The Kalamazoo’s K750GS Gaucho Wood-Fired Freestanding Grill with Side Burner costs $26,184.
Yeah, I know. But Kalamazoo doesn’t cater to penny-pinchers. In addition to this Gaucho, they sell a $26,000 hybrid grill, a $13,500 smoker cabinet, and a $7,500 pizza oven. This is magnums of Dom Perignon. This is Bluefin tuna omakase. This is foie-topped Kobe beef burgers with black truffles. If you’re more of a cheap beer and chuck steak guy, Kalamazoo isn’t your company.
Q: Gaucho? Like the Marx Brother?
Nah, man. That’s Groucho. Groucho was American. Gaucho is Argentinian. The name of the grill comes from the horsemen of that country—guys who used to cook their meat over flame.
Kalamazoo’s Gaucho offers an incredibly intimate and tactile way to cook your dinner. Unlike gas or even charcoal, gaucho-style grilling involves building and maintaining a fire throughout the cooking process.
You also have to be somewhat precise about how far away your food is from the flame. Too close, and you will blacken whatever you’re grilling. Too far, and you’ll miss out on the smoke flavors.
Q: What’s that big wheel for?
Funny you should ask. The wheel cranks a chain that controls the height of the grill grates over the flame. Spin the wheel in one direction and the grates go up. Reverse direction, and the grates go down. Cool, right?
You may have also noticed the rotisserie spit? The wheel controls the height of the spit as well.
It’s also great for pretending like you're the ship captain of the U.S.S. Meat Sweats, the most feared vessel on all of the seven seas.
Q: It’s really big.
Is that a question? Hell yeah it’s big. It took two burly delivery dudes, plus me, to heave the thing off the shipping pallet and then push it into my backyard. It’s on wheels, which helps the effort, but when you’re pushing the rig through patchy grass, it’s not an effortless process.
That said, the Gaucho took me less than an hour to assemble. It took me far longer to source the 20-pound LP propane cylinder needed to start the fire. (Some U-Haul rental locations sell the tanks. Who knew?)
The exact dimensions, if you’re really curious, are: L 86 ¼” X W 32 ½” X H 79". The grill rack offers 726 square-inches of space. There are two built-in cooktop burners that push out 16,000 BTUs too.
Q: So it’s a gas grill then?
The propane cheats the fire. Basically you let the gas ride until your logs catch. Once the blaze is going, you shut off the propane, and then add logs, as needed, for the duration of your gaucho grilling experience.
This thing is a “special occasion” grill, for sure. You’re not going to fire the Gaucho up for a few burgers. That would be like taking your vintage Mercury Cougar XR-7 out for a quick spin around the block.
Oh, and do you see how much I’m sweating? The Gaucho gets hotter than Sarasota in mid-July. Can you please hand me a towel?
Q: Oh my god this food is insanely good.
How about that chicken, right? It’s the power of the rotisserie spit. The meat basically self-bastes in its own fat and juices. It has just the right amount of smoke to it too.
And that shrimp? I cranked the grill grates down as low as they would go and then flash-seared them in their shells over high heat. Plus, I didn’t lose one to the flames thanks to the thinly slotted grill grates specifically made for fish and seafood that come with the Gaucho.
Grilled Shrimp Power Tacos:
Q: Even the vegetables are amazing.
I’m telling you because you are my friend: You have chicken skin on your face.
Q: Still, why would someone ever buy this?
To be honest with you, Kalamazoo loaned me this grill for about a month, and that’s a question I still can’t quite find the right answer to.
The Gaucho sear-smokes delicious food like no other grill I’ve used. It’s versatile and hands on—almost like using a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker in terms of mechanics (the Gaucho is not a smoker), except not as finicky. It’s also a beauty to behold in all of its stainless-steel, American-made splendor.
It’s the life of the party and, for that reason, the person operating it becomes the center of attention by association.
Maybe that’s why you’d buy it. If money is more of a concept to you, maybe the best purchases for you are the ones that draw more attention to that fact.
The only other reason I can think of is that you’re the type of person who loves answering a lot of questions.
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