DIY or buy a kamado table
Builders who posted their costs spent roughly $100 to $200 on wood. The cheapest store-bought option we confirmed is a $469 steel cart, and the Big Green Egg table is $599.99.
The numbers side by side
| Option | Cost | Who says so |
|---|---|---|
| Wood table, pine | About $100 in lumber | Jen Woodhouse, posted 2016 |
| Wood table, cedar | About $200 in total | Jen Woodhouse, posted 2016 |
| Wood table, Large Egg, stretched longer | About $150 in materials | A forum member, DeltaNu1142 |
| Steel cart for Primo Oval XL or Large | $469.00 | BBQGuys, Nov 4, 2026 |
| Big Green Egg acacia table for the Large | $599.99, plus a nest, wheels and assembly if you want them | Big Green Egg and BBQGalore, Nov 4, 2026 |
The wood figures are what the builders told their readers. We didn't check them, they're years old, and lumber may cost more now. They also leave out tools you don't own, a paver or nest, and finish. Read them as a ballpark.
What you get for the extra money
- A table you can order with the grill's size already worked out. The 24-inch opening in Jen Woodhouse's plan was cut for a Vision kamado, and you'd re-measure for yours.
- No finishing. Her table got spar urethane. Others on the forum used spar varnish, three coats in one case.
- Less to second-guess on heat. Wood tables are where the fire worries come from. One forum member raised it directly, and several preferred a used stainless prep table with a nest because it's easier to clean.
What you get from building
- Your own dimensions: a longer work surface, a shelf at the height you want.
- One forum builder called his an easy one-day job, and a reader of Jen Woodhouse's post said they finished hers in a day. Jen Woodhouse says the project sat on her list for over a year before she started.
- Cheap materials if you pick pine. Cedar roughly doubled her lumber bill.
The rule that applies either way
A kamado doesn't sit flat on wood. Jen Woodhouse puts it in capitals: "DO NOT place the grill directly on a combustible surface." She set a paver under hers. Big Green Egg wants a metal nest. More on that on the wood and heat page.
Our take
We haven't built a table. If you already own a saw and a free weekend, the wood route saves a few hundred dollars on the figures above. If you'd rather not think about heat and weight, buy one. Either way, don't skip the air gap.
Primo steel cart at BBQGuys Big Green Egg acacia table
Sources: Jen Woodhouse, DIY Kamado Grill Table, Egghead Forum table plans thread, BBQGuys Primo cart, Big Green Egg table page, BBQGalore Egg table page. All read Nov 4, 2026.