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Fire Cooking· BUYING GUIDE
OFYR or kamado?
Two very different ways to cook outside. We have both at the estate — here's how we'd choose between them.
People ask us this more than anything else, usually while standing next to the OFYR outside their lodge. The honest answer is that they do different jobs, and the right one depends on how you like to cook and who you cook for.
The OFYR: the social fire
An OFYR is a steel cone with a wood fire in the middle and a flat cooking ring around the flame. The ring is hottest near the fire and cooler at the edge, so you sear in the middle and move things outward to finish or keep warm. Nothing has a lid. Everyone stands around it, everyone can see what's cooking, and everyone tends to end up with a spatula in their hand.
It burns logs, it looks good unlit, and corten steel lives outside all year. Choose the OFYR if what you want is the evening: people gathered round a fire, plenty of quick-cooked food, and a piece of garden furniture that happens to cook. It's why we put one outside every lodge.
The BSTRD. kamado: the controlled fire
A kamado is a thick-walled ceramic oven that runs on charcoal. Close the lid, set the vents, and the ceramics hold a steady temperature for hours: hot enough to sear a steak or bake a pizza, low enough to smoke ribs or run a joint overnight. Heat deflectors let you cook indirect, so it roasts and bakes as well as it grills.
Choose a BSTRD. if you want to roast, bake, smoke and cook low-and-slow, if you cook in all weathers, or if precision matters more to you than the spectacle. It's the one for people who want to do everything an oven does, outside, over real charcoal.
Side by side
| OFYR | BSTRD. kamado | |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | Wood logs | Natural lumpwood charcoal |
| How you cook | Open plancha ring, direct heat, several people cooking at once | Lid down, direct or indirect, one cook in control |
| Best at | Searing, vegetables, flatbreads, feeding a crowd, the gathering itself | Roasting, smoking, baking, pizza, long cooks |
| Weather | Best on a dry evening | Cooks in anything with the lid down |
| Starting price | From £1,295 (OFYR 75) | From £799 (Compact) |
AT A GLANCE
Where most people land.
OFYR
OFYR 75
The smallest OFYR, and the one outside every lodge. Terraces and smaller gardens.
- Fuel
- Wood
- Cooking
- Open plancha ring
- Best at
- Searing, gathering
From £1,295See it
OFYR
Classic+ 85
The classic family fire. Fits most gardens, feeds a table comfortably.
- Fuel
- Wood
- Cooking
- Open plancha ring
- Best at
- Feeding a crowd
From £1,795See it
BSTRD.
CORE Large
The everyday kamado. Grill, roast, smoke and bake without paying for extras.
- Fuel
- Lumpwood charcoal
- Cooking
- Lid down, direct or indirect
- Best at
- Roasting, pizza, low-and-slow
From £1,599See it
BSTRD.
PRO Large
Twist deflector, finer vent control, three colours. The one for serious fire cooking.
- Fuel
- Lumpwood charcoal
- Cooking
- Direct to indirect in seconds
- Best at
- Everything, precisely
From £2,099See it
Plenty of people end up with both
The OFYR for the evening and the kamado for the Sunday roast is a very good garden. They aren't really competitors — one is a fire you cook on, the other is an oven you light.
What we'd say
If you're buying one thing and you entertain outdoors, start with the OFYR. If you're buying one thing and you actually want to cook — brisket, bread, a proper roast — start with the kamado.
If you're between the two, ring the estate on 01223 491396 or come and stand next to one. There's an OFYR outside every lodge and we're happy to talk it through.
