YS 60″ El Dorado Santa Maria charcoal grill on cart

The ultimate outdoor kitchen cooking platform with live fire

At the heart of the El Dorado design is the time-honored tradition of Santa Maria-style grilling, combined with innovative technology, robust American craftsmanship, and proudly made in Kansas, USA. The 60-inch El Dorado represents the ultimate expression of this philosophy, creating a live-fire cooking platform that allows you to grill, roast, hang, cook on embers, and embark on culinary adventures over an open fire from a single fire. The 60-inch El Dorado was designed for those who want more than just a grill, offering the space, versatility, and control to fully realize the potential of live-fire cooking.

In the center of the platform is a cooking surface lined with fireclay bricks, which serves as the foundation for the entire cooking experience. The fireproof base is designed for exceptional heat retention, efficiency, and fuel flexibility, absorbing, storing, and radiating heat while simultaneously creating its own active cooking surface. Whether you are using cast iron cookware, Dutch ovens, planchas, griddles, or traditional ember cooking techniques, the base itself becomes an additional level of cooking possibilities that go beyond conventional grilling. 

The expansive 60-inch platform unlocks the full potential of cooking with open fire by allowing the simultaneous use of multiple techniques. Create independent heat zones on the firebrick floor, hang proteins on the suspension system while vegetables roast over glowing embers, or combine cast-iron cooking, direct grilling, and roasting over the open fire in a single cooking process. The additional space not only means more cooking surface – it creates more opportunities to interact with the fire and expand the possibilities around the fire. From large-scale entertaining to traditional whole-animal cooking, the 60-inch El Dorado offers the capacity and flexibility to accommodate cooks that smaller platforms simply cannot handle.

Efficiency in cooking with live fire

The El Dorado is designed for optimal heat retention, heat distribution, and fuel efficiency, and features a cooking floor fully lined with fireclay bricks, which serves as the foundation of the cooking system.

• Chamotte bricks store and radiate heat, providing exceptional temperature stability.
• The spacious floor lined with fireproof material creates several heat zones across the entire cooking surface.
•  The chamotte stone floor also serves as an active cooking surface for cast iron cookware, Dutch ovens, planchas, grill plates, and traditional embers cooking techniques.
• Designed for use with chunks of charcoal, charcoal briquettes, pieces of wood, or hardwood splits.
• The large cooking platform allows chefs to manage direct, indirect, and embers cooking zones simultaneously.

Innovative features for cooking over an open fire

The El Dorado combines traditional cooking methods over an open fire with modern technology to create a cooking platform built for decades of use.

• Highly load-bearing cantilevered cooking arms allow unrestricted access to the fire and cooking surfaces from all sides.
• Modular, screw-in boom assemblies enable long-term maintenance and servicing.
• The 15-inch height-adjustable cooking surface lift provides precise control over heat application and cooking intensity.
• The open platform design promotes direct interaction with the fire throughout the entire cooking process.
• Optional accessories further expand the cooking possibilities of the platform. 

Premium American construction

Developed with the same quality standards as the entire Yoder Smokers range.

• High-strength firebox construction made of 10-gauge steel.
• 3″ insulated air gap between the combustion chamber and the outer shell.
• Robust 12-gauge outer shell construction.
• The interior lined with fireclay bricks improves heat retention and efficiency.
• The air gap design reduces the external temperatures while also extending the lifespan of the stove.
• Handmade in Kansas, USA.

The El Dorado is available with two different cooking surface configurations, which suit your
suit the preferred style of cooking over the fire.

V-groove gratings (standard)

Traditional 12-gauge stainless steel V-channel grates provide authentic cooking performance in the Asado style.

• Divert fat and drips away from the fire.
• Height-adjustable through the robust chain drive system.
• 15″ vertical adjustment for precise temperature management.
• Excellent for traditional fire and Argentine cooking techniques.
• Robust stainless steel construction for years of use.

Rolling bar grates

The patent-pending Rolling Rod Grate System is made of durable 304 stainless steel and offers unmatched versatility and performance.

• The smooth cooking surface with a round rod ensures effortless movement of the food.
• The floating rod system stores up to 30 % more heat than conventional welded grates.
• Increased browning performance and thermal stability.
• Improved deformation resistance in high heat environments.
• Excellent food release properties.
• Ideal for proteins, vegetables, seafood, and everyday grilling applications.
• Building on the tradition of craftsmanship and innovation of Yoder Smokers.

Brand management and cleaning

Designed to focus on cooking rather than maintenance.

• Several cleaning points accessible from the front simplify the removal of ash and grease.
• Cleaning drawers provide quick access for routine maintenance tasks.
• The insulated, fold-down fire access door provides direct access to the coal bed.
• Easily add charcoal, wood chunks or wood chips without interrupting the cooking process.
• Simplified fire management promotes longer cooking times and greater versatility.

Heavy-duty mobility system

Designed to support the significant weight and performance of the El Dorado platform.

• Heavy-duty, hand-crafted steel cart construction.
• Durable high temperature powder coating rated to 1200°F.
• Standard 10" cast iron wheels with locks.
• Smooth mobility despite the considerable size of the platform.
• Designed for decades of outdoor use.

Value

• Compatible with El Dorado accessory systems that expand the possibilities of open fire cooking.
• Backed by Yoder Smokers' commitment to craftsmanship and customer care.

Why cook with the El Dorado Live Fire Platform?

The 60-inch El Dorado combines the versatility of a Santa Maria-style grill, the tradition of asado cooking, and the flexibility of an open-fire cooking platform in a single outdoor cooking system. Whether cooking over hardwood splits, lumps of charcoal or a glowing bed of embers, the El Dorado gives chefs direct control over heat, fire and technique.

Unlike traditional grills that limit interaction with the fire, the El Dorado encourages active interaction
Involvement throughout the entire cooking process. Adjustable cooking surfaces, multiple heating zones, hanging options, ember cooking and a firebrick-lined cooking floor allow chefs to explore a wide range of fire cooking methods on a single platform. From weeknight grilling and wood-fired roasting to large-scale entertaining and whole animal cooking, the 60-inch El Dorado is designed for those who want to experience the full potential of fire cooking. 

The 60-inch El Dorado is more than a grill, more than an asado cooker, and more than a collection of features. It's the ultimate backyard live-fire cooking platform - designed to bring fire, food and people together while providing unmatched control, versatility and cooking pleasure. Handcrafted in Kansas and built for generations of cooking, the 60-inch El Dorado continues Yoder Smokers' commitment to American manufacturing, durability, and authentic live-fire experiences.