlanta, with 15 members of the group cooking in the donated EGGs. The reunion was a hit and by the next year attendance had grown to 200, with 50 EGGs fired up for cooking. By the tenth year, the annual October celebration had increased to 1,600 attendees from 30 U.S. states, England, Mexico and Canada, with 375 cooks preparing food in nearly 200 EGGs.

Some Eggheads have been to all 17 reunions, the most recent of which was held last October 11 during Columbus Day weekend. The family-friendly event drew a crowd of 4,000 to Stone Mountain Park outside of Atlanta, where guests sampled signature dishes from 450 cooks who teamed up to cook in 220 EGGs.

Besides eating, those who wanted to improve their skills could sit in on any of the continuous demonstrations and cooking classes taught on the Demo Stage by the company’s culinary partners, including chef Robert Gerstenecker of the Four

Seasons in Atlanta, Food Network Star chef Linkie Marais, and chef and cookbook author Ray “Dr. BBQ” Lampe.

Attendees also witnessed the unveiling of the newest EGG – the MiniMax – humorously “delivered” in an ambulance, met Big Green Egg-sponsored racecar driver Ryan Sieg, and participated in plenty of other fun activities throughout the day.

Although the company secures the venue, supplies the EGGs, plans the programming, and offers logistical services for EGGtoberfest, remarkably the cooks have always provided all their own food to prepare and serve to attendees. Over the years, that has included everything from traditional pulled pork, ribs and brisket, to more exotic fare such as moose kabobs, whole roasted Alaskan salmon, grilled sushi, and ostrich steaks. Literally everything from soup to nuts and plenty of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert items in between, have been prepared and shared at EGGtoberfests.

Despite a potential investment of hundreds of dollars each for food and ingredients, the cooks’ spaces are claimed quickly – usually within 48 hours of online registration opening. To keep the crowd manageable, attendance has been capped at 4,000 for the past five years.

“We want it to be a fun experience for all, especially the cooks,” explains Burson. “There are no outside food trucks here to supplement like at other festivals. Everything is cooked in EGGs, by Eggheads, and shared with everyone.”

In fact, this communal nature is the reason there is no competitive cookoff at EGGtoberfest. “We intentionally don’t want it to feel like a contest,” says Burson. “Competition barbecuers don’t like to share recipes, but this is a collaborative event where everyone shares ideas, advice, recipes and food.”

The annual event has spawned between 50 and 60 smaller events called Eggfests all across the country. Hosted by local Big Green Egg dealers in conjunction with their distributors, the festivals feature a similar formula of food, family fun and camaraderie. According to Burson, an EGGfest is a great way for dealers to expose new customers to the EGG and drive traffic into their stores.

But once-a-year celebrations apparently are not enough to satisfy some of the EGG faithful. A group of Georgia-based Eggheads convenes quarterly in the parking lot of the Big Green Egg corporate retail store to cook and share their dishes and Egg-enthusiasm with the store’s customers. Similar to EGGtoberfest, the group supplies their own food and offers their time and expertise free of charge, purely for the love of cooking in the EGG.

“They are fantastic and very convincing salespeople,” Burson says. “Can you imagine that happening with any other business or product?”