r/KamadoJoe

Just bought my first home, and now that I finally have my own backyard, one of the first things I’m seriously considering buying is a Kamado Joe Big Joe.
I’ve wanted a nice charcoal grill/smoker for a while, but never really had the space to justify it. Now I do, and I’m leaning toward going all-in with the Big Joe rather than buying something smaller and wishing I’d gone bigger later.
For those of you who own one: was the Big Joe worth the money? Do you find yourself actually using the extra cooking space, or would you go with a Classic if you were buying again?
I’d like to use it for pretty much everything—brisket, ribs, pork butt, steaks, burgers, wings, pizza, etc. I’m also curious how steep the learning curve is for someone relatively new to kamado cooking.
Basically, I just bought a house and apparently my next financial decision is buying a 400+ lb ceramic grill 😂
Talk me into it—or talk me out of it.

I just bought a used Big Joe 2, but the kamado grill is still at the original owner's house. I took everything out of the kamado (grates, firebox, ash tray, etc.), but will go back with a friend and a truck to get the kamado itself.

However, while the owner has seemingly just about everything with it, there is no disengagement tool. If I am not taking the dome off, do I need it while moving?

While I can buy it online, I committed to the first owner that I would pick it up in a couple of days and don't think I can have it shipped in time.

Being that it is a washer or pipe with a washer and nut, I am wondering if I could make my own. Anyone have dimensions on the washer and nut? Any idea on diameter of the spacer/tube and length?

I am hoping I don't need it. I am transporting 2 miles and slow driving, smooth streets and plan to have it ratcheted down. But would be great if I could get something in place just to be safe.

Hey guys, I’ve got a Galician Picanha on the way and I’m stumped… do I reverse sear or do I use the joetisserie? I’ve reverse seared before with great results but I see people on here using the joetisserie all the time, would be great to hear people’s thoughts and tips!

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It’s been almost exactly a year since I purchased a Big Joe. I thought I’d share some thoughts here on Reddit in case they’re helpful for people who are in the market for a new grill/smoker.

TL;DR version: It’s a fun hobby but requires way more effort than I’ve ever seen any kamado fans acknowledge online. And it simply cannot take the place of a gas grill. Also it’s possible that I am a total idiot and have just missed important things that others easily understand.

1. I’ll say I was persuaded to buy a Big Joe by all the enthusiasm one finds for kamado grills online. But really I feel like I was suckered into a very expensive purchase by a really effective marketing campaign that includes middle-aged dudes on YouTube making delicious things. If you’re like me, my fellow forty-something suburban dad, and you like new gadgets and you like smoked meats and you like the idea of doing things that feel authentic and rustic and whatnot… well, just pay attention to how your own weaknesses might be exploited by a company looking to maximize profits rather than serve your best interest.

2. My big mistake: the propane grill I’ve had for years and years really needed to be replaced. I wanted a smoker as well as a grill, and was hoping to find one product that could do both things well. I also cook for large numbers of people (10+) very regularly, and the Big Joe’s cooking area, plus the fact that it’s marketed as a smoker/grill combo, made me think it was exactly what I needed.

But it’s so not.

Now, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to just fire it up the way you can with a propane grill. I’m not that ignorant. This is a price I was willing to pay. Unfortunately, what neither my wife nor I realized was just how common it is for us in the summer to just “throw something on the grill” for dinner. By going exclusively with a kamado grill, I created a situation where grilling anything at all became a project — a project that usually required real advance planning. This really jacked up our usual cooking.

It’s also a mistake to think that the big surface area means you can easily grill large quantities of food. One thing I never thought about was how difficult it would be to maintain a consistent temperature across a large amount of lump charcoal. Maybe there are some grill masters out there who can manage it, but I’m not one of them. Just last week, I cooked sixteen 1/3-lb burgers. They all fit, as I’d hoped, but oh my word: what a nightmare to attempt to get them all done to the same temperature at roughly the same time! I didn’t even have time to put cheese on them, as I was so busy moving them around and trying to avoid burning the ones on the hottest part of the grill.

And unless you want to invest in cast iron grates, a lot of your grilling is going to be unsatisfactory. Those steel grates that come with the grill work fine, but you’re never going to get beautiful dark brown or black grill marks from them. You’ll make chicken breasts that are properly cooked and taste delicious, but look pretty lame. “You eat with your eyes,” they say, and this is definitely a downside to kamado cooking — or grilling, anyway.

Oh, and the fuel costs are absurdly expensive compared to a propane grill. This is one place where I feel like I was flat-out lied to by people here on Reddit. When I was considering making this purchase last year, I asked about how much I’d spend on lump charcoal versus how much I’d been spending on propane. I was assured that it wouldn’t be a big difference.

This, my friend, is not true.

3. It’s so much work! All the setup requires real effort, and cleanup is rarely easy. Now, if you’re merely grilling, it’s a snap — just like your propane grill, you finish cooking, kick the heat way up, and let stuff burn off. Great. But if you’re smoking or using the expensive flat cast iron accessory I splurged on, it’s yet another project to be taken on. Right at this moment, I am smoking a pair of pork butts. This means that I have the heat deflector plates in between the charcoal and the grates. And this means that there’s no way to easily burn off the stuff that gets left behind on the grates when I’m done smoking: the deflector plates are blocking the flames and will be way too hot to move as long as the fire is still burning. The problem is only exacerbated when it’s the cast iron flat top I’m using; I’d naively assumed that I could just flip it over when I was done cooking and burn residue off, but this is essentially impossible. Maybe there is some good technique out there for moving a 500-degree, 15-lb piece of metal, but I have yet to find it.

4. Now, here’s the thing. I actually mostly like my Kamado Joe Big Joe grill. It’s fun. It looks kind of cool and it smells great and it’s given me a bit of a new hobby to play around with. I’ve made some really awesome food on it over the last year and I’m sure I will continue to do so. But it’s far more work and far more expensive to use than I’d predicted when I bought it, and no reasonable person can pretend that it takes the place of a propane grill. I’d also be lying if I said that I can tell the difference between smoked meat that I’ve prepared on it versus stuff my brother-in-law has made on his pellet smoker. Perhaps there are some barbecue aficionados out there whose palates are so finely tuned that they could tell a difference. I cannot, myself, and I bet you can’t either.

So here’s my verdict:

If you are a person with lots of disposable income, who enjoys smoked meat and is looking for a new hobby, and you have some extra time on your hands, the Kamado Joe is a fantastic tool and you should definitely get one.

If you are a person of limited resources and are looking to get into the world of smoking, and especially if you are hoping to find something that can bring you into that world while also replacing your propane grill… run. Run away as fast as you can. Stop watching those videos about how amazing it is. Stop thinking about all the insanely cool things you could do with a multi-tiered Divide and Conquer (TM) cooking system. Buy a new propane grill and a separate smoker (pellet is easier; charcoal is better if you think the extra effort sounds fun — which it really can be), and be proud of yourself for making a prudent choice and having saved a bunch of money at the same time.

And think of me the next time you get home from work and thirty minutes later have successfully grilled some beautiful-looking chicken breasts for dinner.

I’m in the early stages of designing an outdoor kitchen. It will be a 15 foot countertop on one side of my patio. TBH more of a grill setup than a kitchen. Right now I am leaning toward doing a built-in griddle (looking at Blaze 30”) plus a built-in kamado Joe series 2. (I had a Traeger for five years and loved it, but they don’t make a good built-in option, and I want to venture into charcoal cooking.) I have a 24” beverage fridge but no other appliances picked out. I am not sure if I should include a sink.

What are ya’lls thoughts on this? Is the sink a must have? Is a griddle + kamado combo the way to go? Anything else I should consider? Will have plenty of storage, outlets, etc.