len440

The heatermeter was a fun build and an eye test at the same time for these 70+ baby blues. Had a problem with it but Bryan is great to work with. When you order the probes check the temp rating on the cables .

Komodos are pricey. Just think about how much you will use it I've used charcoal all my life ,never had a gas grill. these grills will last about forever with some care. I avoided the sticker shock because my wife took pity on me and i needed a new grill , (the last one had 3 factory metal legs and one made up leg ). I tend to keep grills for a while also when i buy a new one i'm amazed at how thin they can make sheet metal and not call it foil. So she bought me one for a delayed b day gift it helped some that i sent her to hawaii with her grand daughter and her husband. I went with Kamado joe due to price and complete package and the lift hinge due to my wife being only 5 foot

That's a hard question to answer My son in law asked the same question last winter when he visited ohio from Calif Talked him into an acorn to test it. He's a gas griller and i wasn't sure if he would like using charcoal so the acorn was the least expensive way to get started with and to get used to charcoal. He was glad he bought it because he thinks after a year of using it he's decided he's not a charcoal person .so now it sits at his daughter's house and his son in law is now a charcoal person and is starting to look for a ceramic grill. So what ever you buy hope you enjoy it

N

nice video thanks for time doing this,

Just my $0.02 I close both vents for about an hour or so when i think the coals are out i open the top about a 1/4 inch . I believe this helps get the heated air out of the grill to cool faster,and to get the moisture from the cook out of the grill, before i put the cover on. A second plus if the kontrol tower is gummed up and stuck it is opened enough to get the fire going to soften the sludge(?) that keeps it stuck . I think John had a good point about high temp shut down

Looks like my first one and the replacement kamado Joe replaced it with.Cleaned the grease off sanded the rest of the finish off and it works great nothing to worry about once all the finish is gone. Wonder how a polished aluminum would look?

We have those butts here once in a while the netting feels like rubber bands so i take it off add rub and tie with butcher's twine. comes out just like a normal butt , but i miss watching the bone pull out so easy.

Just another thought about air flow perhaps when you added the new charcoal to the glowing coals maybe you could have knocked enough ash loose to clog some of the vents, this is just a wag

MAybe all of the above . Not familiar with the slo roller . But i would look at the charcoal I use rockwood and it doesn't get as hot as royal oak anad it does take me longer than 25 min to get hot for pizza

$0.02 worth since you owned a primo i assume you know about fire management i would suggest you do a large chicken or a small turkey to test how the Joe cooks no surprises on turkey day. I've put together a christmas list for the boss Ash basket ,soapstone 1/2 moon and asa outside chance joetesery. I use a heatermeter i built to control the grill after a few struggles i put it away the blower part till i learned how to control the fire without it .Did a 8 hour butt last thursday wow it worked great for that .Good luck with the Joe.

try this

Perhaps you are starting too much charcoal in the beginning. I light 2 cotton balls with bottom vent open and lid open after 10 min os so add deflectors on bottom of d&c rack add grates and close lid. Temp comes up to 170 close bottom vent to 1 inch open and top to first mark as temp rises close bottom and top vents as needed . My final setting for 225 -250 is 1/2 inch bottom vent and 1/4/ to 1/2 inch on top,your grill settings may be different. How are you measuring the 250? The hard crust could be from the deflector plates may not be together and allowing heat from the coal to hit the briskets, or if your thermometer is off and the grill is really hot the plates will be hot and this might over cook the brisket . Iv'e only had my joe for 15 months so i am NOT an expert. The big thing is not to give up keep trying You can do some dry runs to learn the vents and fire starting John Seltzer has a good video on this

My top vent has been loose since i bought the grill a little over a year ago and has caused no problem whats so ever. I think i only used the slide about 2 or 3 to light the grill i then i started just taking the top part off to light the grill. If it's hot when you need to take the top part off you will need gloves and just place it on the shelf on top of one of the gloves till it cools

Just a few thoughts CK i think the word your searching for is a bi metal thermometer for the dome I agree about the extreme temp weather change affecting the calibration it's been known to get down to -20 f here. I think Dizzy answered his question with comment number 4 when he said the flame boss measured 50 degrees hotter shows his dome thermometer is out of whack. I know this is kind of late but i've been reading the posts today, while waiting for some ribs to do their thing