John Setzler

On January 1, 2019, the Kamado Guru forum will be moving exclusively from here to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kguru/ Thanks for your support! John Setzler

Do not use mustard, oil or anythign else to bind yoru rub to the meat. Once the bark starts forming, spritz with water every 20-30 minutes and you will get a nice smoke ring every time. If you want to force a smoke ring, add a pinch or two of pink curing salt to your rub.

I am running a NFL Pick'em pool again this year through the Man Cave Meals facebook page... It's free to enter and the prize is a Kamado Joe Classic II grill for the winner:

@mmdad0129

^^^^^ THAT. The lower draft door is probably not making a good seal. The new KJ top vent is not quite air tight compared to the older style top vent. If the bottom draft door is loose in the track you will never be able to get it shut down. You have two options if it's loose.... 1 - tap the track lighty with a hammer to close it up or 2 - use some felt to fit behind the slider door on the right side to help hold it firmly against the track ot make a good seal.

Rendering fat dripping on the fire does not produce acrid smoke. I see that posted all the time and i'll never buy it myself. It makes white smoke when it happens and people have been told over and over that white smoke is bad without regards to its source.

I don't think fat wood would be the problem if it was only used to light the fire. How much smoking wood was added? Everything I see here indicates opportunity for highly acrid flavors if there was too much smoke wood added this fire.

I agree that the heat deflectors do not sit as nicely on the hooks but they do sit there. I have had no issues with it. The difference in space for charcoal is not a problem either. I think you are imagining problems that don't exist. At any rate, if you are unahappy with the KJ baskets, buy the Kick Ash Baskets in stead. They both work. The cheap knockoffs on amazon work fine too. I bought one of those to try in my classic and it works fine. It doesn't have a fit that you would be happy with but functionally, it's 100% fine.

Probably the incompatibility here wiht apple's proprietary image file format.

There are also some cheap chinese knock offs on amazon... I have both the Kick Ash Baskets and the Kamado Joe baskets for my classic and big joe. There are no 'fit' issues with either. I would pick whichever one you think is right and go with it. They all perform the same function. I even bought one of the cheap stainless steel chinese knock offs for my classic just to see how well it would work and it works fine too.

I don't like the way the heat deflectors sit on these either but they do sit on them and I haven't had any issues making them sit there. @iTPhoenix says it's 'almost impossible' but I do it all the time. I have never had one fall off or fail in any way, but I do think the defectors were more stable sitting directly on the D/C rack.

The Kick Ash Basket is the only accessory I think you really need from that list to get started. You don't actually NEED it but it's my favorite accessory and I recommend it. I never use my grill expanders. I have them but they never see much action. I use my pizza stone a lot because i make a lot of pizzas. Don't buy all that stuff right away. Buy it as you discover the NEED for it.

I use a drip pan whenever possible in my kamado. If there is any chance of grease dripping while I am doing an indirect cook, i use one.

I guess i need to do a pizza next. That just seems so... um... easy? in an oven like this.. lol