Polar Bear

That sucks but i'm glad Mark made it right Hope you have more luck the 2nd time around

Ceramic Grill Store, I'd guess

Probably means theres someone out there with a cracked dome that got a while new JNR complete Someone had a lucky day

It was probably meant to be for someone with a Warrenty claim

Yeah, Mark is great to deal with if you have problems I had an issue when i first got mine (user error) and he called me at 8am on a Sunday to talk me through it Cant recomend them enough

I really like mine Its run my last 10 low n slow cooks without a problem Great product

Mine does the same thing Its not usually an issue on shorter cooks but if i'm doing a 12-14hr brisket cook i notice the bottom gets a little overdone I've taken to running a drip pan directly under my cooks with a little water in it as an insulator Seems to have fixed it

Joes come assembled though Only thing you need to do if assemble the stand and fire box

Exactly I think the inital idea was the iKamand was to stay on the grill perminatly but as they got further and further into the project they realised that wasnt the best idea. The whole project looks like it was 3/4 of a good idea. There are a lot of features that look really good on paper, its just the execution of those idea has floundered a bit (a lot) I'm not sure what led to this but i have to think the mounting pressure from their customer base contributed to this maybe being rushed through development. Granted, it came out almost a year later than they initally said it would but i saw a lot of people give up on the iKamand and buy a different controller because they got sick of waiting. This mounting pressure from the community had to contribute in some way to the issues we're seeing now. I'm not saying the testing was rushed, but i dont think enough was done prior to the launch of the product in terms of server capacity at the very least. The fact that the servers crashed on the 4th of July due to excessive load should highlight that I'm sad the launch hasnt gone well and that people are experincing these issues. It looked like a really good product when it was first introduced but i cant help but feel like this whole thing has hurt KJs normally stellar reputation, which is a shame

I dont think people are using it for high temp cooks, but if you follow the installation instructions, you need to remove the stock bottom vent door and replace it with the iKamand mount perminatly In situations where you do not want or need to use the iKamand the cover, that is meant to fit the new door once you remove the iKamand, is made of plastic and melts when you run high temps

Reviews at this stage are mixed I have seen a number of people report problems due to Server Issues or Hardware Problems Some of the issues are simple fixes but there have been a few threads on the KJ Facebook page about: iKamands no longer communicating mid cook and shutting down. Units not Shuttting Down and the fans stoking the fire past its temp set point. Units that no longer fire up or communitate. Issues getting and maintaining a WiFi Connection. The Supplied Cover Melting during high temp cooks. Internal issues where the unit is essentially dead and needs to be returned The Servers that maintain the cook data becoming overloaded with traffic and crashing, causing you to loose all your cook and temp data That having been said, there are also a lot of people who have had great results. As with most things on the internet, you only hear from the people who have problems, so they could be in the minority. Personally, I was keen on picking one up, but will probably hold off now until Generation 2 drops and they manage to sort out the bugs that i've seen

I normally light a starter Leave lid open for 10-20min Install all hardware (deflector, grates ext) Leave both vents wide open til it hits 600f Choke vents down a little so it doesnt go too high Start cooking

I hear you, when i first started learning briskets, my cooks would often stretch past the 15hour mark After a while i learned that conditions are more important than temp or cook time and now i can smash a 12-18 pounder out in under 10 hours that turn out fantastic

Here is a good example i did a while back

There are a lot of threads here about the temp difference between grate temp and dome temp Most of the time, the difference is either due to placement of the grate thermo within in the grill or the temp within the dome not having enough time to stabalise I'd also check if your "old oven" thermo is accurate before making any rash decisions The KJ dome thermos are pretty decent, so assuming it reads 100c in boiling water i'd trust its readings over an leave in oven thermo If you're super concerned about Grate Temps i'd suggest investing in a wired probe thermometer like the Mavrick or Thermoworks Smoke